The Elizabethtown College Teaching & Learning Design Studio recently named Sarah Noveral, Biology Lab Coordinator and Lecturer, and Dr. Matt Bergman, School of Graduate and Professional Studies (SGPS) Assessment and Curriculum Coordinator, as Learning Design Fellows.
Learning Design Fellows collaborate with the Studio to get personalized coaching, support, and feedback they need to complete their projects. They attend periodic Studio meetings to give updates on their projects and are asked to disseminate their projects and serve as campus resources after their fellowship ends.
“Sarah and Matt each had strong proposals that included projects that could contribute to the short- and long-term teaching and learning initiatives on campus,” Elizabethtown College Director of the Teaching & Learning Design Studio Katie Caprino said. “We see their projects helping them in their immediate roles and we see the potential to be able to scale their projects in ways that help multiple faculty and instructional staff on campus.”
Noveral plans to work with the Studio to incorporate hands-on modeling and diagramming into introductory biology (Bio 111) lab classes to increase the connection between lecture and lab content and improve student understanding. By incorporating hands-on models, students can explore what is happening in their experiments on a molecular and cellular level.
“I am thrilled by the support from the Etown Studio to help me improve the experience for the large number of incoming first-year students taking Bio 111,” Noveral said. “I look forward to implementing these changes so we can improve student understanding, both in Bio 111 and in upper-level biology courses.”
Noveral will put together a portfolio of hands-on student activities that can be completed in short segments with discussion questions that can be used by herself, other instructors, teaching assistants, and tutors.
Bergman’s project aims to harness the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in conjunction with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. The project intends to develop an AI implementation framework and a toolkit of resources and best practices for using AI in different learning environments.
“I am deeply honored to embark on a transformative journey as part of the Studio Fellows program,” Bergman said. “I am excited to partner with the Studio to discover innovative ways to infuse artificial intelligence to personalize learning and meet the diverse needs of all students.”
The objective of Bergman’s project is to disseminate the tools among faculty and staff to foster an accessible and engaging learning environment and to help faculty become more comfortable using AI in the classroom.
The Studio supports new Learning Design Fellows each academic year based on project potential to inform teaching and learning initiatives across campus. Fellowships are open to full-time faculty and instructional staff.
About the Teaching & Learning Design Studio
The Studio promotes and supports a relationship- and learner-centered culture of instruction, guidance, and scholarship, with a focus on evidence-based pedagogies from the scholarship of teaching and learning that foster student academic engagement, advance the College’s mission, and cultivate innovative teaching. For the latest news and updates from the Studio, the campus community is encouraged to follow the Studio on LinkedIn and its blog.
