Gay, Gibbs and Stanton receive 2022 Teaching Awards
Jennifer L. Gay, OIBR affiliate and associate professor of Health Promotion and Behavior in the school of Public Health, has been awarded the 2022 Creative Teaching Award.
The UGA Creative Teaching Awards are presented annually on behalf of the Office of Instruction to faculty who have demonstrated exceptional creativity in using either an innovative technology or pedagogy that extends learning beyond the traditional classroom or for their creative course design or implementation of subject matter that improves student learning outcomes in their courses.
Dr. Gay uses supportive coaching and small learning milestones to help students learn needed skills. In her inclusive class, students can “choose their own adventure” for project topics. They set the knowledge, skills and degree of competence they would like to pursue. In each module, students submit practice assignments that prime them for the successful completion of a semester-long project. Each assignment receives extensive feedback, and if competency has not been reached, the student can try again, incorporating the feedback into their revision, until they establish competence. By learning from revisions, students establish a mastery of the subject matter.
Jeremy Gibbs, OIBR affiliate and assistant professor in the School of Social Work, has received a 2022 First-Year Odyssey Teaching Award in recognition of his success for teaching a FYO Seminar.
The FYO Teaching Award recognizes outstanding instructors who have demonstrated creativity or innovation in instruction, connection to the instructor’s research and incorporation of FYOS program goals into the seminar. This year’s recipients have been fully engaged with their students, provided them with a strong connection to the university through their research and other activities and tied their curriculum directly to FYOS program goals.
Dr. Gibbs emphasizes critical thinking and innovative learning processes in his First-Year Odyssey Seminar, “Queer Voices: LGBTQ Social Issues Through the Lens of Movies and TV.” In the course, students watch LGBTQ-related films and have meaningful discussions. One week the class focuses on “coming out,” where Gibbs shares research findings related to the risks and benefits of coming out, acceptance, rejection and depression. The class is not about having the “correct” answer, but about critical thinking. The goal is to engage students intellectually and emotionally to illicit cognitive curiosity. One popular assignment is for students to present a music video to the class and analyze the content. The seminar also features in-class quizzes and surveys students can complete using smartphones. Instead of a lecture on terminology, students compete in a Kahoot online quiz game—that makes learning fun and exciting.
OIBR Distinguished Scholar Julie Stanton has been selected for the 2022 Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
The Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching recognize excellence in undergraduate instruction by faculty members in their early academic careers. The awards were first presented in 1992 by the Richard B. Russell Foundation to honor Richard B. Russell, a distinguished Georgian and University alumnus who had a love for new knowledge and appreciation of our nation’s youth.