APLU’s Academic Programs Section Announces Winners of 2017 Innovative Teaching Award

APLU’s Board on Agriculture Assembly Academic Programs Section today named 11 winners of its 2017 Innovative Teaching Award. In its fourth year, the awards are intended to bolster innovation in the post-secondary teaching of agriculture and related fields.

The awards program encourages new faculty to expand their scholarship of teaching and learning by creating projects with more senior faculty from other institutions. This supports institutional collaboration and the adoption of innovative teaching and learning experiences for students at more institutions. Awardees share $3,000 to use on classroom aids, travel, or other project needs in the future.

“For junior faculty involved, this may be the first monetary award they receive, which, when combined with the mentoring by working with senior faculty on the project, should boost their abilities in the classroom,” said Wendy Fink, APLU Director of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources.

The APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly Academic Programs Section hopes these awards serve as a basis for continued innovation in agricultural education and as motivation to seek additional funding from other sources for continued innovation. As such, it substantially increased the number of awards given this year, providing $33,000 worth of awards compared to $10,000 last year.

The full list of winners follows below:

Ag Mashup: Blending Agricultural and Communications Students and Faculty in the Classroom to Increase Agricultural Communication and Literacy

• Jason de Koff, Associate Professor of Agronomy and Soil Science, Tennessee State University
• Nicole Kraft, Assistant Professor, Communication, The Ohio State University

Collaborative Teaching Project for Improving Students’ Professional Skills While Learning about the Effects of Cover Crops in Suppressing Weeds in Ohio and Nebraska

• Deana Namuth-Covert, Professor and Director of Online Education and Outreach, The Ohio State University–Agricultural Technical Institute
• Mao Huang, Post-Doc Research of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University
• Jon Witter, Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Engineering Technologies, The Ohio State University–Agricultural Technical Institute
• Ryan Haden, Assistant Professor, Soils and Agronomy, The Ohio State University–Agricultural Technical Institute
• Robert Noonan, Agriculture Instructor, Northeast Community College

Educational Workshop for Improving Student Success While Attending a Professional Conference

• Elizabeth Flaherty, Assistant Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
• Patrick Zollner, Associate Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University
• Vanessa Quinn, Professor, Biological Sciences, Purdue University
• Darren Wood, Ph.D. candidate, Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University
• Rachael Urbanek, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Engaging Undergraduates in Citizen Science with Pollinators to Enhance Conservation Knowledge, Biological Systems Thinking, and Community Engagement

• Doug Golick, Assistant Professor of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Wyatt Hoback, Assistant Professor of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University
• Hartmut Doebel, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, George Washington University

Field-based Innovative Teaching of Upland and Gully Erosion Processes in the Highlands of Ethiopia

• Tammo Steenhuis, International Professor of Water Management, Cornell University,
• Mamaru Moges, Assistant Professor of Hydrology, Bahir Dar University
• Seifu Tilahun, Associate Professor of Hydrology, Bahir Dar University

Innovative Educational Experience Enhancements for Students in Introduction to Agricultural Economics

• Rodney Jones, Associate Professor, Oklahoma Farm Credit Agricultural Finance Chair, Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
• Cheryl DeVuyst, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
• Joe Schatzer, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
• Bailey Norwood, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
• Jason Bergtold, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University
• Ben Schwab, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University
• Andrew Barkley, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University

Rural families in Real-Life: Case Study Lessons from Interviews with Low-Income Rural Mothers

• Lori Yancura, Associate Professor of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
• Yoshie Sano, Associate Professor of Human Development, Washington State University Vancouver
• Lenna Ontai, Associate Professor of Human and Community Development and Associate Specialist in Cooperative Extension, University of California
• Melissa Barnett, Fitch Nesbitt Associate Professor of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Arizona
• Kelly Davis, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences, Oregon State University
• Brittney Oliver, Assistant Professor of Health Promotion, Mississippi State University

Teaching Environmental Physics to Students in Natural Resource Sciences Using a Flipped Course and Peer Instruction Framework

• Susan Riha, Charles L. Pack Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University
• Nicole Breanne Hill, Instructor of Environmental Science, Greenfield Community College

The Virtual Grass is Greener: A Video Game-Assisted Approach to Enhancing Farm and Ranch Management Courses

• Kelly Lange, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director of Farm Operations, Texas Tech University
• Rachna Tewari, Assistant Professor, Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee at Martin
• Joey Mehlhorn, Professor and Gil Parker Chair of Excellence, Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee at Martin

Use of Interactive Simulation Models to Promote and Enhance Student Engagement in a Food Science Class

• Ranjith Ramanathan, Assistant Professor of Animal Science, Oklahoma State University
• Navam Hettiarachchy, Professor of Food Science, University of Arkansas

Using Virtual Reality Modules to Increase Student Engagement and Learning in a Food Quality Management Course

• Clint Stevenson, Assistant Professor and Distance Education Coordinator of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University
• Helen Joyner, Assistant Professor of Food Science, University of Idaho
• Shelly Schmidt, Professor of Food Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Past winners can be viewed here.

APLU’s Board on Agriculture Assembly (BAA) promotes agriculture in all of its phases (food, environment, agriculture, natural resources, and international) in state universities and land-grant colleges. In addition it provides leadership in communicating about university-based programs and priorities with the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, and private organizations. The Academic Programs Section ensures developing human capital in agriculture, food, natural resources and related areas is a preeminent concern of land-grant and state university systems and its federal partners. APS is comprised of administrators of academic programs at colleges of agriculture.