COVID-19 changed education around the country, including at Kent State University. Virtual learning dominated the majority of classes and students and educators alike struggled.
Communication Studies Lecturer Aaron Bacue’s experience was no different. He initially doubted this new teaching style and its effectiveness with students, which makes his 2021 Outstanding Teaching Award win mean so much more.
“I think for all faculty, you kind of start to question the pandemic and how it has really forced us to change a lot of what we do,” Bacue said. “I’m extremely grateful, and for this to happen now is even more thrilling. (The award) really came at such a time when you're kind of questioning your skills.”
The Outstanding Teaching Award is sponsored by the University Teaching Council and is presented annually to three non-tenure track and part-time faculty members. Bacue won this award by not just working through his doubts but by being an exceptional educator.
Multiple student submissions praised his positivity in class, openness for subject matter questions, and helping students with what they are experiencing in their personal lives.
"After taking my first class with (Bacue), I knew he was the professor I needed," one student wrote. "He stimulated me to think about communications in a whole different light."
Bacue was thrilled to win this award and is appreciative of the time he's spent at Kent State.
“It felt really great. I would feel great under any circumstance, but in light of a pandemic, there was a little something extra there,” he said.
Unexpected Journey
Even though he never intended to become an educator, Bacue said two things really inspired him to teach: his mother and his graduate studies.
“My mother is a teacher in addition to some amazing teachers over the course of my lifetime,” he said. “I intended to briefly be a talk show host, but when I went to grad school, my mentor made me fall in love with teaching.”
Bacue says every conversation with his mentor at the University of Delaware felt like an important lesson. That’s why he tries to make every conversation a learning experience for all who are involved.
“Students are smart, and I probably learn more from them than they learn from me,” he said. “It's about that connection, of building this community of learners and that really gets me going.”
Bacue loves these interactions every time he walks into class. As someone who teaches Communication Studies, he understands how many of these lessons are important.
“You can see it in someone's eyes when they realize something and gain that knowledge,” he said. “They realize it actually applies to their life.”
Feedback Matters
Other than winning the award, Bacue’s proudest moments come from when his students reach out.
“When they write a thank you note or an email or something that says ‘this helped me,’ ‘fixed this’ or ‘improved that,’ those things make me the most proud,” he said.
All recipients and finalists for the 2020 and 2021 Outstanding Teaching Awards as well as the 2021 Distinguished Teaching Award winners and finalists were honored at the University Teaching Council Conference on Oct. 22, 2021. The awards honor full-time, nontenure-track and part-time faculty members who are nominated by their students for being among the most dedicated, highly effective and motivated professors at Kent State.
To view 2021’s Outstanding Teaching Award winners, visit www.kent.edu/hr/news/outstanding-teaching-award-finalists-announced.
To learn more about Kent State’s School of Communication Studies, visit www.kent.edu/comm.