Faculty Profile
BradStockert

Physical Therapy professor Brad Stockert isn't afraid to mix and match high- and low-tech teaching methods, one of the reasons behind his Outstanding Teaching Award.

These days, teachers have access to any number of technological innovations to reach their students. But Stockert says sometimes Post-it notes and soda straws can be just as effective. The sticky notes and straws are attached to various parts of the leg as focal points to teach the students about the way people walk. Someone with flat feet has a completely different gait from someone with rigid arches, Stockert observes.

The advantage of using such common objects as teaching tools is that students can practice on their relatives at home, something they wouldn't be able to do with a computer model. "It's about teaching students how they can use things they already know and have available to them to enhance their learning," Stockert says.

He does the same thing with rubber bands and salad tongs, pointing out how they illustrate the expansion and contraction of the lungs.

Not that he will avoid higher-tech methods when they're called for. Stockert's students also use the patient simulators at Sacramento State's Division of Nursing. It's easier for a student to learn about taking vital signs such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure because the mannequins' rates can be set not to vary, and the volume can be raised the first few times to let the person know exactly what they're listening for.

The patient simulators also can be programmed to mimic medical emergencies a therapist might encounter in the real world.

"So it's rubber bands one day and the next day it's a $60,000 simulator," says Stockert. "It's not about high-tech or low-tech, it's about trying to match a technology for the best learning environment."

His approach of treating his class members as people first and students second is another factor behind Stockert's teaching success.

Stockert will extend deadlines if a student has had a personal or family emergency. It's a practice not followed by some other professors, who might believe everyone is subject to the same deadline, no matter what the individual factors. Stockert says he understands that approach from a fairness perspective, but adds that his field involves helping others return to work and improving their quality of life. "That's who we are as professionals and so I am just trying to bring that into the classroom," he says.

Sacramento State's ability to provide more accessibility to a more diverse student body was one of the reasons Stockert joined the faculty five years ago. With a bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University, a master's from Stanford and doctorate from UC Davis, Stockert was teaching at University of the Pacific in Stockton when he made the jump north.

Winning the award is the finishing touch to a very satisfying five years on the Sacramento State campus, says Stockert, whose love of teaching is reflected in the acknowledgment of his students and peers. "You don't get to this level, this recognition if you don't like what you do," he says.