3 LBC faculty members receive AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology awards
April 16, 2023
Three LBC faculty members have received accolades for their innovative teaching with technology. Kathleen Hinko, Kirtimaan Mohan and Vashti Sawtelle were among five faculty members selected as recipients of the 2023 AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology awards, by MSU Information Technology. The award recognizes the innovative ways in which the recipients utilized technology in their courses to impact student success at Michigan State University.
Mohan, Hinko and Sawtelle received the 2023 AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology award as a team for their collaborative work in Studio Physics (LB 273 and LB 274). Using a flipped classroom structure ensured that the course was interactive and collaborative in an online synchronous classroom.This format, along with the use of Microsoft tools to facilitate virtual collaboration on projects, allowed studio physics students to thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kirtimaan Mohan completed his doctoral studies in particle physics at the Indian Institute of Science in 2014, after which he joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy at MSU as a research associate. His primary research interests are in new physics beyond the Standard Model, dark matter, and collider phenomenology.
Kathleen Hinko joined the MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy as an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in MSU's Lyman Briggs College in August 2016. Her primary field of research is in Physics Education, but she also has worked in Experimental Biophysics. Prior to coming to MSU, Dr. Hinko was a senior research associate in the Physics Education Research Group at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of Educational Community Partnerships for JILA.
Vashti Sawtelle is an associate professor in the Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Sawtelle is a physics education researcher who studies how learning environments support (or inhibit) students from diverse backgrounds in learning physics. She focuses her work on understanding the role active learning, modeling, and interdisciplinary classrooms (e.g., physics for biologists) have to play in creating supportive learning environments for all students.
MSU IT has partnered with AT&T since 2005 to recognize outstanding contributions to using and developing information technology for teaching and learning in credit-bearing courses at Michigan State University.
This year, the criteria for award selection focused on the specific practice of using technology effectively, leading to the highest number of applications in AT&T award history. To be considered for the award, applicants submitted an explanation of how they used technology in their credit-bearing course and a video to be evaluated by a committee of peers and campus leaders.
Award recipients will be formally recognized during a virtual ceremony on April 27.
Congratulations, Drs. Hinko, Mohan, and Sawtelle!
Adapted from the MSU IT article posted here: https://tech.msu.edu/news/2023/04/faculty-across-campus-recognized-for-excellence-in-teaching-with-technology/