UW-Green Bay
Associate Professor of English and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Wisconsin Teaching Fellow (2012-2013) (University of Wisconsin–Sheboygan)
Wisconsin Teaching Scholar (2017-2018) (University of Wisconsin–Sheboygan)
Embracing Technicolor in Teaching and Learning
What I love most about the WTFS program is the space to think about, talk about, and even fail at, teaching interventions–or, more specifically, considering how to engage students so that they can learn in the ways most fruitful for their educational journey. I had come from a graduate program at a Jesuit institution with a tradition of “cura personalis” (care for the whole person), which, in my English literature program, translated to teaching TAs how to teach and providing them with professional development support that entire first year via a pedagogy course as well as weekly practicum. In subsequent years, we were all strongly encouraged to attend pedagogical workshops, as teaching methodology was integral to our growth as instructors. Each year after my first academic year at Marquette, I helped train new teachers and I even became the Assistant Direct of First Year Writing the year before I drafted my dissertation, so pedagogy and a concentration on student learning has always been central to my teaching. In that way, being a part of the WTFS community feels like home.
At UW-Sheboygan, an institution of access, I noticed that we had an unusually high percentage of First-Generation students but no apparatus to help them navigate the uncertainty and fear that is the first year (or two) of college. As a First-Generation student myself, I understood that our intro courses, like Composition, needed to better account for the unique stressors of our First-Generation students, and my 2012-2013 project sought interventions that would make the transition into a college identity easier for those students. Throughout my WTFS Fellow year, I was introduced to the world of SOTL research, the difference between qualitative and quantitative data and how to create surveys to generate this data, the pre- and post-test (!), and the real importance of doing this type of work. During my project year, I contacted each UW Colleges campus to find out what was being done to better engage First-Generation students, but I found that most of them did nothing. In fact, only two (Fox and Waukesha) specifically addressed issues with First-Generation students even though most Two-Year campuses were populated by more than 50% First-Gen students. My own campus typically had a First-Generation population of between 55-65% in any given year and had always had that percentage since inception!
My own project, which asked students to identify interventions that would be helpful to them to make the transition to college easier, proved to be a failure due to the nature of my questions, as I was asking students to identify what they couldn’t possibly be able to articulate. If they knew what interventions would be helpful, they would seek them out! I was crushed by this failure until I discussed the results with Nancy Chick (a SOTL god), who reminded me that you can often learn more from failed projects that you might from successful ones. She suggested that I needed to think through the lessons of the failure. I realized that the most important thing that we can do for our students is to make them feel seen. I found from my research that the first three weeks are the most important in terms of student belonging, and that it is essential to check in with students, especially if they may be struggling. I implemented a mandatory five minute “get to know me conference” with all of my students during the first three weeks of class, started doing a midterm reflection, and then implemented a “Final Project Check-In” so that I could have three points of contact with each student over the course of the semester. This strategy has made all the difference. And, yes, I do this each semester, whether I have 50 students total or 200. My students see me as a real person and know that I am invested in their learning and success.
While this project did not result in publication, I feel that the time I devoted to learning about the unique stressors of First-Gen students and how it has impacted my interactions with all my students has benefited them (and me) in incalculable ways. I spend a great deal of time developing a community of care in each class, having students get to know each other by name, and doing a daily roll call question so that we feel that we are all in this together. My emphasis on creating a sense of community is a direct result of the conversations and materials that we deliberated over during Faculty College, Summer Institute, and the Winter meeting. It affects my teaching on a daily basis.
When I was developing my first project, which was at the beginning of my WTFS year, I had an enormous sense of imposter syndrome, and I did not utilize the expertise of my WTFS co-directors enough, which is a pity, because I now know that they would have helped me revise my survey questions. However, the relationships that I later developed with my cohort and the sense of belonging that I felt effectually erased that sense of imposter syndrome and reinvigorated my commitment to my students, my colleagues, and my campus. Further, the research that I conducted to have contextual knowledge for the project proved invaluable in my later leadership roles at the UW Colleges, UW-Sheboygan, and UW-Green Bay. Indeed, it was after this experience that I became the Assessment Coordinator for the UW Colleges because of my passion for student learning, and I held this role for the next four years.
After serving as Assessment Coordinator, I was ready to focus solely on the success of the students in my own department again and was elected the Vice-Chair of the English department, with Dr. Jennifer Heinert as chair. At this time (as now), I was taken with the idea of threshold concepts, as introduced to me via the work of the UW Colleges’ own Gender and Sexuality Studies program (as Dr. Holly Hassel was co-writing a textbook on this concept for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies), and I leaped at the chance to return to Wisconsin Teaching Fellow Scholars program during the 2017-2018 year. I applied with my fingers crossed.
