Since graduation in May of 2022, Dr. Abbie Wrights has continued working as a teaching professional at Wake Forest University in the Health and Exercise Science (HES) Department. But, while her position has not changed, she has been able to directly apply both her coursework and dissertation findings to her current role. Abbie said that “the coursework in the doctoral program taught her about many aspects of higher education including, but not limited to: best practices in pedagogy, curriculum design and mapping, professional ethics, and strategic planning.” She added, “Because I was completing this degree while simultaneously teaching full time at Wake Forest, I was able to (and continue to) directly apply my coursework to my classroom and department on a continual basis.”
Abbie was able to use her dissertation work as a foundation for the implementation of several initiatives in the Wake Forest HES Department. The first was the creation of a Teaching Advisory Committee, which aims to: 1) increase awareness of teaching related resources on campus and 2) increase teaching related conversations departmentally. To work towards both goals, she began a monthly departmental Teaching Roundtable Discussion in August of 2022. These discussions have allowed teaching faculty to have a place to collaborate on ideas, voice concerns, ask questions, and share resources. For Abbie, it has been exciting to watch teaching related conversations increase and initiate the process of teaching change in individual classrooms!
One of the greatest lessons she learned through the Ed.D. in KIN program was “the value of social support—both from faculty and peers.” As a result of the cohort-based collaborative emphasis of the program, she was able to really value the expertise and skillset of each of her peers. She reflected that “I learned so much through their feedback on my own research and was exposed to many areas interesting areas of Kinesiology through their dissertation projects…I was able to extend that support to a current member of the 2019 Ed.D. program by assisting with data collection with her dissertation project.” She enjoyed this opportunity as reinforced the value of support in the program and beyond! She hopes to remain an active member of the Ed.D. in KIN community, and provide continual support, for many years to come.