Cheryl Coan
My disciplinary background is in Communication and Rhetoric, with an M.A. from Marquette University. For over 25 years, I have taught at various institutions including Marquette University, Gonzaga University, The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and Alverno College.
I teach classes in writing and in humanities, with several classes designed just for MIAD students such as Worldbuilding in Literature, Flash Fiction, Octavia Butler: Godmother of Afrofuturism, and The Sunken Place: Exploring African American/African Horror and Speculative Fiction. I love teaching at MIAD and helping creative minds explore writing and questions of the human condition.
In addition to my teaching experience, I have led curriculum committees at Marquette University and Gonzaga University At Marquette University I served on a university-wide core curriculum committee with 25 other university representatives and written self-studies at Marquette University for accreditation.
Course design and assessment are two of my strengths. I have been trained in Understanding by Design a course design method that focuses on the big questions of a particular course. It helps faculty understand how to help students toward their own answers to those big questions. It is also focused on solid, well-written learning outcomes to help faculty design their course, assignments and assessment. Regarding assessment, I have been trained by the best, Barbara Walvoord, who is a well-respected educator and author of several books on effective assessment. At Marquette from 2005 to 2014, I was Assessment Lead for the College of Professional Studies. I also served on MU’s Core Curriculum Committee and representative for The College of Professional Studies where I collaborated with 25 other faculty from across university departments to develop an assessment for MU’s core curriculum.