I was overjoyed to be chosen as the UW Colleges Teaching Scholar for the 2017-2018 academic year. This time, I embraced every opportunity available to me because I understood the gift we Fellows and Scholars were provided with this intensive and supportive learning community and talented co-directors. I came to that environment completely vulnerable and with an open heart, ready to explore in a way that I had been afraid to five years before: I read everything obsessively and asked multiple questions, thoroughly engaged in all of the conversations that we had in large and small groups, and made it a point to ignore my typical introvert fear of small talk while meeting new people and spoke to all (and befriended many) of my cohort peers. This time, I wanted to drink deeply from the wisdom of the group!
My project focused on using the topic of rape culture as a conduit to teach composition students the threshold concept of rhetorical analysis, as I had been doing this for a few years and I saw remarkable success with my students’ analytic skills and writing confidence. This time, I asked for help with the construction of my pre- and post-survey questions, and I contacted both cohort colleagues and the co-directors when I needed support or when I hit a snag. This was one of those kismet moments when I knew that where I was in the universe was exactly where I was supposed to be!
All was smooth sailing until October of 2017 year when I found out, via Facebook, that my institution was going to be dissolved. As you can imagine, this was a time of uncertainty and blind panic for me. However, being a Wisconsin Teaching Scholar provided me with a safe space to speak my truth as a faculty member fearful of the future. I was one of a pair representing the Colleges, and I was still processing the reality during the January Winter meeting. I remember apologizing for not having a filter regarding my fear and anger about the situation (which would crop into conversations that we had over the course of those days) and Cyndi Kernahan (one of our co-directors) assured me that if there was any place to share my authentic feelings, this one, surely, was it. She was so right. My colleagues were so supportive and really listened to my fears about the future. In fact, Heidi Sherman, who was a peer member of that cohort, had become a dear friend during that year and welcomed me with open arms when we merged with UW-Green Bay and I was placed in her Humanities unit.
More important, the WTFS program allowed me to focus on my passion for teaching, which provided a much-needed escape from the reality that was presenting itself during my working hours. My project, now armed with questions that could properly gauge student learning, definitely suggested that my method of teaching rhetorical analysis increased students’ understanding of the threshold concept of rhetorical analysis, and I enjoyed analyzing the data, creating the poster, discussing my project and learning about the results of all of my peers’ projects. Coming to our final meeting and then presenting at OPID in April felt like a much-needed reunion with my friends, and I was proud to be a part of this incredible community of scholars and friends.
My time as a Wisconsin Teaching Fellow and Scholar has deepened my commitment to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, which I consider a central facet of my research and my teaching ethos. As a direct result of WTFS, I have co-written and published an article on the gendered division of labor in the university system with three other WTFS colleagues from my 2012-2013 cohort and presented that work at the Wisconsin Gender and Sexuality Consortium Annual Conference on that topic. I have also presented my SOTL work multiple times at the annual OPID conferences, UW-Green Bay’s Instructional Development Institutes and a variety of national conferences. Recently I have presented at the national Children’s Literature Association Annual Conference on using trauma theory in the teaching of Children’s and Adolescent Literature, and I am currently working on a monograph about the effectiveness of teaching trauma theory as a threshold concept in a variety of disciplines. I am also working on a project about the effectiveness of incorporating a creative project to help students process learning when teaching incarcerated individuals.
My time with WTFS has directly influenced my leadership trajectories. As mentioned above, I was the Assessment Coordinator for the UW Colleges for four years, which then led to earning a UW System Leadership Certificate. While I was the Vice Chair for the UW Colleges’ English Department, I was also the Steering Chair for UW-Sheboygan, which resulted in me being one of the campus leaders taking part in the Project Coastal Leadership Merger Group. Shortly thereafter, I was appointed the UW-Green Bay Assessment Coordinator for four years and during that time, I was also appointed the UW-Green Bay General Education Realignment co-chair, where we were successful at getting our revision of the General Education Program approved in a two-year time frame. I just finished a three-year co-chair position for the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program and have been elected as English chair starting in fall of 2025. My training in SOTL guides each leadership role I have undertaken, with my essential question being how to improve student learning and student success. It is my hope that the service work that I have been a part of helps students maximize their learning and enables them to be positive global citizens, in both small and large ways.
I think the biggest take-home that I have from my time in the WTFS program is the importance of community. During my first year, I was shy and worried that not having a social sciences background in data analysis would inhibit my ability to be successful as a SOTL scholar. However, my experience of being a member of a supportive intellectual community, free of judgment and with the goal of knowledge acquisition and student success, has instilled in me the mandate to provide the same safe space for all of my students; I’ve learned that when a person feels seen and supported, they/she/they can learn with an open heart–and even be willing to fail. I know that all failures within a supportive community provide the potential for learning moments.
