Murphy Award: Melanie Morgan

Melanie Morgan, associate professor of communication. (Photo provided) Download image

Five teachers have received the 2017 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. This week, Purdue Today will feature Q&A's on each of the recipients. This profile focuses on Melanie Morgan, associate professor of communication.

Years at Purdue: This is my 16th year.

Teaching interests: At the undergraduate level I enjoy teaching quantitative research methods, presenting and writing for science, and classes related to communication and aging.

On study abroad and why it's beneficial to students: When you take students out of an environment where they are comfortable and you put them in situations that challenge them, it changes what they learn. By forcing students to question their own assumptions about the way the world works and the values they hold, they begin to appreciate the world differently. They develop a respect for diverse cultures through experiencing new relationships with individuals from all over the world. They are also able to test themselves in ways they could not do at home and it builds a confidence in their independence and ability to succeed in the world.

On the importance of redesigning courses: Even the best courses have to be regularly revised. All instructors make tweaks from semester to semester to the classes they teach, but every two to three years you have to step back and investigate whether the course is still working. It is important that you gather data to see if students are learning what you intended for them to learn and that they are still motivated by the material and the methods. This is all part of the redesign process. New tools for teaching and learning come on the market all the time and we owe it to our students to investigate whether those tools can improve student outcomes in our own courses. By staying in tune with students' preferences for learning and keeping the course structure vibrant and changing, I think you have a better chance of reaching your students and students have a better chance of being successful. If instructors aren’t utilizing methods and technologies that our students are fluent with, I think we all miss out. 

What Morgan hopes students take away from her lectures: I don’t like to think of myself as a lecturer. When I do lecture, I keep them short -- what I call mini-lectures. No longer than 15 minutes. I like students to approach the material in a more hands-on way that keeps them more engaged. In a regular class meeting or lecture period, I hope that my students come away with an enhanced understanding of the content that was covered. As the semester builds, I hope that they begin to see the way that all of the pieces from each lecture start to fit together to weave a larger understanding or picture of the content area. This bird’s-eye view of the material is what is really important and by the end of the semester, I hope this is where my students ultimately end up.

On winning the Murphy Award: It is the most meaningful honor I have received in my career. Teaching is the part of my job that I am the most passionate about. So, to be validated for something that you love is overwhelming.  I am reminded of all the great teachers who have won this award before me and I am so humbled to be included among them.

What her students say: There are honestly no words to express how much I appreciate Melanie Morgan. She is an amazing professor who truly has impacted my life academically and personally. She is an individual who is passionate about what she does and truly cares about every student. She is funny, caring, and extremely intelligent. She can take the hardest, most complicated topics and teach them for every student to understand and grasp. Melanie is truly a blessing and an amazing role model.

Writer: Megan Huckaby, 765-496-1325, mhuckaby@purdue.edu