On Dec. 2, 2021, SXU Communication Professors Brad Mello, Ph.D. and Cynthia A. Grobmeier published a chapter called “Teaching Communication in a Pandemic and Post-Pandemic World.”
Mello and Grobmeier were featured in Post Pandemic Pedagogy: A Paradigm Shift, edited by Joseph “Joe” M. Valenzano, III. It was released last year on Nov. 1 through publisher Lexington Books.
According to an announcement on the mySXU portal site, their chapter in Valenzo’s 294-page publication “focuses on the adaptations the Communication Department made during the [COVID-19] pandemic and the changes that will be kept moving forward and connect the lessons learned from our experience to the broader scholarship and writing about pandemic pedagogy.”
In a Jan. 8 email interview, Mello shared that they were ‘very’ honored to be chosen as two co-authors, saying that “our proposal was competitively evaluated and accepted by the editor of this book on pandemic pedagogy.”
In an email interview conducted on Jan. 9, Grobmeier added that “Dr. Mello and I had spent many hours talking about all of our thoughts and feelings about what emerged throughout the pandemic.”
She continued: “So when he approached me about the possibility of putting those thoughts in print, I was excited and honored at the opportunity to share what we experienced and learned.”
Grobmeier didn’t think anyone “would’ve ever imagined” going through a pandemic. And she found it difficult to manage her instructional plans.
“The constant uncertainty can be very trying mentally, emotionally, and physically for both instructors and students,” she said.
Despite the shift from in-person teaching in classrooms to remote learning at home, Grobmeier finds, “We’ve all learned to be flexible and support each other.”
Courtesy of Mello, our News Section reviewed the final draft of the published chapter on Jan. 8.
Both professors explained that they had to ‘adapt’ to certain challenges in their learning environment, especially during these unprecedented times.
In the excerpt of this chapter, Mello and Grobmeier also described how they took a ‘student-centered’ approach when needing to learn and focus on the following issues.
These issues consisted of “technological access, as well as physical, mental, and emotional well-being for students; the technological ability for both instructors and students; optimal designs for educational experiences in multiple formats (online, hybrid and face-to-face) that best meet the needs of students; and support for the overall health of everyone, particularly adjuncts and students, during the crisis.”
The professors say they “…learned many important lessons through this process—many that will stay with us long after this pandemic.”
“While we look forward to the day when we can teach in person without masks, we will remain focused on being more aware of the technological needs of students, the constant need for professional development for instructors to ensure they can use the plethora of technology-based teaching tools well, and the importance of effectively utilizing all learning formats to serve students on their learning journey—all while remaining cognizant that the socioemotional well being of our students, and faculty alike, is at the forefront of everything we do.”
After submitting the draft, Mello and Grobmeier went through “several rounds of rewrites,” requested by Valenzano, the editor.
Mello commends Valenzano for giving them the opportunity to accomplish this.
“It was amazing working with him, and he helped make our chapter even better with helpful suggestions for improvement,” Mello said, adding, “I think we learned most how well we work together when we select a writing project of interest to us both.”
He continued: “The entire process took us about two months of sending various drafts back and forth until we were happy with our final draft.”
“Dr. Valenzano was interested in our initial insights and kept challenging us to dig even deeper to make those important connections to not only the field of communication, but some of the emerging research on the effects of the pandemic,” Grobmeier noted. “It was exciting when Dr. Mello would find and share some new information that would take us in a new direction, or when he would get excited by some new insight I discovered. Not only did Dr. Valenzano push us, we pushed each other to bring out our best.”
Hardcover copies and eBook versions of Post-Pandemic Pedagogy: A Paradigm Shift by Valenzano are now available for purchase on Amazon, the Kindle Store, Barnes & Nobles, and Kobo.
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