Dr. Daningburg gives students an edge with English
PECS Coordinator and Writing Professional Dr. Suzanne Daningburg shares a moment with students, from left, Ali Assi and Avik Sengupta. (Alex Wasylyk)
Ask Dr. Suzanne Daningburg to discuss her love of teaching and you will hear a lot – from her childhood fascination with writing to her palpable devotion to helping students succeed. But ask which subject she likes best and you won’t get much.
“I love everything related to learning more than I like one specific subject. I am fascinated with how people learn,” says Dr. Daningburg, who joined Marianopolis College as coordinator of the Preparation for English College Studies (PECS) program and Writing Professional in September 2008.
Her doctorate from Concordia University is in learning strategies and her area of interest is individual learning strategies. “Here at the College, it’s a pleasure to sit with a student, one on one, and figure out which learning style works best for that one student in particular,” she says. “Some students learn best by reading, some by looking at visuals and some by expressing their ideas out loud.”
Throughout the academic year, Dr. Daningburg gives workshops on writing, vocabulary, reading comprehension and more. “It’s important to keep individual student backgrounds in mind,” she explains. “For instance, conceptualizing ideas may be different in French, Cantonese, Mandarin, Szechwan, German, Turkish or Italian; every language and culture has its own perspective. Students at our school have a wealth of backgrounds to consider. And it’s not necessarily about students who are struggling. It’s about students who are competitive and want an edge, a little bit of help.” These services are provided at no additional charge to students.
Dr. Daningburg established drop-in times for herself and professional English monitors to allow students to seek advice and discuss issues of literacy on an as-needed basis.
This summer she is coordinating the PECS program for incoming students whose first language is not English. “That’s a super way to support students, especially those for whom this will be their first time in an English school. And it’s also a wonderful means of becoming familiar with Marianopolis before the fall semester starts.”
Before coming to the College, Dr. Daningburg’s career provided a wide berth of experience. As an educational consultant, she created training courses for clients such as the railway industry and the Canadian government. As a researcher, she explored the effects of learning strategies on learning outcomes. As a professor of graduate and undergraduate university courses for over 17 years at Concordia and McGill University, she adapted teaching techniques to individual learning styles and strategies. As manager of training in a large international information technology company, Dr. Daningburg conceptualized and oversaw the implementation of workplace training in various media for more than 6,000 employees. As faculty development coordinator at John Abbott College, Dr. Daningburg sought out ways to improve the classroom experience for teachers.
Another way in which she supports classroom literacy at Marianopolis is by working with professors across the College. “Professors are experts in their field, yet they may want support in helping students with expression and organization in English.
“These are initiatives and services that we are implementing because we are committed to student success,” she says. “When we say ‘English literacy’ or ‘classroom literacy,’ what we’re talking about is student success.”
Dr. Daningburg is available for consultation at ext. 279.
