Featured Faculty
June 2007

Background

Two questions that I hear quite often since I moved to Statesboro are “What is that accent I am detecting?” and “Where are you from?” Indeed, the accent is not quite “Georgian” and comes from a country in Eastern Europe called the Republic of Moldova. I was born in the capital of Moldova, Chisinau, which was still part of the Soviet Union at the time. My native language is Romanian, but I also speak Russian. In 1997, I graduated from the “N. Testemitanu” State Medical and Pharmacy University in Chisinau and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While I was in school, Moldova became independent, the economy collapsed and the centralized health care system run by the government was in crisis. Lack of medicines, run down hospitals and under-the-table payments became a reality of every day medical practice: the need for reforms in the health care sector became a priority. In search for a remedy, part of which I intended to be, I applied for the Muskie Fellowship financed by the United States Informational Agency and a year later I was on my way to Maine. I studied at the E. Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine and I graduated in 1999 with a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Management and a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Health Policy and Management. Besides learning about the health care system in the U.S. and understanding management and financial issues involved in health care administration, I tried to make my class projects applicable to life in Moldova. I was also fortunate to gain practical experience working for Project Harmony, a cultural and exchange program of the U.S. Department of State, Medicare services in Boston and a non-profit organization “Maine Communities Face Alcohol”.

After graduation, I left for Moldova to fulfill my J-1 visa requirements for the fellowship and became involved in several international projects. I worked for the International Health Development Group (Denmark) during the implementation of the Training of Trainers Course “Training Strategy Development in General Practice” that explored curriculum changes for General Practitioners in Moldova. Later on, as a Project Officer for UNICEF, Moldova, I was responsible for the HIV/AIDS prevention program among young people. While at UNICEF, I had a chance to interact with many young people during peer trainings and other workshops and greatly enjoyed teaching health prevention. At the same time, I received a fellowship from the Civic Education Project (CEP), an international non-profit organization that promotes international standards in social science education in transitional countries. As a CEP Fellow, I attended a variety of teaching related workshops and taught at the International Institute of Management in Moldova (2002-2003). I remember coming to class the very first day and surprising students by handing out syllabi. Then I shocked them when I rearranged the chairs into a circle and sat next to them for a class discussion. Since the prevalent style of teaching in Moldova was and still is a lecture and no syllabi are distributed to students, they must have thought that I was losing my mind. And then, one day, after a very active and productive discussion in class, I knew that teaching was what I wanted to do.

I came to GSU in 2004, and my major responsibility has been to teach undergraduate courses in Human Anatomy and Physiology. My excitement about the position stems from the combination of my medical background and my passion for teaching. What can be more exciting than teaching about one of the most astounding structures in the world - the human body? The interior of our bodies is hidden to us, but what happens beneath the skin is both mysterious and amazing. My goal is to unveil some of these mysteries to allied health majors and provide students with a working knowledge of human anatomy and physiology since no health professional can succeed without a basic understanding of the human structure and function. The human body is not only interesting, but it is extremely intricate, making this course one of the most challenging science courses. On average, over 70% of students taking this class say that it is much more difficult and intellectually challenging than other courses at GSU.

Teaching & Learning

My guiding principles in teaching are:

Diana Sturges (rear) working with students in human anatomy lab

1. Know and care about the students.
I believe that students are the central part in my career as a teacher, and a personal approach to each of them is very important to me. I think students feel more inclined to ask questions in class or ask for help if the instructor is able to build a personal rapport with them. This is quite difficult to achieve in a class of 150 students, so I ask my students to submit a profile card in the beginning of the semester: a flash card with a picture and something to characterize them. Not only does it help me to learn their names, it also gives me a chance to find out more about who they are. I can address them in class by name and make them at ease.
I also understand that every student has a different learning style. I require students to take a questionnaire in the beginning of the course to identify their learning preferences and explore study strategies based on individual results. In turn, I use a variety of presentation techniques, such as pictures, animations, drawings on the whiteboard and individual worksheets, to accommodate for these differences.
I am always available to students during office hours or by appointment, and I encourage them to visit me. I see many students who are concerned about their grade, interested in study strategies or just want to go over the tests and understand the mistakes they made.

2. Guide students in the learning process and help them succeed.
John Carolus said: “No matter how good teaching may be, each student must take the responsibility for his own education”. It is indeed my belief that education is not a passive transfer of knowledge, but rather a two-way street. On one side is the instructor, who can impart knowledge and provide guidance; on the other - the student, who must take an active role in his/her education. During my first semester of teaching, I noticed that many students were struggling; and I have worked hard since then to help them succeed. I developed in-class and take home worksheets for most of the topics we discuss in class to promote independent work and strengthen the understanding of the material. I offer study sessions outside the classroom a day before the test to review the material or answer additional questions. Many students voiced concerns about a lack of a tutor for Anatomy and Physiology, and I collaborated with the Academic Success Center (ASC) to identify one. Now, students that require additional help can make use of this resource. Many of them found it very helpful.
Although Human Anatomy and Physiology is a lecture class, I try to make the course more interactive and tangible. I use different types of games in the classroom, such as jeopardy and challenge board, introduce case studies to link the material covered during lecture with the clinical aspects of Human Anatomy and Physiology and design several in-class activities to involve students in the discussion. But most of all, I try to ask questions and listen to students’ answers.

3. Never stop learning or “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn” (John Cotton Dana)
I continue to strive for better teaching methods that will help students learn. In this respect, the Center for Excellence in Teaching (CET) has been a valuable resource to me as a young faculty. I attended various CET workshops on syllabus development, active/collaborative learning in the classroom and course structure and activities. My syllabi and evaluation methods became more student-centered and reflected directly some of the things I learned during these workshops. Last year I participated in a CET Reading Roundtable that discussed Donald Finkel's book "Teaching With Your Mouth Shut" that advocated involvement of students in the learning process.

Part of this learning process to me is also keeping up with the tech savvy echo boomers. Since 2004, I learned to use a Classroom Response System called Computer Performance System, in which students use wireless technology to respond to questions by pressing the button on their remotes. It helps me to assess students’ knowledge by surveying their understanding of a particular concept, administering quizzes or polling students to get feedback on lectures. Since the feedback is immediate, I can correct misconceptions or reinforce aspects of the topic. I also use WebCT Vista extensively for communication with students. I understand that many students feel intimidated by the size of the class, so I created a discussion board on WebCT Vista to encourage students to ask questions online. I check and answer postings daily.

Introducing cultural diversity, promoting international collaboration and exposing students to international study opportunities is another area of interest to me. I served as a Program Director for the Study Abroad in the Czech Republic Program in 2005. I also applied for the Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP) administered by the American Councils for International Education (ACTR/ACCELS) and the Department of State. JFDP is a non-degree, professional development program intended to provide opportunities for university faculty from Eurasia and Southeastern Europe to expand their knowledge in their field of study and develop new ideas and educational programs through exposure to U.S. academic life. As a result of my initiative, GSU was selected as a host institution, and the Jiann Ping Hsu College of Public Health hosted two fellows: Dr. Roshi, a physician from Albania, in 2006 and Dr. Nurtayeva, a physician from Kazakhstan, in 2007.

Sturges (front left), with her lab students

Contact Information:
email: dsturges@georgiasouthern.edu