CATL announces Fall 2017 Teaching and Learning Grant recipients

Five faculty members were awarded Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning grantsto support their innovative and scholarly teaching and learning projects.

CATL Teaching and Learning Grants support innovative, inclusive, and/or scholarly teaching and learning projects through funds ranging between $1,000 to $5,000 for start-up and one-time expenses. Below are the recipients of the Fall 2017 CATL Teaching and Learning Grants, along with a description of their grant project.

Brandon Essary, assistant professor of Italian, was awarded $2,000 to continue research into video games as teaching and learning tools for Italian, and help develop novel, interactive teaching materials. His project includes video games related to Italian literature and history as well as popular commercial video games playable in Italian to teach the language in contemporary, exciting, and contextualized situations.

Professor of Physical Therapy Education Charity Johansson was awarded $2,000 for a project developing virtual case studies to teach physical therapy students to assess wheelchair accessibility and fall hazards in the home. Student groups will practice their skills in virtual reality, using 360-degree images of one of 10 strategically diverse home environments. Follow-up class discussion will draw on examples from all environments, exposing students to far more diversity than would be physically possible with live visits. Pre- and post-tests will evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching strategy, comparing computer viewing and 3-D viewing, and results will be disseminated through national presentation and/or publication. The bank of 360-degree cases can be used for multiple student cohorts.

Assistant Professor of English Heather Lindenman was awarded $2,520 for a scholarly teaching project investigating how Elon students revise their theories of writing as they progress through their college years. This interview-based project will collect information on the elements of Writing: Argument and Inquiry (ENG 110) that students successfully and/or unsuccessfully adapt for other contexts, and the writing experiences beyond ENG 110 that influence students' beliefs about writing, writing strategies, and writing practices. The findings of this research project will enable Lindenman to revise her ENG 110 curriculum to more effectively prepare students to mindfully transfer their writing knowledge across situations.

Scott Morrison, assistant professor of education, was awarded $2,000, for professional development workshops focused on school gardening and forest school certification. This training will support his teaching at Elon, specifically students in EDU 431 Environmental Education, and the professional development he offers to classroom teachers at Eastlawn Elementary and South Graham Elementary in the local community.

Carol Smith, associate professor of wellness, was awarded $2,500 to use for professional development in an Outward Bound Instructor Development Course in order to gain credentials as an Outdoor Education professional and enhance her work as a teacher-scholar. This leadership intensive course focuses both on technical skills such as risk management, wilderness medicine, hydrology, and orienteering, and interpersonal skills such as character development, communication skills, problem solving, resilience, and responsibility.

The review committee of this semester’s grant applications included Deandra Little, director of CATL and associate professor of English, Jen Guy Metcalf, assistant professor of dance, Amy Overman, associate director of CATL and associate professor of psychology, Katy Rouse, associate professor of economics, and Scott Windham, associate professor of German.

Founded in 2005, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning serves as a catalyst for effective teaching and engaged learning at Elon University. CATL faculty promote intentional, evidence-based, and inclusive teaching and learning practices, contribute to University-wide initiatives related to teaching and learning, and foster the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) at Elon University. For more information about CATL or Teaching and Learning grants, contact catl@elon.edu, or visit our website.