Projects
Each of the CAS Innovative Teaching Associates is working on a teaching project that creatively
applies current research and best practices to positively transform teaching in the
college. Assocates will be available to consult with colleagues interested in the
materials developed.
Immersive and Experiential Learning Through Interdisciplinary Gaming and Original
Artifacts
Lana Burgess is developing content for faculty to more fully integrate the McKissick
Museum in their teaching. Her first project will create a multi-unit curriculum module
based on Barnard College’s “Reacting to the Past” learning games for University 101
professors with the intention of making it a one-credit hour course on the history
of the African-American experience at USC. The second project will provide materials
to SAEL 200 Social Advocacy and Ethical Life course instructors, including those in
the Bridge Humanities Corps program, to use the museum’s exhibitions as a primary
resource.
Interdisciplinary Values and Ethics in Literature Online Course
Judy Kalb is creating an online repository of video lectures by comparative literature
faculty in a range of specialization areas, along with sample course materials and
best-practice resources for this Carolina Core course (CPLT 150), which is also a
gateway course to the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. The resources
will be available to all instructors who teach the course.
Video Games as Teaching Tools
Joseph November is developing a best-practice guide on incorporating video games into
undergraduate courses, including technical and pedagogical resources and sample course
materials to be tested in his “Video Games in History” (HIST 314) course.
Active Learning in Marine Science
Tammi Richardson is integrating hands-on learning activities into Biological Oceanography
(MSCI 311) as part of a large-scale redesign of the Marine Science undergraduate curriculum.
Final products will include a lab manual, instructor’s manual, and pedagogical resources
for instructors and TAs who teach the course.
Survey of Innovative Teaching Practices and Interests
Ronda Sanders is conducting surveys, interviews, and focus groups with CAS faculty
to learn about creative teaching approaches already in use in the college, and to
find out what new ideas and practices faculty are interested in trying. Results will
be used to foster communication among faculty with similar interests and to guide
future Incubator programming.
Innovations in Study Abroad and Service Learning
Minuette Floyd is studying the logistics of incorporating service learning pedagogies
into study abroad programs and designing a new course for arts teachers (music, dance,
theatre, and visual arts) that includes a local service-learning component.
Experiential and Distributed Learning at USC
Hayden Smith is surveying programs and key faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences
in order to assess departments and opportunities in which experiential learning would
be most effective. He will examine key barriers and challenges to experiential learning,
issuing a final report to the Incubator for Teaching Innovation and the Deans office.
Instructors and Active Learning in Mathematics
Sean Yee’s research and pedagogy courses indicate novice graduate student instructors
(GSIs) are reluctant to implement active learning because of time limitations and
effort required to think through how and when to implement active learning. He is
exploring implementing prepared active-learning pre-calculus lesson plans with novice
GSIs to aid in engaging undergraduate students.