March 29, 2011 - 8:13pm
Professor Profile: Jeff Ringenberg
BY ALEXA BREEDVELD
Though Engineering Lecturer Jeff Ringenberg is best known for his attitude in the lecture hall, many of his students are more familiar with him outside of the classroom.
“I teach on Central Campus, and I ride the bus down,” he said. “And every single time I’ve gone down there, I’ve talked with a student from a previous semester.”
As one of the instructors for Engineering 101 — a mandatory class for freshmen engineering students — Ringenberg plays a large role in guiding those who come to Ann Arbor with hopes of being engineers.
“One year, I had three sections of 101, and there are six sections,” Ringenberg said. “So I taught half of all the freshman in Engineering.”
Ringenberg directs students through their first projects as engineers. He said he tries to keep his courses relevant for students by integrating new and advancing technology.
“I think that students grow up with (technology) nowadays, and it’s a part of their lives," Ringenberg said. “I’d rather that they experience something in the classroom that they’re used to than something they’ve never really had as a part of their lives.”
Ringenberg oversees projects ranging from basic programming to developing new iPhone applications.
“One group (of students) is working on a program to help students learn how to program for the iPhone, and hopefully for the iPad when it comes out,” Ringenberg said. “Another one of the groups is working on a native application for CTools.”
Ringenberg is also working on his own projects. He said most of these projects revolve around teaching and classroom innovations.
“I’m thinking about having students use their cell phones to take online question and answer (quizzes), so they don’t have to buy that $80 clicker,” he said referring to Qwizdom — a clicker required in many large lecture classes at the University.
Ringenberg has turned one of his projects into a classroom competition in Engineering 101, called Michigan Lecturer Competition. Students break up into teams and present to the class. Then students vote on the presentation they like best.
In addition to his time teaching engineers here in Ann Arbor, Ringenberg has also taught overseas.
“I taught for two summers in China. That’s something students might not know about me,” Ringenberg said. “And I met (former Michigan football coach) Lloyd Carr in China. He had just gotten an honorary doctorate from U of M, so I thought it was really funny that he was a doctor and I was a doctor, so I took the picture with him.”
