Elizabethtown College Teaching & Learning Design Studio Announces Learning Design Fellows

The Elizabethtown College Teaching and Learning Design Studio recently named Laura Cunningham, Assistant Teaching Professor of Occupational Therapy, and Dr. Patrick Allen, Assistant Professor of English Literature, as Learning Design Fellows for the 2025-26 academic year.

Learning Design Fellows collaborate with the Studio to develop specialized programs in a specific area that matches their interest. The Fellows are provided with coaching, support, and feedback, and periodically attend Studio sessions to give updates on their projects. After their fellowship ends, they are asked to distribute their projects and serve as campus resources.

“The Design Fellows program is a real asset to the College community,” Elizabethtown College Director of the Teaching & Learning Design Studio Katie Caprino said. “What is so valuable about these fellows is their work and time does not just improve their own teaching, but pedagogical practices across the campus community. Fellows continue to serve as important resources to the campus community, and we are proud of the ripple effect the program has on teaching and learning at Etown.”

Cunningham plans to work with the Studio to improve the experience of neurodiverse learners at Etown. Using her doctoral research on neurodiverse learners on Etown’s campus, she created targeted training sessions and a comprehensive Canvas platform with resources for inclusive education. Her work helps address priorities identified by students in her research.

“My work directly supports Etown’s commitment to fostering belonging and cultivating each student’s strengths,” Cunningham said. “This fellowship gives me the platform to help create a campus where everyone can thrive.”

Cunningham’s work was the focal point of the Etown faculty and staff Instructional Development Day in early August. In collaboration with her coach, Assistant Director of the TLDS Studio Dr. Sharon Birch, the two created the day’s content, which centered on identifying and providing solutions to the struggles that neurodiverse learners on campus face.

Allen will work with the studio to develop a collaborative annotation tool designed to encourage students to engage with complex texts in more meaningful ways. The project involves creating an annotation tool for students to use in their research on South Africa’s 1998 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, aiming to expand their close reading skills and knowledge of South African apartheid.

“Collaborative learning and knowledge-building excite me,” Allen says. “I see this project as a starting point for developing, and encouraging others to develop, similar projects that invite students to follow their interests and seek out reliable information.”

Allen also plans to create and distribute an annotation platform for Etown faculty members to use in their instruction. His goal is to provide students with a means of developing their close reading and critical research skills.

The Studio selects new Learning Design Fellows each academic year based on a project’s potential to improve teaching and learning practices and further Etown’s mission. Fellowships are open to full-time faculty and instructional staff.