Deepening Student Engagement through Experiential Learning, Virtual Technology and Service Learning

Friday, Oct. 9, 1:15-2:45 p.m.

This session will explore different pedagogical approaches to delivering business curriculum.  In particular it will examine the use of experiential learning at the graduate and undergraduate level to foster educational development.  It will also explore how virtual technologies can be used to connect with the global undergraduate community and deepen student engagement.   

Panel speakers include:

Cathy Cheal, assistant vice president, e-Learning and Instructional Support, Oakland University

Xiadong Deng, associate professor, MIS, Oakland University

Michael Earl, president and CEO, Oakland Family Services

Beth Talbert, special instructor, Communication and Journalism, Oakland University

Panel moderated by Cynthia Miree-Coppin, associate professor of management for OU's SBA and faculty director, SBA undergraduate programs and CIBRE education

Speaker Biographies

Cathy Cheal is the Assistant Vice President of e-Learning and Instructional Support at Oakland University. After finishing her doctorate in Classical Archaeology at Brown University and her BA in Classical Archaeology at University of Michigan, Cheal taught art history at California State University, Northridge from 1981 to 2004. She has numerous publications in her original field. She created and directed the Office of Online Instruction at CSUN, and mentored faculty, campus-wide, in teaching with technology. She moved to Oakland University as Assistant Vice President of e-Learning and Instructional Support in 2004 to facilitate the creation of online courses and programs.

Xiaodong Deng is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Oakland University. He received his Ph.D. in Manufacturing Management and Engineering from The University of Toledo. He taught Systems Analysis and Software Project Management courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He is also interested in exploring the effectiveness of global team learning in a virtual collaborative environment through the collaboration between Oakland University and other universities in overseas countries such as China. His research interests include behavioral issues in post-implementation information technology learning, information technology acceptance and diffusion, and information systems benchmarking. His research has appeared in Journal of Management Information Systems, Decision Sciences, Information & Management, Information Resources Management Journal, and Behaviour & Information Technology.

Michael Earl is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oakland Family Services (OFS). As CEO, Earl’s responsibilities include strategic planning, fund development, board development, fiscal management and program and organizational development. Prior to his position as CEO, Earl served as Interim President, Vice President of Program Operations, Vice President of Adult Services, Director of Family Counseling, Director of Contact Services and Supervisor of the Adult After-Care Program. Initially Earl served as a Caseworker for OFS. Earl is one of three founding members of Family Service Alliance for Southeastern Michigan (Alliance), a collaboration of four family service agencies, designed to increase capacity and quality of services to children and families in the tri-county community. Earl is the managing partner of the Alliance.

In 2007, Earl completed the Harvard Business School: Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management Program where he studied the characteristics of high performing non-profit organizations. He earned his BA in Psychology from Oakland University and his completed his Masters of Social Work at Wayne State University.

Beth Talbert is a special instructor in OU’s Department of Communication and Journalism. She teaches classes in Leadership, Group Dynamics, Persuasion, Gender Communication and Interpersonal Conflict. In 2008-09, Talbert chaired the Oakland University Faculty Learning Community on Student Engagement in Teaching and Learning. She was selected as an invited speaker at this fall’s Lilly North Conference on Teaching and Learning. In addition to traditional methods, her teaching incorporates experiential learning, service learning, and creative classroom assignments.