A native of Shandong, Qingdao, China, Dr. Lu arrived at Spelman in fall 2008 to help establish the College’s Chinese Studies program. He previously served as a part-time computer technology instructor while pursuing his doctoral degree in instructional technology at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. As assistant professor of Chinese in the department of world languages and literature, Zhengbin Richard Lu, Ed.D., firmly believes that American students cannot compete in a global economy if they lack knowledge about other cultures and languages, especially Chinese.
Dr. Lu now utilizes digital technology and mixed media to help students master the Chinese language. Using a computer, for example, he shows students how to write Chinese characters, demonstrating the motion and trajectory of each stroke on the screen. “It makes learning more vivid,” he explains. “It also saves labor and time, and makes teaching even more flexible.”
As a supplement to classroom teaching, Dr. Lu pairs students with peers in China as “keypals” to encourage distance learning, and also uses multimedia formats such as audio, text, video and photography to reinforce instruction. He’s even created his own version of “Jeopardy,” which requires students to provide the English translation of Chinese words. Dr. Lu sees the game as another way to engage students. “Chinese is a hard language, but the difficulties can be overcome,” he says.
Ed.D., Texas Tech University
M.Ed., Instructional Technology.
B.A., English Education