I’ve learned that being a SOTL scholar is not dependent upon the number of publications and presentation that you have. Instead, it is, itself, a threshold concept where the focus moves from what you can gain from the experience as the instructor to fore-fronting how students can best learn, develop, and grow from the experience. When you flip that switch, you have just moved from black and white to color.
When asked what has been most essential to my development as a teacher, I say, without hesitation, that it was my time in the WTFS program. I am thankful to my WTFS co-directors, my WTFS colleagues, and the UW System for supporting this incredible initiative.
Biography:
Valerie Murrenus Pilmaier is an Associate Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay. She teaches courses on Irish Literature, British Literature, Multicultural Literature, Children’s and Adolescent Literature, Holocaust Literature, LGBTQIA+ Literature and Studies, Introduction to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Queering Multicultural Narratives. and Feminist Theory. She was co-chair of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies for the past three years and will be taking on the role of English chair starting in fall of 2025. Her research interests and publications focus on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, gendered relationship dynamics, trauma theory, and creative non-fiction. Her work appeared in The Journal of British Studies, The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies, and Journal of the Midwest Modern Languages Association. Her most recent Scholarship of Teaching and Learning publication (co-written with Ann Mattis) details the ways that faculty and staff created a community of care for students and for each other at her academic institution during Covid and beyond. She is a recipient of the UW-Sheboygan Teacher of the Year Award (2013), the UW-Sheboygan Distinguished Service Award (2016 and 2018), the UW-Sheboygan Dean’s Recognition Award (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017), the Alliant Underkoefler Excellence in Teaching Award (2018) and the UW-Green Bay Founders Award for Excellence in Institutional Development (2024). She was nominated for the University of Wisconsin Regents Teaching award from UW-Sheboygan in 2014 and the University of Wisconsin Regents Teaching Award from UW-Green Bay in 2019.
SoTL Grants:
UW-Green Bay Faculty College Representative (2023)
UW System Wisconsin Teaching Scholars Program Grant (2017-2018)
UW System Wisconsin Teaching Fellows Program Grant (2012-2013)
SoTL Publications:
Book Chapters
Valerie Barske, Ekaterina Levintova, Valerie Murrenus Pilmaier, and Darci Thoune, “SoTL and the Gendered Division of Labor on Our Campuses: A Case for More Equity and Change in Professional Values,” in Kirsti K. Cole and Holly Hassel, eds. Academic Labor beyond the College Classroom: Working for Our Values (Routledge, 2019)
“Reinventing Peer Review Using Writing Center Techniques: Teaching Students to Use Peer-Tutorial Methodology” with Katie Kalish and Jennifer Heinert in Kathleen Hunzer, ed. Small Group Collaborative Learning and Writing: A Practical Sourcebook. Jefferson, (McFarland Press, 2012)
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“Embracing a Pedagogy of Care at UW-Green Bay: Covid and Beyond” with Ann Mattis. Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, vol. 56, no. 1 (Spring 2023): 73-82. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48771489
SoTL Papers and Panels at conferences and research seminars:
“You Must Go Through It, Not Around It: Embracing the Teaching of Trauma in the Children’s and Adolescent Literature Classroom,” Children’s Literature Association National Conference, Madison, WI, May 30-June 1, 2024
“Writing the Self as Social Justice: Centering Social Justice in the Capstone Classroom,” 2024 Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium Conference, Madison WI, April 12, 2024
“Our Voices LGBTQIA+ Archive Project at UW-Green Bay” with Deb Anderson and Kim Reilly at WGSC Women’s Summit Conference, Madison, WI, March 14, 2023
“Embracing a Community of Care at UW-Green Bay: Covid and Beyond” with Ann Mattis, Nicole Kurth, Kate Farley, and Nicole LaGrow, OPID Annual Conference, Madison, WI, April 21, 2022
“Roundtable Panel onteaching the History and Literature of the Holocaust” with Mark Karau, Tabatha Zwicky (student) and Charles Kriescher (student), Northern Great Plains History Conference, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, September 24, 2021
“Instructor Perspectives on Managing Information, Misinformation, and Democracy in the Classroom: A Closer Look” with Brian Merkel and Jessica Warwick. UWGB Instructional Development Workshop (IDI), UW Green Bay, Green Bay, Wisconsin January 11, 2022
“Instructor Perspectives on Managing Information, Misinformation and Democracy in the Classroom” panel with Preston Cherry, Christin DePouw, Lisa Lamson, J P Leary, Brian Merkel, and Jessica Warwick for Common CAHSS Conference, November 29, 2021
“Embracing a Community of Care at UW-Green Bay: Covid and Beyond” with Nicole Kurth, Ann Mattis, Jessica Van Slooten, and Todd Dresser at the Women’s Summit WGSC Conference, April 7, 2022. Virtual.
