Teaching Philosophy

Student Testimonials

First-Year Composition: "Honestly, I can't say enough good things about Elizabeth. She made this class one of my favorites this semester. She did a great job of explaining what she expected from us and how the class's topics related to the world outside of the class, be it other classes, our lives, or the world at large. She gave us realistic goals and was always willing to help us if we had questions or if we were unsure of what to do. She set high but reachable expectations, forcing us to really learn and think outside the box and analyze the world around us in a new way. She could recognize when we were getting tired or lost and was flexible in what she wanted to see from us."

First-Year Composition: "Please continue to engage your students critically, making them think about what they're doing and encouraging them to put effort into what they're creating. Your openness and willingness to talk ideas out with me really helped me to make my work better. I think doing alternative work such as creating the website and album cover instead of just doing essays all year was good because it let me exercise creativity and be interested in the work."

Accelerated First-Year Composition (Service Learning): “Elizabeth is one of the most friendly, respectful, and understanding professors I've had. She's always available to help her students and tries to stay flexible in order to adjust to other’s needs, but also knows how to balance the importance of deadlines. She's very approachable and creates a very relaxing and welcoming environment. She's also very transparent with the students when it comes to scheduling and agenda and really tries her best to create the best possible scenario for student to turn in their best work. Her feedback is very helpful and thorough, and she explains her expectations very clearly."

Accelerated First-Year Composition (Service Learning): I love how she has a personal relationship with every single student, showing that she genuinely cares about us all and wants to see us succeed. She expects us to do our best work in this class and the way she treats us with respect, you want to perform your best to show her that what she is teaching is important in our lives. THANK YOU SO MUCH

Undergraduate Tutor Training Practicum: "Whenever I had questions, I knew that they would be respected and answered well. I liked the readings that we had, and doing the journal weekly helped me understand the material more. I also really liked when the graduate students came in to give us lectures, and we had discussions on that material. I looked forward to coming to this class every week, and I hope that I will take what I learned to my work in the Lab next semester."

Undergraduate Tutor Training Practicum: “Elizabeth is the most understanding and helpful instructor that I have had during my time at Purdue. She was always available to talk with, to accept emails, and she was understanding about the need for extensions or deadline shifts. I never felt overwhelmed by the amount of work I had for her class because she never tried to overwhelm us. I loved and appreciated her relaxed attitude about becoming a tutor. I didn’t feel like I was constantly being graded on my performance as a tutor, instead on how I could learn about being a tutor at my own pace. She really expressed that she was there to support us and not to harshly grade us. I loved her class.