Online Teacher of the Year 2024 — An interview with Cristina Reiser, Ph.D. of UNM’s Department of Economics
August 1, 2024 - Rick Robb, Sr. Student Success Specialist, UNM Online
Cristina Reiser with Amelia the Goose. Photo by Tim Orfield
Each year, The University of New Mexico’s Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee presents awards to exceptional faculty members, including the Online Teacher of the Year. Out of a strong pool of applicants, the award for the 2023-2024 academic year was given to Dr. Cristina Reiser of the Department of Economics.
Like many UNM undergraduates, Reiser was a first-generation student. After a “disastrous” first semester as an undergraduate, Reiser says she wasn’t sure if she was good enough to be successful in college. She was given the next semester to turn things around and enrolled in a Principles of Economics course. Soon after the semester ended, a hand-signed letter arrived from her professor who personally invited her to join the economics major at Salisbury University in Maryland. In the letter, the professor also congratulated her on her success in the class.
Though Reiser initially attributed that strong performance in Principles of Economics class to luck, she soon came to realize that it was more about that professor’s pedagogical approaches. She saw how a good instructor can make all of the difference in a student’s life. She has adopted that approach herself with the overarching goals for all students to be more confident in their abilities, appreciate the value of economic reasoning to everyday life, become responsible citizens, and to continue to be curious and passionate about learning.
In the notes from the Online Teacher of the Year selection committee, “with meaningful assignments prompts such as such as ‘Does Raising the Minimum Wage Kill Jobs?’ and ‘Does Income Inequality Really Matter?’, Dr. Reiser helps students to feel a sense of connection to the field of Economics as well as engaging them with the content and developing skills at research and collegial debate.”
Dr. Reiser’s commitment to the enhancement of teaching and learning has led to direct student benefit and thus to this well-deserved award. We were fortunate enough to catch up with her to have a chat about the award as well as her teaching experiences.
INTERVIEW
Rick Robb:Thanks for taking the time for this interview, Cristina. Why don’t we start with you telling us about your professional and educational background.
Cristina Reiser: I have a BA in Economics and a BS in Finance from Salisbury University, Maryland; and an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Tennessee—Knoxville. After graduate school, in 2012, I came straight to UNM and was hired as a Lecturer in the Department of Economics.
RR:Nice. Have you worked on any publications? Or are you focused on teaching?
CR: Well, currently, I’m a Senior Lecturer and the Undergraduate Director, which means my responsibilities are teaching as well as service. So, no publications, although in recent years I’ve spent a great deal of time taking in the literature on pedagogy, especially as it relates to the economics curriculum.
RR:Interesting. Having been awarded “Online Teacher of the Year”, you must have some great classes you teach online.
CR: I teach a range of online courses—from general education to a 400-level capstone course. Specifically, they are ECON 2110: Macroeconomics Principles and ECON 2120: Microeconomics Principles (both of which won Golden Paw certification for best practices), ECON 300: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory I, ECON 307: Economics Tools, ECON 315: Money and Banking, and ECON 424: International Trade.
RR:You mentioned coming from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (where last year’s online teacher of the year earned her bachelor’s!) Did you have opportunities to teach fully-online classes there? What concepts for online pedagogy did you bring from there when you came to UNM?
CR: I actually didn’t! When I think about it, we didn’t really use many of the online tools we have today like Canvas or MyLab, even just to supplement in-person classes. But I knew I wanted a teaching-focused career and saw that UNM had posted an ad for a Lecturer in the Department of Economics. The ad stated that part of my responsibilities would be developing online principles-level economics courses, as the department didn’t offer any online courses yet.
RR: So, you really started from square one.
CR: Right. Even though I didn’t have that online-teaching experience, I was excited about the position because I knew how valuable an online education could be.
RR: How so?
CR: While I was in grad school, my mom decided, in her mid-40s, that she wanted to stop cleaning houses and become a nurse. And she did! She took in-person and online courses, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (with top honors, might I add!), and became a nurse. She passed away a few years ago, but I know she loved every minute of her life as a nurse. Every minute. And online education gave her that opportunity.
So, my [online] experience was lacking, but I came to UNM passionate about teaching and with an understanding of how important it is to make high-quality education accessible to everyone. Plus, I knew I could learn the skills to do it effectively, especially with the support my department and UNM Online (back then it was called Extended University) provided.
