Dr. Dan Shepherd, Associate Professor of Education, recently returned from a spring break trip to Bangladesh. He traveled with a team of six other Americans to do service work among refugees.

Dr. Adrienne Johnson, Chair of the Department of Education and Director of the TESOL Graduate Program, participated in an English Language Specialist project in Taiwan with the .

She delivered half-day and multi-day trainings across Taiwan on topics related to teaching STEM content in English.

Of the 221 participants, many were English teachers, but a number of the teachers were content area teachers, teaching content areas such as math, science, culinary skills, special education, healthcare, and more. The different backgrounds of the teachers provided an opportunity to demonstrate purposeful grouping strategies and model teaching methods that support content area learning even despite lower language proficiency levels.

Participants in this project learned research-based, best practices in content-based instruction through a variety of hands-on, interactive activities.They learned how to teach content in English through modeled high-impact strategies that are easily transferable to a variety of settings and require very few resources.

Workshops also included specific discussions on how to adjust activities and goals to meet students鈥� needs and curriculum expectations.

Dr. Johnson modeled how to support a gradual implementation of teaching content in English, and helped participants see that, with proper support, even students at the lowest levels of language proficiency can make gains in content area knowledge, with English as a medium of instruction.

The workshops provided an opportunity for both Dr. Johnson and the participants to learn more about the Taiwanese and American school systems.

Dr. David Tushaus, professor of legal studies, earned a Fulbright Scholar award and served as a consultant for Banaras Hindu University鈥檚 legal aid clinic in Varanasi, India.

In 2017, he also worked as a Fulbright Specialist in The Gambia. While there, he helped create a Street Law program with The University of The Gambia Law School.

Learn more about Dr. Tushaus’ important work abroad at his .

More about his time in India:

鈥淣ot a day goes by that I don鈥檛 think of India,鈥� David said in his blog after he returned. 鈥淲e had an opportunity to meet some wonderful people, make friends, experience new cultures and enjoy sights, sounds and tastes that were exciting and delicious.鈥�

David worked with law students at the university鈥檚 legal aid clinic, helping them expand their services. He wished he could鈥檝e stayed longer to accomplish more.

He also gave lectures across India and in Bangladesh and conducted a workshop for professors from about 40 universities on how to expand their legal aid programs. 鈥淚t was very rewarding. Being a visiting professor at BHU and lecturing around Asia was one of the greatest experiences of my professional life,鈥� David said.

He and his wife were encouraged to hire a cook during their stay, and they were glad they took that advice. 鈥淲e ate better there than we eat here. We never chose to eat out because the food was so good at home.鈥�

When he returned, Dr. Tushaus continued a study he began with 10 students and an Indian professor, where they are surveyed law schools in India regarding their legal aid clinics. He also worked with a group in Bangladesh who’s goal was to establish legal aid clinics in its law schools.

鈥淭he entire experience was extremely interesting. I would highly recommend to anyone interested in something very different to go. It鈥檚 a challenge but well worth it.鈥�

Bamberg, Germany

Zheijiang, People’s Republic of China