CATL Associate Directors serve staggered, four-year terms. In collaboration with the Center鈥檚 director and assistant director, the associate directors promote intentional, evidence-based teaching and learning practices, contribute to university-wide initiatives related to teaching and learning, and foster the scholarship of teaching and learning at 福利亚洲国产精品.

In addition to her classroom work, Winter has actively engaged in CATL鈥檚 faculty development programs, completing and then co-facilitating a community of practice for Elon鈥檚聽Inclusive Teaching Certificate program, as well as participating in the Wellness Pedagogy Scholars program. Winter鈥檚 appointment as associate director of CATL reflects her dedication to faculty growth and student success. As associate director, Winter will contribute to CATL鈥檚 ongoing efforts to foster an inclusive, engaged and thriving teaching and learning community at 福利亚洲国产精品.

The CATL Pedagogy Fellow role is a two-year position in which a faculty member develops and deepens their expertise in a specific area of innovative, evidence-based teaching and pedagogy, while also generating resources and faculty development opportunities for members of the Elon teaching and learning community. Sheridan鈥檚 Pedagogy Fellows project will focus on the intersection of active learning, inclusivity and generative artificial intelligence (AI). He is particularly interested in metacognition鈥攈ow students assess the accuracy and usefulness of AI-generated information in their academic work, and how faculty can foster student learning and connection through the careful and聽intentional implementation of AI-related pedagogies and teaching practices.

Sheridan earned his bachelor of science in economics from Centre College and his doctorate in economics from the University of Kentucky. Since joining 福利亚洲国产精品 in 2016, he has taught a wide range of courses, including Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory, Principles of Economics, International Trade & Finance, Money & Banking, Economic Growth & Development, Federal Reserve Challenge and Business Statistics. He has a history of collaboration with the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, including serving as a CATL Scholar from 2019-2022.

The chapter explores how emergency remote teaching reshaped both the faculty and student perspectives on the learning process. The pandemic forced a shift in traditional teaching methods, challenging assumptions about engagement, course design, and assessment. Linkon framed the chapter with a critical observation: while many faculty members recognized the need to adapt their teaching strategies, students were equally perceptive in identifying what worked and what didn鈥檛 during this transformative period.

Linkon invited聽Grabiec and two of her peers, Isabel McHenry and Lillian Nagengast鈥� students actively engaged in education research 鈥� to reflect on their experiences. Their contributions highlighted how emergency remote teaching emphasized the importance of intentional course design and engagement.

Grabiec’s reflections emphasized the loss of informal pre- and post-class interactions, which had previously fostered connection and engagement. This gap prompted her to consider how “prepping for class” could be reimagined to make homework more meaningful. By encouraging deeper preparation before class, students could engage in more thoughtful discussions during class time.

She also recounted a pivotal experience with a professor who restructured the traditional final essay assignment to accommodate pandemic-induced stressors. Instead of a single, high-stakes essay, the professor guided students through a reflective process, asking them to outline their argumentative plans and develop ideas incrementally. This slower, more deliberate approach proved effective in fostering meaningful learning and reducing pressure.

Ultimately, the chapter underscores a shared lesson from the pandemic: slowing down and rethinking how we teach and learn can lead to more impactful educational experiences. The insights gained during this unprecedented period remain relevant as educators and students navigate a return to in-person learning, proving that some lessons from the pandemic are worth holding onto.

Recentering Learning serves as both a reflection on a pivotal moment in education and a guide for building more inclusive, thoughtful and effective teaching practices in the future.

In the Fall of 2023, the following full-time, ongoing teaching faculty were awarded CATL Teaching and Learning Grants.

Anne Marie Iselin 鈥� Associate Professor of Psychology

Iselin will participate in Applied Compassion Training (ACT) from Stanford University and then will develop a capstone project that implements science-based instructional practices in higher education. With this certification, she will integrate compassion practices into teaching, facilitate webinars, present at conferences and consult with colleagues about applying compassion into their higher education work.

CJ Fleming 鈥� Associate Professor of Psychology

Fleming will conduct a two-part study evaluating faculty engagement with work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences such as internships, field placements, etc.聽 She, with a team of scholars through the Center for Engaged Learning, will conduct interviews with international faculty investigating motivators, barriers, and facilitators to participation in WIL, and will use a survey with faculty to explore the use of the Faculty Engagement Model in WIL.

Courtney Liu 鈥� Assistant Professor of Performing Arts

Liu will be overseeing six students who will participate in an interdisciplinary research opportunity that connects the disciplines of dance, psychology and neuroscience, and builds skills transferrable to the health sciences. Using electroencephalography technology, students will track their brain activity during flow dance rehearsals and a performance at the 2024 SURF Day.

