4/16/2003 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn
NOTE: Photographs are available.
By United Methodist News Service*
Ronald
Wise, a professor at United Methodist-related Baldwin-Wallace College
in Berea, Ohio, dresses as Dick Tracy to engage students in his
undergraduate education class. My belief is that learning doesn t have
to be all work, says Wise, a member of Berea United Methodist Church.
There should be some fun. A UMNS photo by Ron Linek, Baldwin-Wallace
College. Photo number 03-148, Accompanies UMNS #231, 4/16/03
Ronald
Wise, a professor at United Methodist-related Baldwin-Wallace College
in Berea, Ohio, dresses as Dick Tracy to engage students in his
undergraduate education class. My belief is that learning doesn t have
to be all work, says Wise, a member of Berea United Methodist Church.
There should be some fun. A UMNS photo by Ron Linek, Baldwin-Wallace
College. Photo number 03-148, Accompanies UMNS #231, 4/16/03
Ronald
Wise, a professor at United Methodist-related Baldwin-Wallace College
in Berea, Ohio, dresses as a mathmagician to engage students in his
undergraduate education class. My belief is that learning doesn t have
to be all work, says Wise, a member of Berea United Methodist Church.
There should be some fun. . A UMNS photo by Ron Linek, Baldwin-Wallace
College. Photo number 03-149, Accompanies UMNS #231, 4/16/03
Ronald
Wise, a professor at United Methodist-related Baldwin-Wallace College
in Berea, Ohio, dresses as a mathmagician to engage students in his
undergraduate education class. My belief is that learning doesn t have
to be all work, says Wise, a member of Berea United Methodist Church.
There should be some fun. . A UMNS photo by Ron Linek, Baldwin-Wallace
College. Photo number 03-149, Accompanies UMNS #231, 4/16/03
Ronald
Wise, a professor at United Methodist-related Baldwin-Wallace College
in Berea, Ohio, dresses as Sherlock Holmes to engage students in his
undergraduate education class. My belief is that learning doesn t have
to be all work, says Wise, a member of Berea United Methodist Church.
There should be some fun. A UMNS photo by Ron Linek, Baldwin-Wallace
College. Photo number 03-147, Accompanies UMNS #231, 4/16/03
Ronald
Wise, a professor at United Methodist-related Baldwin-Wallace College
in Berea, Ohio, dresses as Sherlock Holmes to engage students in his
undergraduate education class. My belief is that learning doesn t have
to be all work, says Wise, a member of Berea United Methodist Church.
There should be some fun. A UMNS photo by Ron Linek, Baldwin-Wallace
College. Photo number 03-147, Accompanies UMNS #231, 4/16/03
Students of Ronald Wise never know when Superman or Sherlock Holmes will pop up in one of their classes.
Wise
uses nearly three dozen costumes, along with a wealth of music, magic
tricks and jokes, to engage his students and teach them about being
teachers. A professor at United Methodist-related Baldwin-Wallace
College in Berea, Ohio, he teaches graduate and undergraduate students
in education.
"My belief is that learning doesn't have to be all
work," says Wise, a member of Berea United Methodist Church. "There
should be some fun."
His innovative teaching style and 35-year
career have drawn honors from the North Coast Chapter of Phi Delta
Kappa, a professional education society, which recognized him recently
for "exemplifying contributions to the education profession." That
recognition has led to a string of stories in local and state media.
"Ron
Wise is a master of invention," says Mary Lou Higgerson, vice president
of academic affairs and dean of Berea. "He is never out of ideas of how
to make course content exciting and how to hook students on the
long-term value of learning."
Regardless of the subject - math,
science or literature - Wise tries to bring life to whatever he teaches.
He also models techniques that students can use when they become
teachers themselves.
His more than 35 costumes enable him to
change into an array of alter egos, such as Pizza Man, who talks about
fractions; Money Man, who teaches money concepts (with cash attached to
his costume); Modern Metric Man, who talks about measurements; and
Counting Cook, who appears during counting lessons.
With other
costumes, he can become Superman, Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy, Little
Red Riding Hood, a cowboy, a naturalist, a clown, a wizard, a king of
numbers, a math magician, a swami, an elf, a cow or a burned-out
teacher.
The math magician, Dick Tracy and Sherlock Holmes have
been most helpful to students, Wise says, because they deal with
problem solving and mathematics.
He may dress in character for
only 10 minutes for an entire lesson, but his students never know when a
new personality will emerge.
"My intention is to be somewhat
unpredictable," he explains. "I tell my student many times they'll never
know what I'm going to do. I try to keep it a secret until the last
minute."
Being unpredictable enhances "the surprise effect" for students, he says. "Surprise adds to motivation."
He
uses his large collection of music to generate interest in a topic,
concept or idea. During a lecture, he may use 10 pieces of music, most
playing for only five seconds each. For example, if he is teaching about
time, he will play "Too Much Time on My Hands."
He also
employs cartoons that he has clipped from newspapers and color-coded
according to subject and course. The cartoons are useful in introducing
concepts, conveying points and illustrating problem solving. Magic
tricks and jokes and riddles also come in handy.
"It brings your
teaching alive," he says about his use of "hooks" in teaching. "My
concern is that we, in preparing teachers, try to do something that
provides a spark of interest for the kids. So what I've tried to do is
demonstrate things that would get my students excited about a particular
aspect of learning. Then they, in turn, would go out and try it on
their students."
Although he plans to retire after this school
year, Wise, 62, will continue to support education. His costumes and
props will be sold at auction May 17 in the Baldwin-Wallace College
Strosacker College Union, with proceeds going to fund a college
scholarship for outstanding students who plan on becoming teachers.
"I
have former students who have been waiting for years for these costumes
and magic stuff," he says. "The best thing for me is that these things
will go out and still impact students in school."
Wise is
retiring after 35 years in the classroom "because you get to a point
where you don't know how many more years you have on this earth. I'm not
going to hang on until the last minute like I've seen some of my
friends do and not have time to enjoy retirement." He will do some
consulting in mathematics, but he plans to enjoy fishing, playing golf
and "messing around in my 1920s-style General Store," an addition to his
home where he collects antiques. He plans to construct a carriage house
to hold materials from the 1920s and invite school groups in to
experience that time period.
Former students have emulated his
teaching methods in a variety of ways, he says. He recently received a
message from someone he taught 25 years ago, who told him she still
remembers and uses the first thing he taught her: be fair, firm,
consistent and teach in such a way that students will remember you.
"That is how you manage kids," he says. "It is one of the basic premises under which we all ought to work."
# # #
*This
story uses information from a press release sent by Joyce DeGirolamo of
the Baldwin-Wallace College Office of College Relations.
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