The ILLUMINATE Grant for the Improvement of Teaching provides faculty with funding to increase active learning and authentic hands-on, engaging experiences for students. These projects positively reflect the following National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice:
Congratulations to the exemplary faculty who recently received an ILLUMINATE Grant!
Nicole Thorn was awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to purchase white noise maskers that allowed her students to experience the physical similarities of being deaf. The maskers (hearing aid-like devices that produce white noise) helped the students better understand the sociocultural aspects of deafness and enlightened them to issues and perceptions affecting those who are hearing impaired.
It is crucial for students to factor visual storytelling into the work they create in order to captivate an audience based on a concept rather than just an aesthetic approach. Through the ILLUMINATE Grant, students were able to interact face to face with professional award-winning illustrators, Megan Halsey and Melanie Hall. Both are accomplished in the publishing and design industries for over 25 years and most recently have ventured into art licensing (art utilized commercially on a variety of retail products). Through hands-on workshops, lectures, and a gallery exhibit, students were exposed to the changes of the design, illustration and publishing industries.
John Marselus was awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to obtain the materials needed for his students to design and build their own aircraft. Students spent time designing their gliders using their knowledge of aerodynamics. This project was based on a class taught at the United States Air Force Academy. It allowed the students to put their knowledge into practice as they design their own aircraft and then make them secure the longest glide distance.
Dr. Henderson was awarded the ILLUMINATE grant to facilitate student presentations focusing on the unique nutritional needs in each phase of the life cycle. Approximately 100 students from Human Nutrition (HLTH 330) participated by developing group presentations which covered ten facets of generational health issues. In addition to informational displays, students talked about healthy diet and eating habits during each life phase. Students prepared sample foods and provided recipes for healthy eating options. Projects were prominently galleried in the Jerry Falwell Library making their research highly visible for the Liberty student body, staff and faculty to see.
Drs. Linda Mintle, Carl Hoegerl, and Michael Hueber were awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to obtain professional development and resources for faculty design curriculum for Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) students to receive training in motivational interviewing (MI), a collaborative, person-centered, goal-oriented, interview that assesses a patient's motivation and commitment to change. MI is learned through an active teaching process that includes observation and scoring, practice and rehearsal. Most current medical school curricula fail to adequately teach thie necessary skill essential for third year rotations. With assisstance from the ILLUMINATE grant, Liberty is unique in offering this patient-centered training to LUCOM students.
Drs. Heisey and Blosser were awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to support a case study involving students in Sports Facilities and Events and Sport Finance classes to plan and promote a U.S. city vying to be the U.S. candidate host city for the 2014 Olympics. Teams prepared a bid video and research related to city proper, facilities, budget, marketing, etc. and present their findings. After several team elimination rounds, the final round was critiqued by Dr. Holger Preuss from Meinz, Germany. Preuss is a noted author and global expert on the Olympic movement, staging large sports events, and measuring their economic impact. Students not only had the opportunity to work in teams across two courses, but also benefitted from having their work previewed by an international expert in the field.
Dr. Amy Xie was awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to share an authentic cultural experience with her students: a Chinese New Year celebration. Her students sang Chinese hymns and Bible verses, created music with clapping instruments, demonstrated Tai Chi wearing traditonal uniforms, and played various Chinese games. To wrap up the cultural experience, students enjoyed some genuine Chinese cuisine.
Drs. Ben Kalu and Kimberly A. Mitchell were awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to implement an active learning project designed to (a) assist students in understanding the functions and integration of human body systems; (b) how homeostasis is maintained despite changes in the internal and external environments; (c) and effects of disease states. To make learning real, the grant provided students with medical equipment to record and test EKGs, brain wave patterns, joint angles, and blood flow- all important features in understanding the body's systems in health and disease. Students can now study the physiology of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscular systems using populations of human subjects, rather than from a textbook.
Drs. J. Thomas McClintock, Randall Hubbard, and Andrew Fabich were awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to help students quickly and accurately identify unknown microorganisms and bacteria with a high degree of specificity. The grant provided students with Entertube II rapid diagnostic kits, which are commonly used in clinical, hospital, or research laboratories. While classical approaches to identifying microorganisms still have merit, they are time-consuming, costly, and impractical. The use and implementation of the modern rapid kits helped make learning active and simulated modern real-world situations and techniques.
Deborah Huff and Bruce Kirk were awarded an ILLUMINATE Grant to help train future journalists of faith. Students worked in teams to create news packages which were sent to WTAE TV ABC-Pittsburgh for professional critique and commentary. Three-time regional Emmy Award winning news anchor Michelle Wright then visited campus and delivered a lecture and workshop. Wright then led individual student groups through a personal session on research, content development, writing, and interviewing techniques.