RR:Your mom’s story is pretty inspirational! As the most recent recipient of the Online Teacher of the Year, you’re in the company of some stellar online instructors.
CR: I sure am! If there is one thing that I know, it’s that I don’t know a lot. There’s a large community of dedicated instructors and instructional designers at UNM. So, learning from my peers has had a hugely positive influence on how I teach.
RR:What sort of interaction do you have with other online instructors either from Economics or other UNM departments?
CR: You know, I’m glad you asked this question because I can’t stress enough how incredibly beneficial it has been to connect with my colleagues in and outside of my department over the years. I think it’s easy for many of us to get set in habits, teach how we were taught, or do what’s most comfortable in the classroom.
There is a lot of interaction, both informal and formal and it’s been eye-opening to see the creative ways instructors use to engage students, the types of assessments they come up with, and how they generally elevate the learning environment, particularly for online courses. But also, being a part of these conversations has built my confidence as a faculty member—just being able to share experiences and ideas in a nonjudgemental zone with others, get feedback, and feel supported took things to a different level for me. It’s also inspiring to observe these superstar teachers in their element!
The Department of Economics has multiple faculty members who have won UNM, CAS, and UNM Online teaching awards through the years, and we’re fortunate to have a lot of great graduate student instructors, too. I am pretty much surrounded by incredible teachers who go above and beyond for our students; a good number of us teach online, and we’re always chatting about how our courses are going and what new things we’re trying out in them.
More formally, we have an annual Undergraduate Workshop where instructors get together to discuss the undergraduate program. We use feedback from our majors and data on academic outcomes—what are we doing well, what can we do better, what is the action plan to do better, and so on—which includes the online curriculum. So, this sort of more formal interaction among the department’s instructors has been very productive in guiding the direction of the undergraduate program.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to learn from instructors across the university as a UNM Online course reviewer, working with the instructional designers, and as a fellow for the Student Experience Project (SEP) and Expanding Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (ECURE). As a reviewer, I get to observe other instructors’ online courses from the student’s perspective and chat with the instructor about their pedagogical choices. Instructional designers like Bill Swann are full of ideas for engaging students in the online environment. And SEP and ECURE have communities of practice where instructors frequently get together to discuss all things teaching-related.
RR: What informs the pedagogical choices you make in developing an online class?
CR: A lot! Certainly, what I’ve learned from my peers informs many of my pedagogical choices, ranging from what skills I can focus more on to better prepare students for upper-level courses to new assessments and updated interaction strategies. Also, the pedagogical training I’ve had through UNM Online, CTL’s Course Design Institute, SEP, and ECURE has had a major influence on how I teach.
You know, there are a lot of misconceptions about economics. Many students think it’s only about money or the stock market, that it doesn’t really relate to issues they might find meaningful, or they think they can’t do well in it because it’s “math-ier” than other social sciences. But all of this is untrue! For me, this means that I try to be intentional about what and how I teach but also the overall learning environment that I create for students (especially for intro courses, which tend to be the first time that students come into contact with economics).
I’ve mentioned SEP and ECURE previously—they have been monumental in how I see myself as an educator of economics and the choices I make in the classroom. In many ways, these initiatives changed my perspective on what I want students to leave my courses with beyond the standard course-specific knowledge and skills; and taught me marginal and manageable changes I can make to get students to those goals. For any course, I want students to be more confident in their abilities to understand and use economics, recognize the relevance of economics to their everyday lives, and have a desire to learn more about the world around them. Regardless of content and instructional method, I really try to promote a sense of belonging and a growth mindset, have students connect the material to their own life, showcase the diversity of economists and issues so students see themselves represented in the economics, use active learning, and provide space for students to interact with me, the teaching team, and their peers.
When I first started to use tools that promoted concepts like self-efficacy and growth mindset, I honestly thought it wouldn’t make a big difference—“of course, students know that they can learn and improve, that challenges are normal, and to reach out if they are struggling; surely, they see how economics is everywhere in their life; scaffolded projects to provide feedback—they will hate the frequency of work” and so on. I was wrong. By making small changes to the learning environment (not to the content, standards, instructional techniques), my students had “some of the largest increases” and “significantly higher end-of-semester positive ratings” relative to courses from six other institutions in measures of trust and fairness, self-efficacy, growth mindset, identity safety, social belonging, and social connectedness. I also had many more students participating in the class, attending drop-in hours, had lower DFW rates, and they reached out when struggling well before the end of the semester. All in an online course!
