Tennessee State University Office of Strategic Communications August 3, 2010 Engineering Instructor Uses Love of Poetry, Theatre to Illuminate Students' Learning<http://tnstatenewsroom.com/2010/08/edited-engineering-instructor-uses-love-of-poetry-theatre-to-illuminate-students%e2%80%99-learning/> Many would probably scoff at the idea of using poetry and storytelling techniques to introduce complex engineering concepts to a room full of freshmen, but they don't know Montanez Wade. Wade, who teaches orientation courses to incoming students in the College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science, can as easily wow students with a recitation of Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" or enthrall guests with a beautifully woven story in the tradition of her African and African-American heritage as she explains concepts that bring electrical circuits to life. In fact, she has found a teaching style that combines her love of poetry and metaphor with engineering concepts, so that students can not only know how engineering works but also see how it works as well. To make students understand the dual circuits concepts of power-supply vs. power-absorbed, she related the two to the flow of money in a transaction. To help a group of students struggling with negative and positive integers, she pointed them to the stairwell around the corner. "I am in love with the very idea of metaphor. To me, that's what teaching is about. It's about finding an area of relatability. When you're teaching, the challenge is to find that space of mutual understanding," Wade said. "I ask a lot of questions in my classes. Call and response resonate with me. It's my job to find out where the knowledge is lacking." Wade makes no apologies for her candor and brings her entire existence to the classroom - the place she endearingly calls, "the center." She is a firm believer that education must be about its root word, "educaria," which means, "to bring out what is within." For even complex issues like making students understand the importance of knowing why they are in college and finding their purpose, Wade made the entire class stand and then had seven of each 10 students sit down to illustrate the University's current graduation statistics. "I believe in active learning. Each class session is a new journey. The more you can discuss with students how you are thinking, the more engaged they will become. An engaged student is a student ready for any challenges," Wade said. "As an instructor it is important for me to be both present and aware. When you are, it's a little different. (The classroom) is then not on autopilot." Recently, Wade was asked to tell one of her stories at an event. Each time she tells a story, she weaves in inspiration and energy from the audience that transform a basic framework into new and different horizons. That night, she told the story of the journey one takes to find their purpose for which she titled, "Hidden In Plain Sight." She recalled that while telling the story, she experienced an epiphany that made her instantly think of the students she teaches: "That's exactly how I want my classes to be remembered," she said. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/meeting-form.html for the October 24-26, 2010 HBCU Library Alliance 4th Membership Meeting and the "Conference on Advocacy" pre-conference in Montgomery, AL. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.