On February 12, 2021, FACET hosted a virtual celebration the finalists for the fourth annual Innovate Awards on Excellence in Teaching. The category winners were also announced and are designated below.
Finalists for the category of Collaborative Activities
Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick, IUPUC
- IUPUI Chancellor’s Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; IU Bicentennial Professor (2019-2021); Founding Director of the Office of Student Research at IUPUC.
- Concept Maps as a Collaborative Learning Activity
- The concept map assignment is a collaborative activity that requires students to engage in meaning making with their professor and other students of the course, as well as participating (at a remove) from scholars in the discipline. Essentially, the concept map becomes a tool of creative inquiry that promotes critical thinking and assessment individually and collaboratively.
James Mendez, IUPUC
- Associate Professor of Chemistry and Program Coordinator of Chemistry; Division Head of Science
- Chemistry and Chaos: A Role-Playing Game for Learning Chemistry
- In Chemistry and Chaos, students take on the role of a chemist and go on an epic quest to solve mysteries, fight monsters, explore new locations, and hopefully learn some chemistry. This is a role-playing game (RPG) similar to Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) but instead of using swords and magic to fight monsters, our heroes use chemistry. Chemistry and Chaos is designed such that the framework can be used for a variety of courses.
Kevin McElmurry, IU Northwest - Winner
- Associate Professor and Department Chair, Sociology and Anthropology; FACET Associate Director, IUN campus
- The Island Exercise
- A small airplane has crashed and only 10 passengers have survived. A rescue helicopter is inbound, but can hold 5 people… After setting the scene above (in dramatic fashion), 10 volunteers pick an identity out of a hat. Then the group leaves the room to create a back story for themselves. When they return, the volunteers make their case for a seat on the helicopter. The remainder of the class form groups and asks questions of the survivors. Students record their own choices fand rationale for each. We debrief with a discussion of roles, statuses, and social identities.
Finalists for the category of Community Engagement
Jonathan Racek, IU Bloomington
- Area Coordinator, Comprehensive Design; Senior Lecturer, Comprehensive Design; Co-Director, ServeDesign Center
- Prototyping Across Continents: Designing local solutions for Rural Rwanda
- In 2018, I traveled to a high school in Musanze, Rwanda to install a 3D printer. The idea was to set up a system of design and prototyping between a rural community in Rwanda and my design students at IU. A teacher at the Rwandan high school worked with his students to canvas community members to understand what tools could help make life easier. My students created multiple designs which were first prototyped in cardboard and then prototyped using a 3D printer. Each student created a total of 4 designs and prototypes for their tool. After presenting to a group of experts, these final designs were emailed to the school to be 3D printed. The intention was employ these printed designs in the community to get additional feedback about how they could be improved for yet another iteration.
Kimberly McInerney, IU South Bend - Winner
- Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies; Coordinator of the Public Speaking Course
- The Real World South Bend: Bridging the Gap Between the Classroom and the Field
- The Public Relations Campaigns class partners with a local non-profit organization on an opportunity or need identified by the organization. The students are divided into groups that act as public relations firms for the semester. The firms begin working on developing a campaign by following their textbook to execute research, create strategy, draft communication tactics, and develop evaluation methods. I ask the organization to give students a calendar of events or volunteer times when the students can participate to get a better understanding of the organization’s mission, values, and needs. Each firm delivers a 10-minute presentation where they pitch their campaign. The organization then has time to ask questions of the firm and their campaign. Each group provides the organization with a binder that details the campaign and any resources needed for implementation. The organization chooses one firm as the “hired” firm, or the best campaign. The firm that “wins” is exempt from the final.
Mohammad Merhi, IU South Bend
- Department Chair and Associate Professor, Decision Sciences
- Creating Database System For Local Businesses
- For the past 5 years, my students have created many databases and websites for local businesses. Students select a company and identify a project to investigate, analyze, and present solutions to a current problem involving information systems. They present their solutions based on ideas and concepts they have learned in class. They collect data and analyze various options from employees and other colleagues who have experience with the problem they are solving. At the end of the project, students submit their written proposal and present their solutions to the company’s owner.
