Research & Theory Division Awards

The Research & Theory is now accepting nominations for the 2025 RTD Awards. Submit a nomination by April 18th, 2025 for consideration. 

RTD Award Nomination Form 

List of RTD Awards

• Dean and Sybil McClusky Research Award

• Outstanding Theoretical Journal Article Award

• Outstanding Empirical Journal Article Award

• Outstanding Book Award

• Young Researcher Award (sponsored by Springer Publishing)

• AECT Qualitative Inquiry Award

• Outstanding Service Award

• Outstanding Research & Theory Division - Sponsored Accepted Proposal

• Outstanding Research & Theory Division - Sponsored Accepted Student Proposal

Congratulations 2024 RTD Award Winners!

• Outstanding Theoretical Journal Article Award: Daniela Castellanos-Reyes, Adrie A. Koehler, & Jennifer C. Richardson

Title: The i-SUN Process to Use Social Learning Analytics: A Conceptual Framework to Research Online Learning Interaction Supported by Social Presence

• Outstanding Empirical Journal Article Award: Anne Fensie, Teri St. Pierre, Jennifer Jain, & Asli Sezen-Barrie

Title: Engaged Learning During Distraction: A Case Study of Successful Working Moms in Distance Education

• Outstanding Book Award: Jill E. Stefaniak

Title: Advanced Instructional Design Techniques

• Young Researcher Award: Jennifer Park

Title: The Relationships Among Sustainable Work Environments, Human Agency, Openness to Change, and Innovative Work Behavior

• Outstanding RTD Accepted Proposal Award: Clara Schumacher & Dirk Ifenthaler

Title: Students' Behavioral Reactions to Genric, Specific, and Adaptive Specific Prompts

• Outstanding RTD Accepted Student Proposal Award: Chen Feng, Kelli Paul, Daeun Hong, Tianshu Wang, Xiaotian Zou, Krista Glazewski, Cindy Hmelo-Silver, Seung Lee, Bradford Mott, & James Lester

Title: Supporting Teachers in Classroom Orchestration: The Interplay of Technology and Pedagogy for Collaborative Inquiry

• Outstanding Reviewer

  • Brett Staudt Willet (Florida State University)

• Outstanding Service Award: 

  • Meina Zhu (Wayne State University)

    • RTD Professional Development Coordinator

  • Royce Kimmons (Brigham Young University)

    • President-Elect (2021-2022)

    • President (2022-2023)

    • Past President (2023-2024)

Congratulations 2023 RTD Award Winners!

Organized by Dr.Heather Leary, RTD Past-President

• Outstanding Theoretical Journal Article Award: Enilda Romero-Hall (University of Tennessee)

  • Title: Navigating the Instructional Design Field as an Afro-Latinx Woman: A Feminist Autoethnography

• Outstanding Empirical Journal Article Award: Kei Tomita (Kennesaw State University)

  • Title: Visual Design as a Holistic Experience: How Students’ Emotional Responses to the Visual design of Instructional Materials are Formed

• Outstanding Book Award: Paul A. Kirschner, Carl Hendrick, and Jim Heal (Open University of the Netherlands; Wellington College; Academica University of Applied Sciences)

  • Title: How Teaching Happens: Seminal Works in Teaching and Teacher Effectiveness and What They Mean in Practice

• Outstanding Service Award: 

  • Yu-Ju (Sharon) Lin (Purdue University)

    • Professional Development Coordinator Elect (2020-2021)

    • Professional Development Coordinator (2021-2022)

    • Past Professional Development Coordinator (2022-2023)

  • Heather Leary (Brigham Young University)

    • President Elect (2020-2021)

    • President (2021-2022)

    • Past President (2022-2023)

• Outstanding RTD Accepted Proposal Award: Chen Feng, Zixi Li, and Xiaoying Zheng, and Curtis Bonk (Indianna University Bloomington)

  • Title: Investigating the Self-Directed Learning Process in Argentine Tango Learning

• Outstanding RTD Accepted Student Proposal Award: Jie (Jennifer) Lu and Matthew Schmidt (University of Florida)

  • Title: Challenging the Status Quo of Usability Research: Examining the Constructs and Psychometric Properties in Existing Instruments

• Outstanding Reviewers

  • Jiangmei Yuan - West Virginia University

  • Yu-Ju Lin - Purdue University

  • Secil Caskurlu - Florida State University

• Theory Competition Award: Angel Morgan (Arizona State University)

  • Title: Learning Design and Technology Through the Lens of Intersectional Ecological Theory

Congratulations 2022 RTD Award Winners!

