Justus Ortega
Acting Dean (Fall 2024)
Dr. Justus D. Ortega, the Associate Dean of the College of Professional Studies at California State Polytechnic University at Humboldt in Arcata CA, serves as the Director of both the North Coast Concussion Program (NCCP), Director of the Cal Poly Humboldt Fall Prevention Program and affiliate researcher in the Cal Poly Humboldt Biomechanics Lab. Dr. Ortega’s biomechanics research focuses on factors that influence locomotion mechanics and efficiency. He is currently conducting a series of studies exploring the myths and science of running. At the Cal Poly Humboldt Fall Prevention program, Dr. Ortega is working with local health agencies including Area 1 Agency on Aging, Humboldt COunty Public Health, and United Indian Health Services to provide Fall risk assessments and Fall Prevention classes for North Coast seniors. In his most recent research studies, Dr. Ortega and his students assessed and GIS mapped the fall risk and fall prevention needs of seniors 65+ across Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. At the North Coast Concussion Program Dr. Ortega’s provides concussion education and diagnostic services for over twenty schools of Northern California including all k-12 schools in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, local community colleges and Humboldt State University. As part of his service, Dr. Ortega and his team provide concussion education and testing services for 4000+ athletes, coaches and parents. Dr. Ortega integrates his expertise in neurological control of movement and traumatic brain injury to investigate the effects of concussions on neurocognitive and motor control function. He also has a research interest in the impact of concussion management practices on incidence and recovery of concussion in youth sports. For the past several years, Dr. Ortega has been working collaboratively with 30 other universities around the country as a member of the NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium to gain a better understanding of the neuro biopsychosocial nature of concussive injury and recovery in order to ultimately enhance the safety and health of our student-athletes, service members, youth sports participants and the broader public. Dr. Ortega has also been working with the CSU Chancellor’s office, CSU system-wide Risk management and each of the 23 CSU campuses to assess and improve concussion injury management in accordance with CA state laws, NCAA rules and regulations as well as International and Inter-association best practices.
My role as a teacher is to provide knowledge and skills to students in such a way that 1) meets the goals and mission of the department and university, and 2) provides students with the greatest opportunity for success. My teaching philosophy is based on a commitment to teaching excellence that promotes learning.
Excellent teaching is an academic art. Much like painting a masterpiece, it involves some natural talent but it is not fully realized without thoughtful training, preparation, execution, and reflection. Just as a painter develops her skills with each stroke of paint, one can learn to be a better teacher though her interactions with each student in a classroom. Learning is both a continuum and a process. Just as each color on a painter’s palate reflects light differently, each student brings unique qualities and background that influence how they learn. Student diversity enriches the learning and teaching experiences by bringing different perspectives into the classroom. As a teacher, I try to nurture each student’s development as a learner by bringing to the classroom an array of lesson plans and teaching methods that address a diversity of learning styles. Learning is also a developmental process. As students move from class to class through their academic careers, they discover how they learn best. As part of the student-teacher relationship, I try to help each student discovery her/his learning strengths and build a repertoire of learning skills.
As a representative of the department and university, I have the responsibility of clearly understanding course objectives, coming to class prepared, and teaching with the highest ethical standards. Before teaching a new course, I determine the objective of the course within the overall departmental program as well as determine the specific skills and knowledge students are expected to gain from the course. In addition to discipline specific goals, I typically design a course to develop each student’s interdisciplinary skills such as scientific writing, oral presentation, basic reasoning/persuasion, and group problem solving. The position of “teacher” has both power and responsibility that demand the highest ethical standards- honesty, fairness, and respect. One way that I try to meet these standards is by clearly defining my grading, sexual harassment, and diversity policies on the first day of class and in the syllabus.
As a teacher, I have a responsibility to provide students with the greatest opportunity for success. I start this process by clearly defining my role as the instructor, the course expectations and outlines the lectures and assignments through out the semester. Next, I try to understand the motivations, career goals, and life-long goals of students to more effectively influence their ability to learn from my lessons. Also, by maintaining an active research program in exercise physiology, motor control, and biomechanics, I am able to incorporate new and relevant scientific findings into the current understanding of course concepts and provide a one on one learning environment for those undergraduate and graduate students interested in working on research projects.
Through my desire for teaching excellence, I actively seek feedback from students, peers and faculty on the effectiveness of my teaching. By asking “concept questions” during class and getting direct feedback in the form of end of lecture questions and end of semester student evaluations, I use student feedback to improve my teaching and students learning in the classroom. Student feedback helps me understand what concepts are being understood and what teaching methods are working. By asking for their feedback, students also feel more in control of their learning and reminds them that I really do care about their learning. This helps to build trust and a rapport with students both as a group and individually.
Ultimately, my success in the academic art of teaching depends on my genuine enthusiasm and commitment to being the best possible facilitator of learning. Thus, with thoughtful preparation, variety of teaching methods, formative feedback, and a passion for teaching, I strive to provide a learning environment accessible to a diverse student population with an array of learning styles. Although my teaching methods are constantly evolving in response to changes in students, course material, classroom situations, curriculum, and technology, I will always maintain one fundamental teaching principle; commitment to the art of excellent teaching that promotes learning.