Finalists for the category of Creative Uses of Online Tools
Amanda Carmack, IU East - Winner
- Associate Dean for Nursing Undergraduate Program; Assistant Professor, School of Nursing and Health Sciences
- Virtual Reality Simulations and Developing Empathy and Compassion in the Undergraduate Nursing Student
- To ensure our students develop a sense of compassion toward patients with dementia, I implemented a strategically placed virtual reality (VR) simulation experience in the curriculum. The experience began with students attending practicum at a dementia care unit the week prior. Students also prepared by assigned readings from their textbooks and a worksheet regarding Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s disease. The assignment also offered me the opportunity to identify gaps in student knowledge and understanding. During the simulation experience, the students embodied Dima, a Lebanese-American immigrant, demonstrating symptoms of both Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s disease. The students experienced the patient’s disease progression as she transitioned from receiving care at home to care in a residential community. During the debriefing, the students opened up about the frustration they felt when embodying Dima, the feeling of being dehumanized and losing their identity.
Oi Lin Cheung, IU East
- Associate Professor, Finance; Director, Center for Business and Economic Research
- “Automated” Hypothetical Case Study in Foundation Finance Course
- An instructor-written comprehensive hypothetical case study is divided into 3 parts – Part 1: Summary Writing (built on Canvas using the Quizzes tool), Part 2: Calculation (built on McGraw-Hill Connect) and Part 3: Essay/Analysis (built on Canvas using the Quizzes tool). Students need to open the 3 parts of the case study to read the requirements for each part before they start working on it. After they have read and understood the case background information, they are required to write a summary (and submit to Quizzes on Canvas) on those given information as well as what they are required to do about the case study. Then, they will do all their extensive calculations involved in the case study in Part 2 on McGraw-Hill Connect. They are able to check their answers (both intermediate and final) before they proceed on to their analysis. Then, they go back to Quizzes on Canvas for Part 3 to answer questions that form the core of their analysis.
Ke Anne Zhang, IU Bloomington
- Assistant Clinical Professor for Psychological and Brain Sciences; Coordinator, Undergraduate Clinical Psychological Science Certificate Program
- Piazza Posts
- The first Module introduces students to career development resources and opportunities. The second Module explores professional self-goals, interests, skills, and areas for further development. The third Module focuses on practical skills for career exploration, including job search techniques and teamwork with peers. This Piazza Posts activity requires students to post at least 5 times to a Q&A forum called Piazza throughout each 8- week course. They may post questions or answers (anonymously or not) at their own pace. An early lesson in the online course teaches them how to use Piazza, using a Quick Check quiz, and are required to post for the first time in the next lesson. These short lessons have due dates to keep students on track and get them to engage early. They earn 4 points per Piazza contribution, up to a max of 20 possible points.
Finalists for the category of Skills Across the Curriculum
Cal Simpson, IU East
- Sr. Lecturer, Management; Faculty, Marketing
- Sales Call Simulation
- Students participated in a simulated sales call. The latest rendition of the sales call was presented in the Fall 2019 semester. The purpose of the assignment was to have each student make a simulated individual sales call via telephone. The assignment was designed to have the students to utilize all the techniques, strategies, selling models, and methods learned in the course to execute a compelling, persuasive sales call. The sales call was presented into two categories: product and service. Students from each category will sell the same product, and students from the service category will sell the same product. Students were provided two weeks to prepare for the sales call. The product and service are provided by the instructor.
Jamie Buffington-Adams, IU East - Winner
- Associate Dean, School of Education; Associate Professor, School of Education
- From Beading to Reading
- Students are given beading materials and only the text portion of the directions for completing a sewn beading project. I then direct them to complete the project and inform them they will be graded on the accuracy and quality of their final product without offering any assistance or modeling. Frustration naturally ensues as student attempt to complete the project and encounter many barriers to doing so. At planned breaks, I provide supports such as: vocabulary definitions, diagrams, a finished project model, and instructor modeling. I also lead discussions which facilitate students’ abilities to connect this experience to that of a struggling reader. I conclude this class session with two culminating discussions.
