The Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Award recognizes faculty who have made a significant contribution to research-based analyses of teaching practices or of curricular design. SoTL is a developing field in post-secondary education that promotes systematic analysis of the practice of teaching along with application of research-based approaches to instruction. SoTL describes research in which instructors systematically assess and share their teaching practices. In essence, SoTL is classroom research, conducted by faculty on the effects of their own teaching.
Eligibility: Any faculty members (including, but not limited to adjuncts, term, and tenure-track faculty) teaching full-time or part-time during the current academic year are eligible. Both individual faculty members and teams of faculty members may apply.
Award: $3000 awarded to one faculty member, or distributed between a faculty team
We will begin accepting applications for the 2023-2024 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award in late February 2024.
Applications are submitted online using the form at the link below. You will be asked to submit a 1-2 page document attachment to the application that includes the following information:
Overview: Provide a summary of your SoTL research project. Be sure to include sufficient background such that that those who are unfamiliar with your field or with SoTL research would understand. What was your research question (RQ)? Why is that RQ novel or otherwise important to investigate?
Research Methods and Data Collection: What methods did you use to answer your RQ? (e.g. survey, focus groups, interviews, etc.) Why were those methods appropriate to answer your RQ? Did you receive IRB approval for your SoTL research? (If yes, please provide the date of approval; If no, please describe why it was not applicable)
Data Analysis and Conclusions: How did you analyze your data? What conclusions can be drawn from your data? Include main takeaways both for your classroom as well as any broader impacts your work may have on the AU community or your field.
Implication for Teaching: How has completing this research impacted your teaching practices? How has completing a SoTL project affected your identity as a scholar and teacher?
Publications: Please list relevant references to articles, presentations, or other products that demonstrate how your SoTL research was shared publicly. This can include both formal and informal presentations, as well both peer-reviewed, and less formal publications (The Beat articles, blog posts, etc.)
Apply Now for the Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award
The 2022-2023 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was split between Professor Shoaleh Dehghan (CAS-Chemistry) and a team of faculty representing the Initiative for STEM Education, Equity, and Ethics (ISE3) - Meg Bentley (CAS-Biology), Ellen Feder (CAS-Philosophy & Religion), Nathan Harshman (CAS-Physics), Shari Watkins (CTRL and SOE) & Lauren Weis (CAS-Philosophy & Religion).
Professor Dehghan was selected for proposing and implementing a flipped classroom model in an organic chemistry classroom. Her research found that students believed the flipped classroom model helped them to engage with the course, and contributed positively to their learning and achievement of course outcomes. Additionally, students found it more enjoyable than a typical course. Professor Dehghan’s work highlights the value of active learning in the STEM fields, and this model could be broadly applied across a variety of courses here at AU.
The Initiative for STEM Education, Equity, and Ethics (ISE3) team was selected for their work describing and advancing equity in STEM fields at AU. While not a typical SoTL project, the ISE3 team examined the STEM learning environment at AU to assess barriers to progress and readiness for change. They found that STEM faculty at AU feel underprepared to undertake DEI work, and that STEM students, but particularly BIPOC students, at AU are dissatisfied with STEM majors. They have thus proposed a model of “Ethical STEM” which empowers faculty and the institution to take responsibility and create positive conditions for student learning and persistence in the STEM majors.
The 2021-2022 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was split between Professors Raychelle Burks (Department of Chemistry) and Krisztina Domjan (Office of Global and Immersive Studies).
Professor Burks was selected for proposing and implementing the Digital Image and Vision Applications in Science (or DIVAS) project, which was created to enhance computational thinking skills and computing self-efficacy in natural or physical science majors in an inclusive community of practice (CoP). It is designed to computationally empower the many natural or physical science students who are computationally and quantitatively undertrained due to lack of opportunities during their degree programs and/or previous negative experiences of mathematics or computing.
Professor Domjan was selected for proposing and evaluating a model for effective, inclusive, and equitable class participation. Her research investigates how comprehensive notes on texts, adequate information literacy skills, and transparent class norms will lead to learning-centered academic class discussions and meaningful engagement of international college students. The model can be applied more broadly as a concrete academic class discussion model that faculty can adapt in their classes, especially if class and group discussions are a significant component of their course.
The 2020-2021 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Sherri Williams (School of Communication).
This award recognizes Dr. Williams for the systematic analysis and publication of her work with the Black on Campus project, a national project that Dr. Williams co-founded and co-directs locally with students at AU. Dr. Williams studied the program and its impact on students and published her research in the Journal of Mass Communication in an article titled, "Lived Experience and Living History: A Case Study of the Black on Campus Student Journalism Project." Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at American University whose work focuses on how marginalized groups, especially women of color, are portrayed in the media.
The 2019-2020 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Luis Cerezo-Ceballos (CAS - World Languages and Cultures).
Luis Cerezo-Ceballos was selected for his research in the areas of additional language learning and translation and interpreting pedagogy. Luis conducted systematic analysis of how students with different learning profiles can maximize the acquisition of an additional language through the use of videogames, computer-mediated communication, and hybrid and online curricula premised on instructional approaches such as guided induction, metacognitive instruction, and vicarious learning. He also studied the most effective ways to train professional translators and interpreters, investigating the effectiveness of student collaboration on learning and performance.