Of course, I must make sure that I’m meeting best practices in online courses specifically. For this, I refer to the backward design approach and use UNM’s Online Learning Excellence Framework, which has been incredibly helpful for developing a virtual classroom. Seriously! It’s amazing. I know this sounds like I’m getting paid to say that but I’m not. The framework is something—it’s easy to follow and provides evidence-based practices to make the best online learning environment possible. It does more than ensure the design of an online course makes logistical sense; it emphasizes strategies like scaffolding, feedback, practice, peer collaboration, diversity of materials and methods, accessibility, instructor presence, and so on. So, making sure that I meet those standards has been incredibly helpful. I use it to design in-person courses, too.
RR: I remember some of my college instructors saying at the end of the year that they’d learned more from us than we had from them. I always assumed they meant this regarding the course subject matter. But you’ve learned from your students in a way I hadn’t thought about.
CR: I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that student feedback has been equally valuable. Learning from our students has been ingrained in our economics department—for over a decade, we’ve used their feedback to inform and revise the curriculum. And this is no different for our classes. In recent years, I’ve mustered up the courage to get out of my comfort zone and try new things in the classroom—
RR: That’s always a challenge.
CR: True, but student feedback has been constructive. Being transparent with students from the beginning and asking for their thoughts goes a long way. For example, I required a group research paper the first time I taught online ECON 424: International Trade. Disaster. But we all went into it knowing that kinks might happen and their input would help improve the course for future students. While the projects ended up being pretty great, the experience for the students was…unduly stressful. I used their feedback to revise the project to an individual research proposal where students peer-reviewed each other’s work as part of weekly research roundtables. It was one of the most fun classes ever, and I am excited to teach it again this year!
RR: I still see a stigma attached to online learning, especially in the area of online degree programs. What’s your take on that?
CR: This is a good, big question. One of the misperceptions is that an online degree is not as rigorous or high quality as an equivalent traditional degree. And part of academic quality and rigor is, of course, ensuring academic integrity in the process. This has been a topical concern with online and in-person education, particularly if students are using AI to complete written work as their own (e.g., papers), which makes it difficult for educators (and the students themselves!) to know if actual learning of the standards is being met. And it’s a big deal because when the academic integrity of an assessment, a course, or a program is compromised, those doors may ultimately be shut; and this makes education less accessible, especially to those populations who might need access to it the most.
RR: What do you feel could help change that view?
CR: So, one thing that institutions or programs can do to lessen the stigma is to have and be public-facing about how they ensure the academic quality and rigor of their programs. UNM Online is a prime example of this. Students of UNM Online can point to its HLC accreditation status, compliance with state and federal distance learning regulations, the pedagogical training requirements to be an online instructor, and the required standards and review processes that all online courses must meet before being put on the schedule.
Certainly, part of this is keeping online educators informed on best practices, especially regarding academic integrity when things like AI exist. Especially strategies that go beyond punitive measures, such as how we redesign assessments, how we might use AI as a teaching tool, what language we should use in a syllabus, etc. Again, UNM does an excellent job of providing these sorts of resources to us. My job as an educator is to create learning environments that incentivize students to have a genuine desire to learn about economics and engage with the learning process to meet the course standards; after that, I believe the market will work out the rest. Maybe that’s an unpopular opinion, but what I mean is that students who focus on learning and not just getting a grade will ultimately be the ones with the advantage post-graduation.
RR:The first online class I took as an undergraduate, back around 2008, was Macroeconomics and it really opened my eyes to how economies work. In what ways do you feel that the online modality works well (or not) for teaching economics?
CR: I am pleased to hear that! However, I should tell you that the Federal Reserve uses different monetary tools now.
RR: Ah! Maybe I need to take a refresher class.
CR: Economics works well for online modalities! What sometimes trips students up is the pace of a course, as most of our online courses are 8-weeks long. Some course content is much harder to digest in that time frame, but that’s true across disciplines and course delivery methods.
