Communications assistant professors Phillip Motley and Sang Nam were selected as National CASTL (Carnegie Academy of Teaching and Learning) Teaching Scholars and will present their research at the 2010 National CASTL Institute at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., this summer.
Motley and Nam’s proposal, a project titled “Sustainable Learning in Technology Intensive Programs,” was reviewed and approved by peers from several other institutions nationwide. The research focuses on how to find ways to transfer the teaching of technology to outside the classroom. From the introduction to the research paper:
“At many institutions of higher learning today, instructors often find themselves having to introduce a significant amount of new technology into their courses as they continue to incorporate traditional components. In programs that address digital media design and/or communications, there is a need to teach students a broad array of technology. Making this more complicated, most of this technology is regularly updated, changed or replaced. Instructors in this area (and, by extension, ones that incorporate a similar amount of technology) can easily spend most of the time in their courses teaching to the technology needs of the curriculum. Therefore, it is important to find appropriate ways to transfer a significant portion of the technology learning from where it usually resides inside the classroom to locations and times outside of the classroom.”
Motley and Nam’s project will be featured in a 75-minute mentoring session, in which they will present their work to a small audience for 20 minutes. After, they will enter a dialogue with the audience, receiving feedback about how to improve further their project. They will also participate in other workshops and sessions during the Institute’s run from June 2-5.
Motley and Nam both came to Elon in 2009 as instructors in the both the undergraduate program and the Interactive Media master’s program. They started their full-time teaching careers in the University of Wisconsin system, and both were selected as 2008-2009 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows.
They have collaborated on several research projects, including a paper titled “Perceptions of E-mail Usage in the Academic Environment.” They are also 2010-2012 Elon Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Teaching Scholars.