Andy Goodman is the new associate provost for professional development and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UMSL. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Andy Goodman’s new role at the University of Missouri–St. Louis represents a homecoming for the long-time educator.

Goodman returned to Missouri more than 30 years after driving past campus every day en route to nearby Lutheran High School North where he was choir director. He began in January as associate provost for professional development and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UMSL. He is housed in the Office of Academic Affairs and reports to Provost Glen Cope.

“Dr. Goodman will work to ensure our students have an excellent learning experience by helping our faculty employ best practices in their curriculum,” Cope said. “His valuable insight comes from years of experience at a similar center at Boise (Idaho) State University, researching teacher preparation, working with faculty as a department chair and teaching music education courses. He is an excellent fit for the Center for Teaching and Learning.”

As associate provost, Goodman will work to maintain the Center for Teaching and Learning’s existing successful programs like Online in 9 and Blended Learning Circle. The center can also help faculty reevaluate their course structures, course goals and program outcomes to ensure everything being taught is aligned to help students develop the skills they need for entering the work force. Many of the center’s resources are devoted to helping faculty build outstanding online courses, but Goodman plans to push for additional support for course design within traditional classroom settings.

“We should be doing this not because I think courses are poorly designed, but after you’ve taught the same course twice a semester for 20 years, it can begin to get a little stale,” he said. “Working with the center, faculty would have the opportunity to either design a new course or redesign an old course to freshen it up and make sure it’s meeting the needs of students now.”

Another goal Goodman has for the center is to work with faculty to explore a wider range of new technologies in the classroom. He’s considering, for example, the implementation of what he’s calling a “gadget garage.” Faculty would be able to check out a gadget from the center and give it a whirl in their classrooms to see if it’s a fit. The price? Goodman would like faculty members to share what worked, what didn’t and why they think that was.

“It can be scary for faculty to try active-learning techniques,” he said. “But as new or re-envisioned approaches for teaching come about, we’re able to help faculty become comfortable with them, explore which ones would work best in their classrooms and then adopt those.”

Goodman earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Concordia Teacher’s College (now known as Concordia University – Seward) in Nebraska, a master’s degree in secondary education with an emphasis in music from Southwest Missouri State University (now known as Missouri State University) in Springfield and an EdD in general music education from the University of Illinois at Champaign–Urbana. He has taught in K-12 schools for 16 years and has worked in higher education for the last 15 years in Louisiana and Idaho.

Goodman’s research interests include music teacher preparation and exploring the effectiveness of online course evaluations. He is an active clinician in music education, specifically in teacher preparation and the Orff approach in classroom music. And with a faculty appointment in UMSL’s Department of Music, Goodman will again teach just two miles from his first teaching experience more than three decades ago at Lutheran North.