World languages and cultures professor named newest CATL Scholar

Scott Windham, associate professor of German at Elon, has been named our CATL Scholar for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years.

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning’s Scholar award includes a two-course reassignment for two consecutive years, plus $2,500 per year in project funding. Each year, the CATL Scholar fellowship is granted to up to three well-designed and high-quality proposals for innovative, scholarly teaching projects that promise to transform student learning.

Windham’s project focuses on turning his earlier SOTL research on language learning into broader classroom practice around teaching literacy, defined in the department as “the ability to use language in specific situations to fulfill specific social purposes.” His project focuses on practices of teaching literacy that are “grounded in literacy theory and empirical evidence from student work,” and in ways that should prove transferable to other language courses.

In his project, Windham will fundamentally redesign grammar instruction and testing in a way that helps students recognize why, when, and how to use particular linguistic structures, with a focus on critical analysis of culture and the self. He will involve students as native speaker peer mentors and as part of his assessment loop.

Windham will join 39 current or past CATL Scholars, including current Scholars Alexis Franzese (sociology), Sarah Glasco (French) and Matthew Weidenfeld (political science and policy studies).  

A call for applications for CATL Scholars is announced early each fall. All faculty are encouraged to apply.

CATL Scholars are selected by a faculty committee composed of other scholars and CATL faculty advisory committee members. This year’s committee was: Casey Dirienzo (economics), Phillip Motley (communications), and Jennifer Uno (biology).