July 31, 2017

MEDIA: Mary F. Wack, WSU Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, 509-335-8044,

Twelve WSU faculty win eight Smith Teaching and Learning grantsin Pullman, Spokane, and Vancouver

PULLMAN, Wash.—Twelve Washington State University facultyon three campuses have received funding for projects thatdemonstrably enhance undergraduate learning, thanks to the Samuel H. and Patricia W. Smith Teaching and Learning Endowment.

“The winning proposals address teaching and learning issues and improvements, support WSU learning goals such as critical thinking and communication, and reflect a commitment to resolve factors raised by recent degree assessments,” said Mary F. Wack, vice provost for undergraduate education.The selection committee evaluated an impressive set of applications, and its top recommendations made up an appropriately diverse pool, she said.

“Many of the projects detail teaching innovations designed to better support deep, life-long learning. Some tap into emerging or discipline-specific pedagogies. Others support further growth of unique projects already underway.

“The first impact of the grants will be felt by thousands of undergraduates as early as fall classes. Asmethods and results are shared with other WSU faculty and through academic publications, the ultimate impact of these WSU grants will be very far reaching. This is in keeping with, and honors, the vision of former WSU President Sam Smithand his wife, Patricia, related to the endowment.”

Recipients and projects for 2017

The 2017 winners of the competitive Smith Teaching and Learning grants—up to $7,000 each—and their projects are:

  • Carla Brim and Laura Wintersteen-Arleth, of the College of Nursing at WSU Spokane, exploring “Innovations in Evidence Based Practice Education for Nursing Students.”Online, independent, self-paced learning modules plus five student-led seminars will be implementedto teach about nursing research, evidence-based nursing practices (EBP), and the value the subject matter has to the achievement of the patient’s optimal health. This active-learning approach aligns with a nursing pedagogical paradigm shift to educate nurses who will be change agents in their clinical settings.
  • Paul Buckley and Greg Crouch, Dept. of Chemistry, “Providing Growth Opportunities for Struggling Chemistry Students.” By creating two, new,in-person and online courses, the first-year chemistry experience will be fundamentally altered by creating different pathways for those with different instructional and curricular needs. Three-credit CHEM 103 is a flipped course focused on conceptual and inquiry-based learning, and the companion one-credit CHEM 104 uses small-group workshop/guided-inquiry approaches to teach conceptual problem solving. The courses will prepare students in certain programs for success in foundational chemistry andimprove alignment between student needs, curriculum options, and program goals.
  • Erica Crespi, School of Biological Sciences, “Investigating the Effects of Environmental Contaminant Exposure on Wildlife Health in the Classroom: A Place-based Approach.” This project aims to improve the learning outcomes of an existing “integrative inquiry-based instructions units” framework, whichalready incorporates her research into her BIOL 321 course. A new component will be added in which 60 students will monitor human consumption/personal health-care contaminants in local water. The biology students will interact also with environmental scientists and experience interdisciplinary research.
  • Leeann Hunter, Dept. of English, “The Passport Program: Exploring Pathways beyond the Classroom.”Program materials and workshops for faculty mentors will be developed to strengthen the infrastructure, sustainability, and transferability of the current Passport Program in English. It is a humanities-oriented approach to student success, leadership, and professional development, and is intended to mobilize students to engage in a series of action-oriented, relationship-building, and confidence-boosting activities beyond the classroom and university.
  • Sue Phelps and Sam Lohmann, WSU Vancouver Library,“Accessibility and Experiential Learning to Support Information Literacy.” This project will update a one-credit UNIV 300 information literacy course to include situations and life experiences beyond academic research. Active, experiential-learning activities related to media literacy will be incorporated, such asfact-checking and online news evaluation skills. Universal Design for Learning (UDL)-compliant formatting will be applied to course materials.
  • Adam Richard Phillips, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will explore “Encouraging Self-Regulated Learning in Engineering through Guided Discussion and Self-Assessment.” This project aims to increase the capability of engineering students to self-regulate their own learning (SRL) to improve their problem-solving skills and critical-thinking ability, and to promote lifelong learning. The pedagogical framework will include guided discussion, student self-assessment, and instructor feedback. The SRL approach will be used in fall in CE 315 and CE 512, and, following data collection and evaluation, be applied to an updated approach in spring to CE431 and CE 303.
  • Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, School of Biological Sciences and School of the Environment at WSU Vancouver, “Incorporating a ‘Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience’ (CURE) into Biology 106-L on the WSU Vancouver Campus.” This project aims to increase student engagement in biology classes by implementing “course-based undergraduate research experiences” (CUREs).By applying CURE elements to BIOL 106 lab in fall, students will investigate and hypothesize a solution to a question (relating to the author’s research) for which no one—including faculty—has, or has published, an answer.
  • Dave Torick and Nandita Biswas, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, “Effective Teaching for Dimensioning and Tolerancing in Mechanical Engineering Application with Visual Aid and an Experimental Set Up.” Key concepts of mechanical design include dimensioning and tolerancing of components, but traditional teaching methods typically don’t convey how the part will be created (fabricated). This project addresses student learning through a two-pronged approach: students will use visual aids (weekly sets of videos) as preludes to hands-on assignmentsinvolvingthe use of computer-aided design (CAD) software for fabrication and inspections of final products. The authors will employ undergraduates to plan and fabricate parts, videotape procedures, edit videos, create course materials, and publish a website.

Funding for Smith Teaching and Learning grants was established in 2000, when President Smith retired. Since, dozens of faculty-initiated projects have impacted thousands of WSU students, university pedagogy, and industry knowledge and practices across the world. Visit the website for more information at Applications and nominations for the next round of Smith grants will be announced in fall.