The 2018-2019 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was split between Professors Benjamin Stokes (School of Communication) and Paul Wapner (School of International Service).
Benjamin Stokes was selected for his for his application of research-based approaches to instruction. His unique community-embedded curricular innovations are at the intersection of two of American University’s strategic priority areas, metropolitan studies and game design. In his classes, his students design and develop original games and activities that embed media within community locations like bus stops and then use these games to reflect on real world city challenges such as gentrification and race relations. Students directly benefit not only from excellent experiential learning opportunities, but also from funding from the Knight Foundation which provided Professor Stokes with a grant to study how cities are using games to engage its citizens.
Paul Wapner was selected for his work to understand the causes of environmental harm and how the world can build a sustainable future. In doing so, he has developed unique ways to invite students into Global Environmental Politics as a domain of inquiry. In particular, Paul has integrated contemplative practices into the learning process, by recognizing that global environmental issues are not simply technical, political, and economic problems, but also existential challenges. Over the years, he has introduced and written on the benefits of various elements of contemplative practice into the classroom, including meditation, journaling, yoga, personal check-ins, and deep, textual study.
The 2017-2018 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching Learning Award was split between Professors Joanne Allen (Department of Art, CAS) and John Sullivan (Division of Journalism, School of Communication).
We recognize Joanne Allen because of her innovative and unique approach to teaching art history. Her students learn experientially about architecture, using DC as a laboratory to research historical architectural styles and understand how the visual, spatial, and aural effects of a building influence a visitor or patron’s experience. Students present the findings of their research before and within the structures that they researched. This experiential approach is particularly important in the study of architecture, because it more readily engages students than the traditional means of projecting images in the classroom. In addition, Joanne’s efforts to implement active learning in the arena of art history directly connects her pedagogy to the strategy central to the new AU Core Curriculum.
Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and professor John Sullivan has transformed American University’s journalism education into one of the country’s most innovative and influential teaching and learning environments for aspiring journalists. John’s joint appointment as an Investigative Journalist-in-Residence and an investigative reporter at the Washington Post enables him to bring his journalistic experience and investigative research expertise into the classroom in a unique way. This is particularly impactful in the Investigative Reporting Practicum, which is designed to immerse journalism graduate students in real-world investigative research in order to prepare them for successful careers as investigative journalists. John has contributed significantly to advancing the practice of investigative journalism in an era in which economic and digital challenges to traditional business models are straining newsrooms, while enabling his students to gain invaluable experience leading to prestigious and meaningful jobs.
The 2016-2017 Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching Learning Award was given to Cindy Bair Van Dam (CAS, Department of Literature).
In her roles as Chair of the university’s General Education Committee and co-chair of the Reimagining General Education Task Force, Cindy Bair Van Dam has spearheaded development of a new AU Core curriculum that encourages students to engage with complexity, value diversity and understand change. From their first exposure to the new Complex Problems and AU Experience courses, through to their capstone experiences, future AU students will benefit from Cindy’s vision, persistence, and commitment to the ideals of twenty first-century liberal education. General Education reform is notably one of the hardest efforts a university can undertake. Without Cindy’s exceptional leadership, the new AU Core would, quite simply, never have happened.
The 2015-2016 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Betsy Cohn (School of International Service).
Since 2013, Betsy has served as SIS Faculty Coordinator for Teaching and Student Learning. Her expertise continues to be enriched by involvement with professional teaching conferences and knowledge of the current pedagogical literature. Betsy has also been most generous in sharing her insights about higher education with the larger university community, by regularly leading sessions at the CTRL August Workshops, the Ann Ferren Conference, and Noontime Conversations, and by mentoring students in the Greenberg PhD Seminars for Effective Teaching.
The 2014-2015 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Brigid Maher (School of Communication).
Professor Maher was recognized for her contributions over several years in researching and designing an online course curriculum for the School of Communication’s Graduate Certificate in Digital Media. Her integration of the theories behind new methods of conveying information into the design of these courses have had a fundamental impact on the students in the program, both in the short run, by providing cutting-edge digital skills training, and in the long run, by opening new career paths, and it is our pleasure to recognize Brigid Maher for these accomplishments.
The 2013-2014 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Teresa Larkin (CAS, Department of Physics).
Professor Larkin was selected for her research on writing-based pedagogical methods and learning-style assessments in the STEM classroom, as well as assessment of active-learning technologies inside and outside the STEM classroom.
The 2012-2013 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to professor Ivy Broder (CAS, Department of Economics).
Professor Broder was selected for designing an online curriculum for her course on Economics of World Regions. The course, which was created for students in the university’s AU Abroad Program, incorporates students’ first-hand experiences and research via an online discussion board.
The 2011-2012 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award was given to Professor Derrick Cogburn (School of International Service).
Professor Coburn won because of the integration of his study of cyber-learning and his teaching as integral parts of his curriculum design and implementation, while designing, implementing and evaluating cyber-learning for students with disabilities.
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