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Home » About Norwich » SGS Today »
[© iStockphoto.com/Grzegorz Lepiarz].
MJA instructor sees no drawbacks to online education
by Carrie L. Chandler, correspondent
© Dec. 19, 2008 Norwich University Office of Communications
Professor Frank Colaprete is proving that online education is no hindrance to a vibrant academic experience.
Colaprete, who has been a professor in Norwich's Master of Justice Administration program since 2005, works hard to distinguish himself and his students in the field of online education. A busy man, holding down other professorships as well as running his own company, Colaprete doesn't let anything hold him back.
"The intensity of the online program is 10 times more than an onsite program," he said. "There is far more work for the student and the professor."
For Colaprete, that intensity is most obvious in his desire to communicate with students. "Emails are the bane of our society," he said, noting that he prefers to talk with students on the phone. According to former student Mark Zito (MJA '07), Colaprete stood out because of his emphasis on personal communication.
"You could see it through his emails, but also through his follow-up conversations. He liked to talk to his students," Zito said. "I was shocked how much time he put into the classes and into each of the students."
Colaprete believes that it takes this investment of time to pass on his knowledge of both theory and real-world experience in justice administration to his students. "I am always asking myself how I am going to be the best teacher that I can be," he said. "I want to find ways to give my knowledge base to other people."
Serving as a member of the Rochester, N.Y., police force for 20 years gave him that real-world experience, and he believes it comes through in the way he teaches.
"The programs I teach are kind of different," Colaprete said. "You have theory guys and practical guys, and a lot of colleges have gotten away from hiring theory guys and instead hire practical guys because students want to come to class and learn how to do the job instead of learning the theory behind it." Colaprete said he doesn't fit either category.
"Students need to learn a balance. Fifty percent theory and 50 percent what we actually do," he said. "I have all the theory through education and the applied practice through my work experience."
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“When students understand that you support them, they get internal motivation to grow and do the best that they can,” Colaprete said. “It's a joy for me to get to see that process.” |
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According to his students, Colaprete is successful at bringing both sides to the virtual classroom. "Whatever you wanted out of his classes, you could get," said Zito.
By encouraging the students to do research relevant to their work environments, and then to publish that work, Colaprete links the theory they are studying to a real-world situation that matters to the student.
Colaprete, who has written two textbooks and many articles on police management, training and investigation, knows from experience that publishing is a form of continuing professional development. "I help push the students to the publishing side," he said. "I tell them there are a lot of people going through the same thing everywhere. I know that once they publish, people will call them to discuss it and it will become self perpetuating."
It seems to be working. Garrett Matson (MJA '07), a patrol officer with the Oskaloosa, Iowa, police department, worked with Colaprete on his capstone project — a paper on the implementation of tasers in police agencies. Although he has not yet published it, Matson plans to due to the encouragement of Colaprete. "We talked about how if publishing is what you are interested in, you have to go for it," he said. "You have to motivate yourself because no one else can do it for you."
Zito agreed. "Dr. Colaprete encouraged me to get my PhD and said that he would help with the process." He attributes the fact that he was successful in the MJA program to Colaprete.
"At one point, I was ready to drop the program due to some family issues, and his support was the reason that I didn't," Zito said.
That is a hallmark of Colaprete's teaching. "When students understand that you support them, they get internal motivation to grow and do the best that they can," he said. "It's a joy for me to get to see that process."
For Matson and Zito, it is working. With Colaprete's encouragement, Zito noted "not only did I finish, I graduated with a 4.0, and it was really because of him."
According to Colaprete, that is only the beginning. "I tell my students that when they leave here," he said, "they don't need to let their interest in learning die."
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