After spending some time instructing fellow
combat medics in the US Army, I found myself returning to civilian life with a
penchant for teaching. Several years
later, I made a transition from soldier to student- a transition which
presented a unique and challenging new “mission” for me. I recal my separation
from the US Army shortly after the events of 9/11, but, as I was receiving my
honorable discharge papers, many other soldiers were receiving their deployment
papers. Unsurprisingly, I soon found a new home with the American Heart
Association (AHA) and American Red Cross as a civilian-side emergency response
training and preparedness instructor. I am proud of the nearly 13 years I’ve
spent training clinicians and the community, and, as an international AHA
instructor, I feel fortunate to have train people all over the world. 
Today, we see thousands of US military/service
members returning home from their deployments and discharge from service and
universities like Mason are seeing a sharp increase in veteran enrollment. Many
of us veterans know little else other than the highly regulated and controlled
learning environments in the military. Now, in the new civilian environment,
the collegiate professors present veterans with a new structure of immediacy -
one in which more relaxed interpersonal constructs and behaviors are
acceptable. I’ve found that often times, veterans struggle with the new
autonomous and lenient instructional practices. As a veteran, Communication
major, and aspiring professor, a positive instructor-student relationship has
been integral to my learning experience and future academic work. To this end,
my research investigates instructor immediacy (communicative behavioral practices),
which have long been reputed for having a strong and positive correlation with
various students’ learning outcomes.
Specifically, my research will attempt to identify how verbal &
nonverbal instructor immediacy affects student-veterans' cognitive and affective
learning outcomes.
This week in my research, I am taking my newly
IRB approved questionnaire to the veterans at Mason. I must admit that I
severely underestimated the IRB approval process - not even the tiniest stone
was left unturned by the board. Now that
that lesson’s been ingrained, I’m ready to leave the planning phase and finally
begin the real study. After reaching out to the George Mason Veteran’s Society,
I’m having a number of them help me kick-off the first round of surveys. I’m hoping
to secure at least 75 responses but cannot settle for less than 50 if I’m going
to stay on pace to hit 250 total participants.With over 1500 student-veterans
at Mason, I like my chances at hitting my first week’s numbers!!
