Michael L. Howell, Professor in the Department of Social Work. Mike joined the faculty in 2008 but as an NC native of Davie County, he has always been familiar with Appalachian State University. NC and ASU are “home” and he has never thought about leaving ASU for any other university. Mike’s research interests broadly relate to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and, mostly, are interdisciplinary and collaborative. Current and ongoing quantitative and qualitative projects include: 1. (with Emily Dakin) a content analysis of textbooks commonly used in a particular social work course that Emily Dakin and I each teach. 2. (with a librarian and professor from the Department of English) Undergraduates’ Information Seeking behaviors and Information Literacy knowledge, including the development of a new model. 3. (with a professor from the Department of Philosophy and Religion) Undergraduates’ “resistance” behavior in the classroom post-COVID. 4. (with multiple partners from multiple universities) The impact of SOTL conference attendance on SOTL research. 5. (with graduate students) What can be learned about teaching from teaching award recipients? His teaching is SOTL-informed and can be described as a combination of active learning, flipped learning, team-based learning, and problem-based learning. Mike was the Undergraduate Program Director in Social Work for 7 years and the Departmental Honors Director for 3 years. He has received the Beaver College of Health Sciences Service Award and has been nominated for the teaching award and advising award. A sage piece of mentoring advice: Don’t let life be all about work. Mike is an aspiring abstract artist (Sort of!) and recently performed in his first musical with a local community theater.
