Like no other profession, teaching provides a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of others. In 2020, I was honored to be selected by students college-wide out of 43 faculty as a finalist for a Faculty Mentoring Award. This award is based on engagement with students outside of the classroom, and our program was fully online, which makes earning such a distinction in my second year as a faculty member additionally humbling. You can read the award letter here.
Additionally, below is a selection of student comments about my teaching and impact as a professor. I am grateful to work in a capacity that allows me to touch the lives of these students in such a way. ( Please Note: Typos from originals have been corrected here).
“Is it okay to call an instructor adorable? I mean his genuine enjoyment of the material and excitement when we “get it” or helped jog his memory on a topic was endearing. The personable factor combined with his quick turnaround on substantive feedback and goal to help each person made the course enjoyable.”
“Dr. Baker is an excellent instructor. He is willing to work with his students and really he really goes the extra mile to ensure they succeed!”
The professor was very understanding with accommodations for students during the pandemic. He was very easy to talk to and always responded in a timely manner.
“I really appreciate this whole exchange. It’s made me think outside of the box of the constructs of this class, and more globally about how evaluation works in different environments and conditions. . . that’s something I’ve always appreciated about your classes—there’s always this opportunity to look beyond the project into how this all would work in the ‘real world.‘“
“Baker is always great. He is kind and truly wants his students to succeed.”
Dr. Baker is incredible! He made this class truly about the learning. We did not write mundane papers; we instead got hands on experience… Such a beneficial class!!!
I absolutely loved this course. I have learned so much in this course, and Dr. Baker is a wonderful instructor.
Even with this semester being during an unprecedented time Dr. Baker was understanding and willing to assist anyway he could.
Dr. Baker did a great job of making me feel comfortable in a class that was not in my wheelhouse, and I really appreciate that. I learned so much from the course and am taking away many new skills that I can use in the future, so I greatly appreciate that. Overall, I really enjoyed the course.
I appreciated the project-based structure of this course. I helped me learn real, marketable instructional design skills. I liked that you were flexible in allowing us to select what video editing program we could use. The discussion boards were productive and purposeful. This was the most effective use of discussion boards I’ve seen in any online class.
“I just want to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed being a student in your classes. You push us in a way that makes us realize what we can do without feeling defeated by our limitations. These project classes have been such a great combination of challenging and fun. I think as students we’ve always felt supported—I know that in conversations with classmates, that has come up multiple times in discussions about how difficult this particular semester is with pandemic-related factors.” [This comment was shared Spring 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit]
“I cannot say enough good things about this course. It kicked my rear-end, and I loved every minute of it. It was difficult, the professor was stellar, the learning curve was steep, but incredibly rewarding. I will recommend this course over and over again, and look forward to more courses with Dr. Baker.”
“Dr. Baker is a great Professor and was very helpful and understanding throughout the semester. I really enjoyed the course!”
“You were a great professor and really sparked excitement for me in this career field.”
Excellent teacher. Dr. Baker made the class exciting and fun. I felt confident when I turned in my final projects.
Dr Baker did a very good job of taking a dry and somewhat boring subject and making it interesting. Research is not the easiest thing to teach and keep students engaged but he managed it very nicely. I was nervous because this was my first semester back after a three year break and having Dr Baker made it much less daunting. Overall, good course!
“This is my second Dr. Baker class, and I can tell that this is his area of passion within ID/IT. He has encouraged a class culture of excitement about the subject; additionally, this class has required the exploration of tools that we, as future instructional designers, will need to know how to utilize. The requirement that we create online portfolios was especially useful as this will be a necessity in our future careers.”
“I thoroughly enjoy Dr. Baker’s classes! He comes up with creative and exciting ways for us to show our knowledge…”
“Strong performance as an instructor. This was one of my favorite classes. Dr. Baker was also very understanding when I was sick.”
“Dr. Baker is a great teacher and his class was given in a way that not only was fun and engaging but very informative. I learned a lot and was able to engage with my classmates more than usual in an online class. I liked his discussions as well as his interviews he had us conduct and explore on our own. He did a wonderful job.”
“Dr. Baker is the best professor I have ever had! He is knowledgeable, fun, and engaging!”
“Professor Baker is an excellent teacher. He cares about his students and wants to make sure they have a successful learning experience.”
“Instructor was wonderful.”
“Doing a great job. Good course!”
“Dr. Baker was actively involved in our discussions and that is much appreciated. His feedback was thoughtful and encouraging.”
“Dr.Baker did a wonderful job adjusting to the technical difficulties, and the Hurricane. He communicated well and addressed all issues I had.”
“…thank you for a great semester, I really appreciate how much detail and time you took in setting this course up and making your expectations clear. I hope to have you as a professor in the future!”
“This term, I really enjoyed our student-to-professor email conversations. I haven’t engaged in this much discussion with another professor in previous courses, and I found that I really enjoyed it.”
“Thanks for a great class!”
“To Dr. Baker, thank you for being an awesome instructor! My favorite of the program by far!”
“I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me and also the entire class. I’ve really learned a lot from the course.”
“You are the best!….I can’t thank you enough for the courses you have developed. It was very engaging, even from a distance, and that’s what I’m hoping to achieve…I appreciate your guidance. Thanks again!”
“I would very much appreciate your feedback [on my dissertation proposal]—your original feedback was fantastic!”
“Dr. Baker, Thank you for being so understanding and generous! This certainly has helped me relax a bit…I also wanted to let you know I included the first project from this class, the project plan, as part of my portfolio submission for the position and the hiring manager was extremely impressed. She asked if I planned on trying to actually propose it to leadership, because she loved it. So thank you for giving me an opportunity to shine with some realistic assignments!”
“I was so happy about my discovery and wanted to say THANK YOU for videos that you provided in class. It’s really helpful for a student like me. “