Economists are storytellers, artists, builders, and data detectives. That description might be theatrical (I think it’s fun!), but we like to explain the world around us in different ways—through words, visuals, models, and real-world data. I bring that up because I think it aligns well with the benefits of online modalities. Online modalities tend to create a space where students can learn about a concept or a skill by picking and choosing the resource that best suits their learning style. So, if a student wants to understand the “market mechanism,” the online course might have readings, visuals, mathematical models, data, simulations, etc., that a student can choose from. Of course, in-person classes can have this too, I just think that the online environment gives the student a bit more flexibility to personalize their learning experience.
RR: You’re clearly passionate about teaching. What’s something that makes you come alive when you’re teaching?
CR: What don’t I love!? Just talking about what economics really is to students makes me come alive. I find economics exciting—this exceptionally creative way to think about the world and how we make decisions, to try to understand and improve what is happening around us. My colleagues are all stellar researchers, and sharing their latest research with students showcases just how broad the discipline is—education policy, healthcare, immigration, connections between environment and health, cannabis, substance abuse, water resource management, well-being, and the list goes on.
RR: What about outside of the classroom? What helps you recharge your batteries?
CR: Outside of teaching…well, I’m pretty boring! I enjoy being outside and spending downtime with my family, friends, and pets. The perfect morning for me is grabbing my coffee and crosswords and sitting outside with my husband, Tim; our earless cat, Lavarre; and our pet geese (Frenchie, Amelia, and Penny) by my side. I also love playing soccer (although my ankles and knees are not liking it as much now that I’m older), gardening, and cooking. I’m a terrible gardener, but am learning. And I’m fortunate to have a strong support system of family and friends; many are scattered across the country, so catching up with them always makes my day.
RR: What is one big thing you want other instructors and/or academic departments to know about creating or teaching successful online courses?
CR: Ooh, tough to pick one thing. But if I had to: how you design the online course matters more than you think. Creating and teaching a successful online course is challenging but meaningful! It isn’t just a means to deliver content, throw some lectures up, be a talking head, and give exams. It is a very different beast than in-person and requires much more preparation, interaction, and intentional design of the learning environment, assessment, and evaluation criteria. Use your support systems like UNM Online, your instructional designer, and colleagues, and join university teaching development or other initiatives when they become available.
RR: When I taught online classes myself, I found that some students thought online learning was the best way to take classes while others struggled with the pace, especially in 8-week courses. What are a few things you think prospective online students should know before registering for an online course or degree?
CR: Great question! I think it’s really important to be transparent about expectations, so my top would be:
- Definitely go through the UNM Online Readiness Guide and Best Practices Checklist to make sure online learning is a good fit for you. We all have different learning styles, and nothing is wrong with that!
- The required time commitment and time management skills are real. 18 hours per week is no joke. Create a weekly routine and allocate the time you can realistically dedicate to the course, given other priorities. If you’re struggling to find the 18 hours, the 8-week course may not be a fit for you right now, and that’s OK. Check to see if there are other in-person or 16-week options.
- Discipline is a pre-req. You have to be disciplined enough to sit down in a distraction-free zone and engage with the course, whether you’re up for it or not. It’s like working out at the gym. You just have to do it.
- It is challenging but rewarding. The standards are not lowered because it’s an 8-week or an online course. Most students will tell you that the online course is even more rigorous than an equivalent 16-week course but they find the material engaging and rewarding. So, stick with it and reach out to the teaching team and support services when you are struggling! We are here to help you succeed!
RR: Great advice. Thank you so much for your time, and again, congratulations on this award.
1 These initiatives were part of the UNM Provost Challenge for Excellence and Equity—the NSF-funded Expanding Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (ECURE) and UNM Student Experience Project (SEP). While both aim to improve equity and academic outcomes by improving students’ learning experience, they use different albeit related mechanisms. See Increasing Equity in Student Experience: Findings from a National Collaborative (2022) and An Expanded Framework for Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (ECURE) in General Education Courses (2022) for more information.
About the writer: Rick Robb has been at UNM since 2006 as an undergraduate, grad student and, for ten years, taught first and second-year college writing courses in-person and online. He has been with UNM Online since early 2020 and currently serves as a Sr. Student Success Specialist, helping current and prospective online students navigate the world of online learning.
UNM Online’s Student Success team is ready to support you. Call 505-277-9000 or email online@unm.edu. Join them on Zoom for Virtual Advisement Hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to Noon, meeting ID: 967 7118 3893.