“Introduction to LGBTQIA+ Studies as Social Justice” with student panel consisting of Liv Riendeau, Cory Carter, and Rebecca Stewart (students) at the Women’s Summit WGSC Conference, April 8, 2022. Virtual.
“Transformative Pathways to Belonging Through the Humanities’ First-Year Seminar Courses: UW Green Bay’s Teagle Grant” with Jennifer Ham, Mark Karau, Ann Mattis, OPID Annual Conference, April 10, 2022. Virtual.
“Decolonizing Gender Studies Roundtable” with Jessica Van Slooten, 4W and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Consortium Annual Conference, April 9, 2021. Virtual
“I Don’t Think I Belong Here, But Maybe I Do?”: Utilizing Self-Affirmation as an Intervention to Keep First-Gen and Working-Class Students in the Classroom.” Instructional Development Institute for UWGB, Green Bay, WI, January 23, 2020
“Feminist Pedagogy and Practices from the Women’s and Gender Studies Department” with Alison Staudinger, Alison Gates, Christine Smith and Jessica Van Slooten, Instructional Development Institute for UWGB, Green Bay, WI, January 23, 2020
“Disciplinary Access: Adapting Threshold Concepts for Diverse First-Year Writers” with Jennifer Heinert, Katie Kalish, Joanne Giordano, Cassandra Phillips, and Rachel Barger at CCCC (Conference on College Composition and Communication) Annual Convention in Pittsburgh, PA, March 16, 2019
“I Don’t Think I Belong Here, But Maybe I Do?”: Utilizing Self-Affirmation as an Intervention to Keep First-Gen and Working-Class Students in the Classroom” at CCCC, National Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, March 16, 2019
“SoTL and the Gendered Division of Labor on Our Campuses: A Case for More Equity and Change in Professional Values,” 2019 4W Summit, Madison, WI, UW campus, April 13, 2019 (with Valerie Barske, Ekaterina Levintova, and Darci Thoune)
“Threshold Concepts in WGS: Pedagogy and Program Development” with Jessica Van Slooten, Ann Mattis and Alison Staudinger, 2019 Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium Conference and 4W Summit, Madison, WI, April 12, 2019
“Moving Beyond the ‘What’ Into the ‘How’ of Writing: Using Rape Culture to Teach Rhetorical Analysis to First-Year Composition Students. Office of Professional Development (OPID) Conference, Madison, WI, April 12-13, 2018
“Inclusive Pedagogies: A Framework for Redesigning Writing Programs to Support Access and Retention” workshop discussion leader with Jennifer Heinert, Joanne Giordano, and Cassandra Phillips. Conference on College Composition and Communication National Conference, Kansas City, MO, March 12-16, 2018
“Best Practices for Engaging First-Year Composition Students in the Writing Studio” panel discussion with Ann Mattis, Erin Ellison, Tara DaPra, Kristen Jacobus, Jeffery Verona, Andrew Karr, and Angela Bullard. Advancing Academic Literacy in the UW System Conference, Wausau, WI, June 4, 2015.
“College is Really Different: Strategies for Engaging and Retaining First-Generation Students in the Classroom and on Campus.” Roundtable workshop. Office of Professional Development Annual Conference, Green Lake, Wisconsin, April 17-18, 2014
“What Do They Get: How Students’ Perceptions Affect Learning.” Panel presentation with Dr. Christopher Martin and Dr. Chris Shulenberg.” Office of Professional Development (OPID) Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, April 19, 2013
“What Do These Numbers Mean?: A Wisconsin Teaching Fellows Scholars Project on Retention Rates in an English 102 Class in a Two-Year Institution of Access.” Invited Speaker. UW Colleges Colloquium, Menasha, WI, May 23,2013
“Making Learning Communities Work for Instructors and Students” with Dr. Mark Karau and Dr. Dana Atwood. UW Colleges Colloquium and ESFY Conference, Menasha, WI, May 23, 2012
“Using Writing Center Techniques to “Reinvent” Traditional Peer Review: Teaching Students to Use Peer Tutorial Methodology” with Katie Kalish and Jennifer Heinert. International Society for the Study of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Conference, Milwaukee, WI, October 21, 2011
“Results from our 2009 Lesson Study Project on Peer Review and Moving the Project Online” with Katie Kalish and Jennifer Heinert. UW System Conference on the Teaching of English, Menasha, WI, October 29, 2010
“Reading, Writing, and Peer Review: Engaging Students as Writers across the Curriculum” with Katie Kalish and Jennifer Heinert. The 2010 University of Wisconsin Colleges Colloquium and ESFY Conference, Menasha, WI, May 25, 2010
“Lesson Study Evaluating a Tutorial-Hybrid Method for Peer Review” with Katie Kalish and Jennifer Heinert. UW System President’s Summit on Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Madison, WI, April 30, 2010