Chris Nelson 鈥� Assistant Professor of Marketing

Nelson will study the impact of real-time artificial intelligence coaching on students鈥� sales behaviors. Using both field and lab experiments with students, he will explore how immediate AI-generated feedback helps students perform during role-playing exercises and students鈥� perceptions of how AI impacts their learning.

Hwayeon Ryu 鈥� Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Ryu will explore and assess the effectiveness of project-based learning on critical thinking skills in her MTH 4450 Numerical Analysis course through the use of real-world problems and project-based writing.聽 Students will be asked to complete pre- and post-surveys that measure self-efficacy with, and perceptions towards, critical thinking.

Congratulations to these recipients and we wish you success with your work.

The next call for Teaching and Learning Grant applications will be in early April 2024.

This year鈥檚 diversity and inclusion grant winners were selected from a highly competitive application pool, and include the following teams:

English and Belk Library

Lina Kuhn and Paula Patch with the English Department along with Patrick Rudd and Shannon Tennant of Belk Library will examine how bias and privilege infiltrate systems of published information in relation to data algorithms behind searches, missing and marginalized perspectives, and publication access鈥攁nd how to introduce these ideas to first-year students who use such systems to conduct research. This project builds on a Stage One DIG project bringing ideas about information privilege and bias into the first-year writing classroom. For Stage Two, they plan to create a community of practice with COR 1100 faculty from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to investigate how such topics might enter the global experience classroom.

Environmental Studies, Geography and Political Science

Amanda Chunco, Ryan Kirk, Jacob Rutz and Kelsey Biting with the Environmental Studies Department along with Aaron Sparks with the Department of Political Science and Policy Studies will be working on how to improve departmental climate through student surveys and focus groups.聽 Environmental science (ENS) remains one of the least racially diverse STEM fields. In addition, environmental science can exclude people with mobility limitations because of the field work required. Surveys and focus groups with Elon ENS majors, potential majors, and ENS alumni will be conducted to identify current perceptions of departmental climate and sense of belonging and to provide baseline data to inform curricular changes to improve departmental climate of inclusion.

Computer Science

Shannon Duvall will lead a group with Elizabeth von Brieson, Richard Dutton and Scott Spurlock in the Computer Science Department to look at culturally responsive teaching (CRT) materials. Their project aims to create, assess and disseminate course materials for the department that meet the goals of CRT. The specific goals within the CRT framework that will be addressed are 1) ensure a range of diverse course assets, 2) craft opportunities for students to connect course content with their unique lived experiences, and 3) foster student reflection for whole-student learning and wellbeing. An inventory will be taken of currently available materials for courses, then develop, use, assess, and disseminate new course materials (lectures, slide decks, examples, and assignments) that meet the identified goals.

Psychology

Anne Marie Iselin will lead a team that includes Adam Kim and Will Schreiber with the Psychology Department to examine how bias and privilege infiltrate systems of published information in relation to data algorithms behind searches, missing and marginalized perspectives, and publication access鈥攁nd how to introduce these ideas to first-year students who use such systems to conduct research. This project builds on a Stage One DIG project bringing ideas about information privilege and bias into the first-year writing classroom. For this Stage Two iteration, they plan to create a community of practice with COR 1100 faculty from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to investigate how such topics might enter the global experience classroom as well.

Congratulations to the DIG Recipients!

Look for the next Diversity and Inclusion Grants call in early March 2024.

The聽Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning聽has chosen a new聽CATL Scholar聽for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years. Amanda Chunco, associate professor of environmental studies, will join more than 50 other CATL Scholars including current scholars Erin Pearson, Katie Baker, Chris Richardson and co-scholars Ketevan Kupatadze and Elena Schoonmaker-Gates.

The聽CATL Scholar program聽fosters innovative and scholarly teaching and learning. Echoing the聽Elon Teacher-Scholar statement, the CATL Scholars program is designed so that participants engage deeply with the shared goals of our academic community and develop highly innovative projects.

Chunco will work on 鈥淕rading and Belonging in STEM鈥� for her CATL Scholar project, focusing on how faculty grading practices contribute to both student belonging and STEM identity. Her past work has shown that STEM faculty have a wide range of beliefs about grades (even within this single discipline) and that students have an equally wide range of feelings linked to around belonging and identity, with male students showing significantly lower belonging than female students.

Her scholars project will integrate both faculty and student experiences through a range of quantitative and qualitative data.聽 Specifically, Dr. Chunco will examine: 1) the role identity and how belonging play in supporting students to complete a STEM major, 2) how STEM faculty assessment beliefs and practices contribute to student belonging and identity, and 3) whether grading practices have differential effects on students based on race, gender, and first-generation identities. Chunco aspires to broaden this work to evaluate student and faculty from a variety of STEM disciplines.

