Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991 TAG: 9104060384
SECTION: FOUNDERS DAY PAGE: VT-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"I am trying to make the students realize that they are taking things too seriously," says Koelling, the College of Engineering's 1991 Sporn Award winner.
The only problem is "all the jokes are so bad, they're not funny," reports Tim Baker, one of Koelling's students and president of the Student Engineers' Council (SEC), the sponsor of the award. Baker laughingly admits that the jokes "do break the monotony."
Faced with a low rating for his joke telling, Koelling, a faculty member in the industrial and systems engineering (ISE) department, readily admits his sense of humor produces groans from his students. But, he counters, "I tell them better than my father does."
Koelling's father serves as the ISE professor's role model, and the jokes he tells have been collected over some 30 years by his dad, a professor of education at the University of Missouri.
As a Christmas present this past year, the ISE students gave Koelling a new joke book, but after reading the anecdotes, he has reported back to the students that his jokes are just as good. "I don't think he is willing to give up his father's jokes," says Jennifer Haight, one of the students who nominated Koelling for the Sporn Award. "We tried."
Despite the good natured ribbing about the quality of Koelling's jokes, the students suggest that it is this type of routine that demonstrates the sense of care and concern that makes this Missouri native stand out among his teaching peers.
"He never comes to class in a grumpy mood," reports Haight. "The jokes are just part of his show of concern. He treats all of us like individuals and makes us want to learn."
"I do try and make the class fun and challenging," Koelling reflects. "I try and make the students participate, yet I do my best to put them at ease. I tell then I am a tour guide, and they will get out of the class what they are willing to put into it. If the students make an effort, I am probably not really teaching them. They are learning themselves."
When Koelling was a student at the University of Missouri, and later at Arizona State where he received his doctorate, he recalls having taken some classes under some "real zingers." "I experienced some very bad professors while I was in school, as well as some very good ones. I guess I have bent over backward not to be like the zingers.
"`A lot of teaching has to do with one's attitude toward people," Koelling says. He again attributes his success to his father who "never has a cross word about anyone. He taught me my approach to people."
Koelling is working on a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support his ideas of how to completely revamp one of the ISE courses.
"If we receive the NSF funding, it will allow us to move into the 21st century in terms of our teaching methods," Koelling explains. The funding would provide real life experiences for studies on work methods and work place analysis and design. The computers would allow for simulation of tasks.
by CNB