College of the Pacific
Qingwen Dong
Qingwen Dong, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair
Department of Communication
University of the Pacific
Teaching approach
My teaching focuses on experiential learning. I believe that college learning is not simply to memorize ideas, concepts, and theories from textbooks. The key is to apply those concepts and ideas into practice, generating an impact on the students' own activities as well as self development and social advancement. Since I started teaching at Pacific in 1995, every semester I have directed my students to engage in a real research project, collecting a sample of 300-400 questionnaires. Students first come up with a communication research idea, develop a measurement/instrument, put their measurements into a class questionnaire, collect real data, analyze data and write their own research papers. This experiential learning approach emphasizes on the students' own research interests and hands-on experience. By the end of the semester, students have learned how to propose a question, find a way to investigate it, and interpret and communicate the findings. Every year, I have taken 3-5 undergraduate students to present their research papers at regional/national conferences. I firmly believe that this experiential learning approach is the most effective way to help students learn communication knowledge and develop communication competence.
