My teaching philosophy foregrounds open communication and meeting with students to provide guidance and encouragement. As a student who held a full-time job on the night shift while attending college, I understand why some students struggle to meet deadlines, or send emails at odd hours. I also recognize that students come to the university with different levels of preparedness, and that they have different learning styles. As a result, I am the kind of instructor who conducts “exit interviews” to evaluate students’ needs after major assignments, and I work hard to be flexible in my availability via conferences, emails, and class discussion boards.
My Intro to Film courses teach students the formal elements of cinema: narrative, genre, cinematography, editing, and sound. We analyze classic films, such as Night of the Hunter (1955), Man with a Movie Camera (1929), and Ganja and Hess (1973), as well as music videos and animated films. Our last screening usually involves a playthrough of Playdead’s video game, Inside (PS4). Including video games shows the implications of the cinematic language in other media, and the hands-on appeal of games makes for lively discussions. For final essays, I give students the option to create a 10-minute video essay using simple tools, such as Windows Movie Maker. My students have produced some excellent content in this genre. I find that students in media courses prefer assignments that allow them to engage with sound and image directly. In doing so, they apply the logic of editing and visual design to show their grasp of the material.
Sample of responses to Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET) surveys
CV/Kevin Ball 