2008 Outstanding University Teacher Award Winner Category II

Julie Schumacher, Ed.D.

Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, Illinois State University (2009)
Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Teaching philosophy

The key to cultivating learning environments for future and current college students is with personal connection through technology and multimedia tools.

Motivation to become a professor

My grandmother, parents, and sister are all teachers. My love of health and the nutrition implications of diseases guided me to become a Registered Dietitian. Through the Dietetic Internship at ISU, I found a passion, nonetheless, for nutrition education! My focus did not change from Dietitian to Educator. Instead, my focus deepened as I took my passion of nutrition education into the classroom.

I want to continue to improve my teaching in the following ways…

With the continuous new advancements in educational technology, I plan to stay current with the ever-changing tools to cultivate learning environments for future generations of learners.

Teaching strategy I would recommend to enhance student learning the most

Understand that in the twenty-first century, you are unable to teach students everything they need to know in a specific subject area. Therefore, it is imperative that students learn to think critically, locate resources and information, and evaluate information to make decisions. Help students understand the application of their learning to real life situations.

photo of Julie Schumacher, Ed.D. — “My goal as a teacher is to understand each learner and teach in a way that truly engages all students in the classroom. Understanding learner differences offers the opportunity to develop instructional strategies which promote learning by capitalizing on the unique strengths of each student.”