College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• Constant change

  Chad Gasta says his classes are never the same year to year.
  
  

• Students who take Chad Gasta's "Spanish Civilization and Culture" (Spanish 321) course one year wouldn't recognize it if they dropped in on one of his lectures the following fall.
  
  "I teach that course every year and every year there is new stuff to talk about," the assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures says. "What was important last year to Spaniards isn't necessarily important this year."
  
  While he was in Spain this summer, co-directing the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures' study abroad program in Alicante, he was also getting first-hand information for Spanish 321.
  
  Spaniards, he says, are currently concerned with social issues such as gay marriage and spousal abuse.
  
  This is just one way that Gasta says all of his courses undergo constant change. That means new quizzes and tests. PowerPoint presentations need to be redone. New required readings are added.
  
  "This fall (for Spanish 321) I scrapped a couple of chapters from the textbook, expanded the contemporary Spanish portion of the course and thrown out all 40 readings I had listed for the class last year while adding 16 new readings," he said. "I think I change everything in my courses every year – at least how I approach how I teach the classes.
  
  "My teaching style is flexible so that if things are not working well, we can change direction."
  
  Gasta says he does that quite often. He hasn't yet hit upon a particular style of teaching he really likes.
  
  "I haven't found a method that works for every course, in every class, each and every year," he said. "I'm constantly changing my approach. Some things work and some don't, but the principles stay the same.
  
  "It's the day-to-day business that's different every year."
  
  While he might be changing from year to year, the students know what to expect from a Chad Gasta class.
  
  "My courses are highly organized so that students are always aware of what we are studying, why we are studying it and where our learning will go next," he said.
  
  The constant changing, different teaching styles and a sense of organization may also contribute to the assistant professor of Spanish's feedback from his students. He consistently receives high marks on student evaluations, both statistical and written.
  
  One student stated of Gasta, "This was far and away the best and most challenging class I have had in my four years at Iowa State – within my major and outside of it."
  
  Another says, "I really feel I learned an exceptional amount in this class. Professor Gasta used the book and technology plus his knowledge to give us a better understanding of the course."
  
  Those evaluations and his efforts in the classroom recently earned Gasta the ISU Foundation Award for Early Achievement in Teaching, an award given to faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding teaching performance unusually early in their professional careers. He was recognized earlier this semester at the fall University Convocation.
  

Chad Gasta

Around LAS
October 3-16, 2005

Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111. Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu. Copyright © 1995-2004, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved.

Non-Discrimination Statement and Information Disclosures

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Ames, Iowa 50011-1302

General Information: (515) 294-7740

Academic Advising: (515) 294-4831

Email: las@iastate.edu

Michael Whiteford - Dean

Bret Larwick - Director of Technology

Dave Gieseke - Director of Communications