Part-Time Faculty Award
Christina Erickson
Instructor, Health and Human Performance, CHPS
Christina Erickson joined the MSU Billings family as a part-time instructor in the College of Health Professions and Science in 2012, and quickly became a student favorite with her applied teaching approach.
Erickson鈥檚 industry work experience and background proves to be exceptionally beneficial to students. A scholar herself, she earned a master鈥檚 degree in exercise science and has authored a number of publications in her field. As a registered dietician, she has helped develop a medical weight management program; gives sports nutrition presentations, and designs nutrition programming for competitive weightlifting athletes. These experiences give Erickson vast real-world knowledge which she applies in her health and human performance classrooms.
Dynamic classrooms are a cornerstone of Erickson鈥檚 teaching. By employing projects, presentations, lectures, reports, and practical applications, students in Erickson鈥檚 classes are deeply engaged and play an interactive role in their learning experience. Student education goes beyond mastery of the material to applying, teaching and using the information in the future.
In her sports nutrition class, Erickson taught her students about the effects of fad diets on proper nutrition and negative effects on performance. She tasked them with giving a presentation in which they 鈥渟ell鈥� a fad diet to their classmates and then identify loopholes that make the diet ineffective.
Students note Erickson鈥檚 attention to detail, knowledge of course material and nutrition topics, and appreciate the way she keeps them interested. 鈥淪he is the best teacher I have ever had. Not only does she know the material she is teaching, she explains it in depth and really keeps you intrigued,鈥� shares a student. 鈥淚 learned more than I ever have in a nutrition class.鈥�
With a focus on the learning experience that extends beyond the classroom, rooted in retention of knowledge and coupled with enjoyment of coursework, Erickson truly employs a students-first approach in her teaching.