LBC's Isaac Record receives AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award

May 24, 2024 - Tiffany Werner

In a ceremony at the Kellogg Center on April 9, 2024, LBC’s Isaac Record received an award from MSU Information Technology and AT&T, acknowledging his contributions to using multiple technology modalities. The award celebrates individuals who exemplify excellence and innovation in their domains. As one of the recipients of the AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award, Isaac Record joins a roster of innovative educators who have made an impact in their fields and on this campus. 

Record, an associate teaching professor of Science and Society at Lyman Briggs College and founding director of the Collaborative Experiential Learning Laboratory (CELL) in Holmes Hall, was one of only three MSU faculty members to be chosen for the award. The CELL makerspace has provided educational and creative opportunities for LBC students and faculty, offering space and technology for the rich learning that happens in Record’s LB 322A course, formally named Advances in Science and Technology.  
 
The functional title of the course is eponymous with Record’s 2023 TEDxMSU talk, "Critical Making to Solve Wicked Problems". “The course invites students to explore a wicked problem with two complementary tools: critical scholarship and creative making,", says Record. Critical Making combines traditional critical scholarly research methods with more constructivist and creative approaches, and Record says this pedagogy can help solve the world’s “wicked problems”, those complex issues that exist despite large combative efforts. His research has found that alternating between these two modes of engagement in his classes increases collaboration between students and improves student learning outcomes. 

The AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology Awards received an overwhelming number of nominations this year. Though this award usually recognizes faculty for utilizing technology in a way that flips the classroom, Record’s approach was a bit different, focusing on using familiar technologies and supplies to enable students to engage with challenging subject matter in a novel way. The awards not only celebrate individual achievements but also inspire and empower future generations of innovators and leaders. Through recognition and encouragement, they foster a culture of excellence and innovation that propels society forward.

LBC Dean Kendra Spence Cheruvelil writes, “This award is evidence of Dr. Record’s commitment to student learning and incorporating innovative technologies to promote deeper learning and problem-solving.”  

“By inviting two complementary modes of thinking – the critical and the constructive – critical making creates space to think together,” says Record, “people can bring their values and cares, their skills and knowledge and integrate them with those of others. After all, learning is not about efficiency, but about making enough space to think something new.” 

For more information about the MSU AT&T Awards and this year's recipients, visit attawards.msu.edu.