Chunco believes the results of the work will provide data around grading practices, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic and that this work could inform learner-centered pedagogies to support all students and potentially reduce the disparities between the students that feel that they can be successful in STEM and students who decide that they need to choose a different major.

A call for applications for聽CATL Scholars聽is announced early each fall. All full-time faculty are encouraged to apply. CATL Scholars are selected by a faculty committee comprised of other Scholars and CATL faculty advisory committee members.

Visit the聽CATL website聽or email CATL at聽catl@elon.edu聽for more information.

Part of The Engaged Learning and Teaching Series collaboration with Stylus Publishing. “” finds a collection of authors contemplating this question 鈥� why do faculty in these communities matter, now and in the future? The fact is that faculty are an essential component of the success these communities. 聽

“The Faculty Factor,” edited by Eidum and Lara Lomicka, delivers evidence-based research, as well as practical examples and voices from the field. The book seeks to guide and support faculty serving in different capacities in living learning communities and to serve as a resource for student affairs practitioners collaborating with faculty in residential environments. In the book’s chapters, the authors offer guidance to administrators developing new and revising existing living learning community programs.

The book includes sections on how to create conditions for successful faculty engagement, how to build effective faculty partnerships and a section on the lived experiences of faculty-in-residence.

Until recently, Eidum served as the faculty director of Global Neighborhood, living in a residence with her family on the 福利亚洲国产精品 campus. Her co-editor, Lara Lomika from the University of South Carolina also previously served as a faculty in residence on her own campus.聽 Their shared experiences sparked their interest in editing “The Faculty Factor.”

Eidum’s experience as a faculty-in-residence in the Global Neighborhood was featured in a 2021 edition of The Magazine of Elon, which explored how elon has approached using residential learning communities as a tool to help students thrive.

The collection includes other Elon connections, such as contributions from other Elon faculty and administrators. 福利亚洲国产精品 President Connie Ledoux Book and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships Jeff Stein collaborated on chapter four, “Designing a Residential Campus: Faculty Leadership in Developing Strategy, Vision, Partnerships and Learning.”

Chapter authors Mimi Benjamin of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Jody Jessup-Anger of Marquette University and Shannon Lundeen of HERS were co-leaders with Cara Lucia, associate professor of sport management for the Center for Engaged Learning鈥檚 . Eidum, Lomicka and chapter authors Rishi Sriram of Baylor University and Jill Stratton of Vanderbilt University were participants in the research seminar.

The Stylus/Center for Engaged Learning Series on Engaged Learning and Teaching features concise books from single authors and edited collections for a multi-disciplinary, higher education audience interested in research-informed engaged learning practices. Books in the series are published by Stylus Publishing and supplemented by open-access resources hosted on the Center for Engaged Learning鈥檚 .

For more information about the book and the Center鈥檚 research seminars, please visit the Center for Engaged Learning .

The聽CATL Scholar program聽fosters innovative and scholarly teaching and learning. Echoing the Elon Teacher-Scholar statement, the CATL Scholars program is designed so that participants engage deeply with the shared goals of our academic community and develop highly innovative projects.

Pearson will work on 鈥淐onnecting Literature and Professional Programs to Increase Student Motivation and Success鈥� for her CATL Scholar project.聽 Despite significant evidence that literature cultivates vital professional skills, many students believe it is irrelevant to their majors and lives. This project seeks to increase student motivation by emphasizing connections between signature pedagogies in literary studies, business, and health.聽 After researching and developing classroom activities and assignments focused on cross-disciplinary approaches to literature, she will run a pilot course and concurrent study to assess changes in student motivation and skills.

In her current role as co-director of a 15-person team applying for a National Endowment for the Humanities implementation grant to develop stronger connections between humanities and pre-professional programs at Elon, Pearson along with colleagues in business, pre-health, and other humanities disciplines will be working to create an Intercultural Pathway Certificate Program that uses humanities courses to help business and pre-health majors develop the skills integral to their future careers and society as a whole.

The research as a CATL Scholar will directly contribute to her work on the NEH grant both by revealing points of meaningful contact between the humanities and business and pre-health fields and by creating a course that can be a part of the new certificate program.

This project furthers Elon’s strategic goal of building connections between the arts and sciences and professional schools through innovative cross disciplinary pedagogy.

A call for applications for聽CATL Scholars聽is announced early each fall. All full-time faculty are encouraged to apply. CATL Scholars are selected by a faculty committee comprised of other Scholars and CATL faculty advisory committee members.

Visit the CATL website or email CATL at catl@elon.edu for more information.