New fellowship to transform foundational course experiences

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University is continuing its commitment to innovation with the new Instructional Innovation Fellowship, a focused group of faculty teaching foundational, high-impact courses.

The goal of the group is to redesign introductory courses to meet the needs and challenges of today’s students.

"While course redesign efforts occur across the university, The College is uniquely positioned to lead this initiative because of its central role in serving students from every discipline,” said Ara Austin, assistant dean of instructional innovation in The College.

Fellows were nominated by their departmental leadership and selected for their commitment to student success and their passion for continuous improvement in teaching and learning.

By the end of the fellowship, each participant will have implemented course-level changes, including correcting misalignments between assessments and course objectives, focusing on modernizing content within essential topics to promote deeper understanding of the discipline.

“The College’s investment in student success is reflected in the Instructional Innovation Fellowship, which embodies ASU’s commitment to inclusion and excellence as outlined in the ASU Charter,” Austin said. “By focusing on high-impact introductory courses, we are helping to strengthen the educational foundation for students across the university.

“Acting as a changemaker in higher education requires courage to question long-standing practices and to embrace innovation. The fellows have demonstrated both enthusiasm and openness to change, and their work promises to make a lasting, positive impact on students’ experiences in these courses.”

Meet some members of the first fellowship cohort:

Teaching professor
School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies

Bolton was chosen as a fellow to improve the PHI 103: Principles of Sound Reasoning course. Students assess information and trace logical relationships to understand what conclusions follow from given facts.

“The fact that I was chosen for this role reminds me that it is not only the philosophy department that considers critical thinking important, but ASU in general,” Bolton said.

With the shell of the course created in 2008, Bolton will focus on updating the course with a fresh perspective that not only streamlines the course but also provides easier navigation for students.

“Thanks to (the instructional innovation team's) help, I now have a better idea how the various parts of PHI 103 should fit together,” she said.

Assistant teaching professor
Department of Psychology

During the course of the fellowship, Eaton’s focus will be NEU 101: Introduction to Neuroscience. She hopes that after the updates are applied, students will feel more supported and find the course more enjoyable.

“Neuroscience is a fascinating field, and by the end of this fellowship, I hope that NEU 101 becomes more accessible and the course provides the support students need at the primary entry point for neuroscience,” Eaton said.

Eaton looks forward to collaborating with fellow innovative faculty members, learning from others and implementing lessons into her own teaching methods.

“I love discovering new ways to enhance my teaching and promote student learning and generally make the learning experience more enjoyable,” she said. “I think being chosen for this role means I can help fulfill the message in the charter by increasing inclusive practices in the classroom and finding new ways to measure student success.”

Teaching Professor
Hugh Downs School Of Human Communication

Dybvig’s time in the fellowship will be spent updating COM 207: Critical Thinking and Writing in Communication with the goal of making communication courses “more accessible, career-focused and rooted in a strong commitment to student success.”

Changes to the course will meet the guiding principles of continually evolving to meet students where they are and creating valuable tools to help continue that tradition.

“Being selected for this role offers an opportunity to engage meaningfully in the ongoing, innovative reimagining of higher education at ASU and within The College,” Dybvig said.