Faculty Sabbaticals Revitalize Teaching and Learning

“Sabbaticals are a great way for professors to reinvigorate their classrooms and bring current material into the room and that can be key to hook a student,” Condie explains. “If we’re not out there learning something new and building off what we have as our base and exploring new items and incorporating them into the room, it can easily become stagnant.”

After seven years of service, full-time faculty members may apply for a sabbatical.

Condie divided her time on her sabbatical between conducting research and developing new Open Educational Resources for use in the Introduction to Geology course which generally has an enrollment of more than 100 students each semester.

Condie’s sabbatical afforded her time to focus on reducing textbook costs for students, align curriculum goals for transfer students, and update course evaluation materials used in the courses she teaches.

Outside of the classroom, Condie used some of her sabbatical time to work with the ReClam The Bay organization, which promotes education on the importance of Raritan Bay. She learned about oyster and clam hatcheries and has now started a small bed of clams and oysters in Main Hall Room 152 for her students to study.

“We are learning about how they grow, how they are filter feeders and how they can improve water quality, and we tie that into their impact on the economy in New Jersey and also ocean acidification,” said Condie. “What was really interesting was 75 percent of the class didn’t know that people ate oysters and clams when ReClam the Bay came in, even though our students are right by the Raritan Bay, they didn’t have any connection to it. That alone was a win in the lab for them to see.”

Condie shared that the favorite part of her sabbatical experience was the opportunity to spend time in Key Largo where she was able to go scuba diving with marine biologists to work with them on helping coral to grow. She has plans to return in May and continue the work. In the meantime, the marine biologists have made themselves available to Condie’s students to answer questions and exchange ideas, helping Condie bring a fresh approach in improving the classroom experience for her students.