John Rozean is a Mathematics instructor at Columbia College who teaches classes in the Evening Program and virtually through the Online Program.
Rozean has been a member of the CC faculty for four years. He is highly regarded for his approach to teaching math and his strong desire to help students understand concepts and gain confidence in their skills.
Get to know Rozean in a Q&A with CC Connected below!
What is a highlight of your professional career outside of Columbia College?
“I must go back to my days when I was serving in the U.S. Army in South Korea. … While in Korea, I worked with Korean Augmentees to the U.S. Army. They were Korean soldiers working hand-in-hand with the U.S. military. The Korean soldiers in my platoon nominated me, and somehow, I got this award, and it was focused on me being an example of continued good relations at the Army sergeant level to maintain the allied relations of Korea and the United States. And that meant the most to me out of all the awards I ever got in the military.”
What is the story of how you first started teaching at Columbia College?
“There was a need for an instructor to teach Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 over the summer. Everything was all set up with the syllabus and the course layout and with the textbook. … I felt (the short turnaround) could be a bit of a challenge; but in retrospect, after my four years with Columbia College, I’m glad I made the choice to take on that challenge. I feel Columbia College is a great place to be an adjunct instructor.”
What do you take the most pride in with your teaching at Columbia College?
“Being an evening adjunct instructor, I did have some adjustments to make at first. But things came along well. … I was able to take the required material and expand on that and in some cases dig deeper through using the wonderful technology in D2L. I have been making videos for certain concepts. And of course, I always record my lectures on Zoom. The challenge of any eight-week course is class time. I’m discovering ways to use technology to help by minimizing the amount of class time needed to learn mathematical concepts – technologies such as videos and PDF note-taking guides. … I think spending time teaching math technology is very helpful and adds to student understanding.”
Why is teaching important to you?
“Almost all of today’s careers focus on the present … teaching is all about the future.”
Columbia College’s Adjunct Faculty Spotlight series celebrates our talented adjunct faculty members around the country who teach in the Online Program or at one of the college’s nationwide locations. If you would like to recommend an adjunct faculty member for a future spotlight, email Strategic Communications at pr@ccis.edu.
