Jessica Bedore

Excellence in Teaching Spotlight by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Virginia Tech

The Excellence in Teaching Spotlight, presented by the center to approximately nine Virginia Tech faculty members each academic year, recognizes a faculty member's effective, engaged, and dynamic approaches and achievements as an educator.

Among the goals of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning are advancing experiential learning at Virginia Tech and improving student learning through research-based instructional practices and student-centered design. In the classroom, Bedore focuses on cultivating curiosity: “My general approach is to think critically about the overall learning objectives of the course and make sure that I keep those in mind while I'm planning class periods or labs. Students are not going to, nor do they need to, memorize every little detail and fact related to the course topic. But they should always walk away more curious and wanting to dig deeper. By keeping myself focused on the overall learning objectives, I keep myself out of the weeds and nuanced details that make a course overwhelming. If I can end each class period teaching students one method for how to do something and then they walk away attempting it on other aspects of the content, then I feel like I have done my job. In summary, I feel like my approach to teaching, is to try to encourage students to be more curious about the content and want to ask more questions.”

When asked what specific teaching techniques she incorporate in her classes, Bedore described her approach to promoting engagement in both in-person and online classes: “With my in person lectures, I really do try to stop every 5-10 minutes and give them an opportunity to practice what we just talked about. Sometimes it's practicing an equation for a diet formulation, sometimes it's reading a blog post about a part of the animal industry and forming their own opinion, sometimes it's reading a company website. It's whatever fits the moment. My online classes incorporate a blend of readings and short recorded lectures. I try to keep anything recorded to 5 minutes or less, followed by a mini-quiz, discussion post, or reflection. I think the engagement piece is essential!”

Dori Mitchell, a former student of Bedore’s, expressed her appreciation for Bedore’s focus on fostering curiosity and engagement in the classroom: “Dr. Bedore brings reality to the classroom, and she assigns work to students that she knows will bring critical thinking, discourse, or discussion around real-world issues or debates. A lot of the horse industry is found in the gray area, and Dr. Bedore acknowledges these challenges and encourages students to research, appreciate personal experience, and craft ideas themselves. Though she is an expert in the field and academia for this topic, she always encourages students to go beyond her lectures and form their own learning experiences on layers of knowledge.”

Another former student of Bedore, Marin McAlindin, reflected on the lasting impact Bedore has had on her personal and professional development: “Dr. Bedore has shaped not only how I see the equine industry, but how I see myself within it. Her passion, guidance, and belief in her students remind me daily why I love what I do here at Virginia Tech. She radiates kindness, optimism, and encouragement. Dr. Bedore is truly a gift to every student lucky enough to learn from her.”

Katie Heidersheit, one of Bedore’s colleagues in the School and Animal Sciences, described her admiration for Bedore and highlighted some of her strengths as an educator: “Dr. Bedore is one of the most empathetic and compassionate instructors I've ever met. She truly cares for her students and wants them to thrive and grow as lifelong learners. She has an innate ability to detect when students are ready to be pushed outside their comfort zones and when they need to be supported where they are before moving on to the next step. She is a wonderful colleague, and I am incredibly privileged to have her as an example as I continue to grow as an advisor and educator.”

Bedore shared that she was part of her high school band and that her music teacher had a significant influence on her own approach to teaching. She explained that her teacher expected students to practice outside of class, while band time was devoted to teamwork, listening to one another, and developing life skills: “I actually think she spent more time listening to us talk and talking to us about life, then we did playing. But because we respected her and loved her so deeply, we would work hard outside of the classroom to get our parts right, so we could focus on teamwork in the classroom. I think that is what taught me that teaching is not about the subject as much as it is about building community. If you don't have community, you can't teach. So build a community first.”

Bedore provided the following advice for new college teachers: “At this point in time, you have an epic amount of knowledge at your fingertips, but try to remember when you started college. They are navigating leaving home for the first time, making new friends, developing executive functioning skills, planning their daily schedules. They are building new neural connections all day every day, and most of them are not about the content in their classes. Have grace, break it down, keep it a little more simple. Teach them how to do things, spark their curiosity. But most importantly, ask them how they are doing.”