Being named the Distinguished Lecturer sounds like a big deal, right? It is! Dr. Cheri Simonds, professor of communication in the School of Communication, has been honored to be named this year’s Distinguished Lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). “Each year, the College of Arts and Sciences chooses a faculty member to present a public lecture. The person selected must have a strong research record to be considered,” said Simonds.
Simonds does research in instructional communication and communication pedagogy. “I kind of marry those two fields within my role as the COM 110 (communication as critical inquiry program) co-director with Dr. John Hooker because I train the teachers how to use communication to teach generally, and then I have to train teachers how to teach communication specifically,” said Simonds.
This fall the School of Communication has 99 sections of COM 110 to meet Illinois State University’s need for the course among the record number of first-time in college students. In prior fall and spring semesters, the School of Communication has offered 70 to 80 sections. In any case, all those sections need instructors to cover them, and Simonds leads the program with Hooker to make sure the COM 110 program, which is the best in the field, serves students well.
Simonds is very passionate about the research and work that she does. She puts that research to use when she is guiding the new teachers on how to teach students well. The work fits well with her role as the course co-director for COM 110 because she has to serve on university-level committees about general education requirements.
“I use my role as the co-director of COM 110 to make decisions about what I research, what I teach, and where I serve,” said Simonds. She serves as the co-chair of the General Education Revision Task Force. She wants to make sure the students going through these courses form a firm foundation for whatever field they might choose.
Being named Distinguished Lecturer, Simonds presented in October on her recent research. Her topic was designing general education curricula with assessment in mind. She is in charge of making sure that there are reliable assessment instruments for the curriculum because COM 110 is a general-education requirement for all majors. She wanted to convey to faculty that came to this presentation the process she goes through and the advantages that can come from having common assignments and assessments to measure a student’s learning more effectively.
