Riouff has extensive experience in the Public Health field and has taught at WCU for 5 years. Her courses include Introduction to Public Health, Introduction to Global Health, Food Protection and Sanitation, and Institutional and Residential Environments. 

I became interested in SoTL because I haven’t had formal teaching training. I came from Public Health practice, and education was a big part of what I did. However, the student demographics were different. I wanted to have a resource for improving teaching techniques and have a way of following data to see where or how I could reach my students effectively and efficiently. 

How has joining the SoTL Academy impacted your work? 

The value of SoTL is the collaboration amongst peers and the mentorship that took place between the SoTL Faculty Fellows and SoTL Scholars. I had many ideas and bouncing them off others was powerful in deciding where my focus should land. In addition, the Institutional Review Board process can be challenging, and having a mentor was quite helpful in making this process seamless. 

What type of SoTL research are you conducting? 

The SoTL Project I landed on was evaluating curriculum to reflect the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) workplace competencies. I am striving for intentional academic practices that will help students transition into their desired career to be work-ready and life-long self-directed learners.  I hope that by doing this, they will be able to tie the content learned to practice and help them gain confidence in the work that they will be doing. 

Anything else you would like to share? 

Being a SoTL Scholar is important to me because I am a lifelong learner, and I want to lead by example.  Adjusting teaching practices to provide an equitable approach that enables all students to learn and grow their educational and professional interests is the value of SoTL. 

Want to Learn more about SoTL at WCU?
Check out the CFC’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) page