The LEAP Indiana Annual Teaching Award (part-time teaching) was given to Elizabeth Winters, Associate Professor of Communication at Hanover College. This award recognizes instructors who use transformative, inclusive and engaged classroom techniques that result or culminate in effective teaching.

Valerie Young wrote, “I observed Elizabeth’s teaching last year when she covered photography as a visual medium. She started the class by reminding students of the cultural, historical, personal, ethical, technical, and critical components of photos as visual communication. During the class, she led critical thinking exercises in photo analysis based on gender inequities, poverty, ethics, and symbolic cultural representation. These are deep issues that engaged students with photography techniques while learning about the power of this medium. I was moved by the way Elizabeth’s careful preparation fostered deep critical analysis. These examples of the ways Elizabeth integrates socio-political concepts into her teaching communicate to students. Winters said to her students, “The world is a big place, and in the Communication Department at Hanover College, you have an important role in understanding others.” The many ways that Elizabeth integrates cross-cultural lessons and citizenship into her course content alone makes her worthy of this teaching award.”

The LEAP Indiana Annual Teaching Award (full time teaching) was given to Hubert Izienicki, Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Purdue University Northwest. This award recognizes instructors who use transformative, inclusive and engaged classroom techniques that result or culminate in effective teaching.

Emily Hixon wrote,” In addition to creating rich and meaningful learning experiences for his students, he is also a faculty leader who supports effective instruction across the institution and beyond. He is a gifted teacher, productive scholar and committed colleague who exemplifies the qualities and skills being recognized by this award. Perhaps his most powerful and impactful work related to the syllabus was published in a 2023 article in Teaching Sociology entitled “Beyond Policies and Procedures: Using the Syllabus Quiz to Predict How Well Students Will Perform in a College Course.” Demonstrating his proficiency as a scholar of teaching and learning, Dr. Izienicki conducted a research study to investigate students’ overall course performance as a function of their performance on a quiz over the syllabus at the start of the course. He found that students who do not earn the maximum score on the quiz (when given multiple attempts) receive lower grades in the course and are less likely to pass the course than their peers who earn all of the points on the syllabus quiz. These findings have huge implications for promoting student success and are applicable across all college courses. If a simple syllabus quiz can help instructors identify early on which students may need additional resources and support to be successful, instructors can intervene in a timely manner to provide those students with the additional support they need to be successful.”