In the fall of 2019, 18 proposals were submitted to the Innovations in Teaching with Technology Awards. The Academic Technology Advisory Council awarded a total of $96,848 for the following seven proposals.
Virtual Reality as a tool to Enhance Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes for End-of Life Care among Health Professions Students
Kashelle Lockman, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, received $13,000. A project evaluating the effectiveness of an individual, first-person virtual reality (VR) simulation to teach end-of-life care to health professions students from multiple disciplines. VR will be evaluated as a platform to develop and convey empathy for dying patients and their families and bolster understanding of how interdisciplinary teams care for patients at the end of life.
Video Games and the Ancient World: Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Debra Trusty, Department of Classics, received $5,675. Debra Trusty, lecturer in classics, received $5,675 to provide students with a better understanding of the daily activities, events, and traditions of the ancient Greek world through the use of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, a video game released in 2018 by Ubisoft, alongside traditional primary and secondary sources. The game accurately reconstructs ancient Greece through the analysis of recent scientific studies and preserved ancient accounts and materials.
Text Classification Tool for Flint Water Crisis Email Archive
Louise Seamster, Department of Sociology, received $10,000. Assistant professor of sociology and criminology, facilitated students’ engagement with digital archives in a new applied research class exploring the role of state and local governments in response to the Flint water crisis. This project aims to develop a text classification tool to expand experiential learning and facilitate direct analysis with primary source materials.
The Edge of Space: Hands-on Space Instrumentation Design
Allison Janyes and David Miles, Department of Physics and Astronomy received $24,073. Assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and David Miles, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, support "The Edge of Space: Mission and Instrument Design for Spaceflight," a newly designed course in the Physics & Astronomy Department. Student groups will design, build, test, fly, and analyze data from small scientific instruments that will be flown at the “edge of space” on high-altitude meteorological balloons, through a collaboration with Iowa State University.
Telehealth Technology in Nursing Education
Theresa Jennings, Department of Communication Studies, received $14,200. Clinical assistant professor of nursing, supports a project that prepares UI nursing students to meet the demands of a rapidly changing healthcare system by including cutting-edge telehealth simulation technology as part of their clinical preparation.
Virtual Teaching Experience for Educators
Anne Estapa, Department of Teaching and Learning, received $21,900. Assistant professor of mathematics education, implemented simulated experiences in an elementary math methods course, allowing students to engage in a broader range of teaching scenarios than is typically possible in the current practicum model.
The New Chinese Reading World
Helen Shen, Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures, received $8,000. Supporting the redevelopment of an existing comprehensive Chinese reading website. The site has 900 lessons with a built-in reading assessment system, and the project will update the underlying code and develop additional interactive learning components.