Organized by Dr. Feng-Ru Sheu, RTD Past-President

• Outstanding Theoretical Journal Article Award: Richard H. Swan, Kenneth J. Plummer, & Richard E. West (Brigham Young University) 

  • • Toward functional expertise through formal education: identifying an opportunity for higher education

    • Published in Educational Technology Research and Development (2020)

• Outstanding Empirical Journal Article Award:  Haesol Bae, Krista Glazewski, Thomas Brush, & Kyungbin Kwon (Indiana University-Bloomington) 

  • • Title:  Fostering Transfer of Responsibility in the Middle School PBL Classroom: An Investigation of Soft Scaffolding

    • Published in Instructional Science  (2021)

• Qualitative Inquiry Award: Bret Willet  (Florida State University) 

  • • Title: Early career teachers’ expansion of professional learning networks with social media

    • Published in Professional Development in Education (2023)

• Outstanding Service Award 

  • • Ismahan Arslan-Ari (University of South Carolina)

      • • Professional Development Coordinator Elect (2019-2020)

        • Professional Development Coordinator (2020-2021)

        • Past Professional Development Coordinator (2021-2022)

    • Feng-Ru Sheu (Kent State University)

      • • President-Elect (2019-2020)

        • President (2020-2021)

        • Past President (2021-2022)

• Outstanding Research & Theory Division - Sponsored Accepted Proposal: Emma Agola & Tian Luo (Old Dominion University) 

  • • Title: The Effect of Digital Badging on Workplace Self-Directed e-Learning

• Outstanding Research & Theory Division - Sponsored Accepted Student Proposal: Rui (Tammy) Huang & Matthew Schmidt (University of Florida) 

  • • Title: Theory-informed Digital Game-based Interventions for Students’ Language Learning Outcomes: A Systematic Review

• RTD Spotlight Competition 

Congratulations 2020 RTD Award Winners!

Organized by Dr. Ginger Watson, RTD Past-President

• Dean and Sybil McClusky Research Award: Hamid Nadir (Indiana University Bloomington)

  • • Title:  Investigating a Teacher’s Scaffolding for Design Problem Solving in Project-based Learning

• Outstanding Theoretical Journal Article Award: David Devraj Kumar (Florida Atlantic University)

  • • Title:  Analysis of an Interactive Technology Supported Problem-Based Learning STEM Project Using Selected Learning Sciences Interest Areas (SLSIA)

    • Published in the International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology (2017)

• Outstanding Empirical Journal Article Award:  Min Kyu Kim (Georgia State University ) & Tuba Ayer Ketenci (Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • • Title:  Learner Participation Profiles in An Asynchronous Online Collaboration Context

    • Published in The Internet and Higher Education (2019)

• Young Researcher Award: Yingxiao Qian (Arizona State University)

  • • Title:  Effectiveness of Explicit Guidance and Practices on Abstraction (EGPA): Focusing on Computational Tasks in a STEM-integrative Robotic Education Program

• Outstanding Service Award:

  • • E-Ling Hsiao (Valdosta State University)

      • • Communication Officer (2008-2011)

        • President-Elect Designate, President-Elect, President, Immediate Past President (2014-2017)

        • Division Representative to the AECT Board (2017-2020)

    • Ginger S. Watson (University of Virginia)

      • • Professional Development Coordinator (2015-2016)

        • Past-Professional Development Coordinator (2016-2017)

        • President-Elect (2017-2018)

        • President (2018-2019)

        • Past-President (2019-2020)

    • Heather Leary (Brigham Young University)

      • • Professional Development Coordinator Elect (2017-2018)

        • Professional Development Coordinator (2018-2019)

        • Past-Professional Development Coordinator (2019-2020)

• Outstanding Accepted Proposal Award: Katherine Chartier (Purdue University)

  • • Title:  The Development of the Instructional Design Dispositions and Expertise Index