Rebecca Davis

Rebecca Davis’ philosophy of teaching has always been to make the material relevant to the real world, even before this was an initiative at Southeastern. A faculty member since 2003, Davis said her education in clinical audiology provided a relevant foundation for her teaching.

“My teaching philosophy has been shaped by my own educational experiences, the guidance of great mentors, and my students,” she said. “Nearly 17 years later, I hope I have contributed to my beloved profession by teaching a generation of new professionals who care about and contribute to the lives of individuals who have hearing loss.”

Davis’ teaching methods have been supported and recognized within the university, as well as nationally and internationally in publications and presentations. She is the only audiologist in a program dedicated to training speech-language pathologists, an unusual situation according to Health and Human Sciences Department Head Jacqueline Guendouzi.

“Rebecca’s role is highly specialized and specific: she must teach audiology from a speech-language pathology perspective so that students acquire the training required to serve every future client and to competently collaborate with future audiologist colleagues,” Guendouzi said. “She must teach not only the theoretical constructs and basic sciences associated with audiology, but also the applied skills involved with clinical practice.”

Southeastern graduate student Allison Soileau said that Davis is genuinely concerned with making her students the best – the best students, the best speech-language pathologists, and the best human beings.

“Dr. Davis does everything she can to prepare us in every way for what we will experience in the field,” she said. “She also does what she can to make sure that what our future clients will experience is a caring and loving advocate in addition to a competent clinician.”

“As I reflect on my career at Southeastern, my goals for teaching have remained focused on providing students with interesting experiences that engage them and prepare them to work in the real world, while maintaining high expectations,” Davis said. “However, I’ve learned that teaching must evolve within classes and over time, so that students are met ‘where they are’ and can continue to relate to me and learn from me.

“If I were to choose one thing that energizes and excites me about working at Southeastern, it would be my students,” she explained. “Thirteen of my former undergraduate students have gone on to enroll in and/or complete doctoral programs in audiology and several speech-language students have gone on to work specifically with individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. Observing them mature and develop into promising professionals makes me proud to be a small part of their lives.”