Why I Supplement My Teaching By Zooming in Experts
At Texas Baptist College, the undergraduate school of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I teach four classes that make up the faith and culture concentration as well as some classes for the major requirements. As expected, much of my teaching involves lectures and questions from students as well as group discussion time. A couple of times per semester, I’ll supplement my teaching with a guest lecturer who is either a colleague or an academic in the area whose experience and training fit the discipline.
But for a few specialized classes, I invite a larger cohort of experts in the field to join my classes. I’ve employed this in two specific classes with some success.
Christianity and Public Policy is a course that mixes political theory, specific application to contemporary issues, and reflection on public service. For the first 60% of the class I teach from my notes and interact with the assigned reading. But for the rest of the classes, I invite practitioners to share from their experiences. If they are local, they come in to the classroom, but often they are in other states and agree to zoom in.
This has worked very well. I’ve had chiefs of staff from the governor’s office, congressional staffers, public officials, as well as subject and policy experts across a range of issues. I’ve also employed this in a class titled, The Church and the Digital Age. Here, I use the same ratio of teaching to guests, lecturing and discussing a range of topics involving communication, media consumption, the internet, crisis communication, and writing. Then I bring in experts. I’ve invited journalists, authors, theorists, pastors, and communications professionals.
Why invite guests like this? A few reasons. First, guests allow me to supplement my knowledge with the specialties of other professionals. My students get to hear from real practitioners in the field who are putting the ideas and theories we discuss into practice. Second, I want my students to get a sense of who they could be. Meeting someone in a field they may pursue, who is a few miles ahead of them in their career, puts a face and a name to a possible vocation. Third, I want to provide opportunities for internships and follow up networking. I always ask my guest how students interested in the field can get involved and connected. One of the outcomes of my teaching is to curate resources to those who want to pursue these fields further and to help them get a sense of possible vocational options. I also try to make myself available to help network them with individuals and organizations who can open doors and provide opportunities.
I’ve also learned some things along the way to make a zoom guest appearance work:
It’s helpful to put the specific guest in the syllabus calendar and, in the immediate class, remind students what is coming. I also explain why we are having the person zoom in and what significance there is. I usually have a short bio on hand.
I also try to prep the guest as to what to expect. I’ve found that for most, a question-and-answer format is better than prepared remarks. I not only ask issue-specific questions, but I always ask my guests how they got into that field, what opportunities they took while young, and how interested students can break in. I inquire about potential internship opportunities with their organization or others in their network.
It’s important, if possible, to have face time between the guest and the student. This might mean prepping students beforehand to ask questions. I push them to do this. At times, the guest is an author whose work I’ve assigned so the students get to meet the person they are reading.
Lastly, when the guest is finished—I don’t ask busy guests to stay for the entire class time—I initiate a class discussion about what we just heard.
I have received great feedback from students on some of the guests I’ve invited into my classes. Not all of my courses lend themselves to such a guest-heavy approach. But the ones that have clear vocational pathways are often good opportunities to supplement my own teaching.
Daniel Darling is assistant professor of faith and culture at Texas Baptist College and directs the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.