The Creative Teaching Awards recognize UGA faculty for excellence in developing and implementing creative teaching methods to improve student learning. These awards are presented annually on behalf of the Office of Instruction, the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Provost.
Award recipients are faculty who have demonstrated either the use of innovative technology or pedagogy that extends learning beyond the traditional classroom or creative implementation of subject matter that has significantly improved student learning outcomes in their courses.
The recipients of a 2020 Creative Teaching Award are David Berle, Elizabeth Davis, David Gay, Moon Jung Jang, Puliyur MohanKumar and Amy Trauger.
David Berle
David Berle, an associate professor in the horticulture department of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, fosters hands-on learning for students through Grow It Know It, a garden and nutrition education program that partners with the local K-12 schools and through UGAarden, a student-driven farm that provides service-learning opportunities. His teaching practices allow students to connect learning to real-world application in an impactful way for both learner and community.
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Davis, is a senior academic professional in the English department of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. She connects students with Archway Partners to address real-world needs throughout the state. Under Davis’ guidance, students created a website for Metter in Candler County and wrote the “Traditions Highway” publication to enhance tourism for rural towns along Georgia Highway 15. The publication was just one of several pieces they created to document the work of the Archway Partnership in five Archway counties. Not only has Davis given her students real-world writing experience, she is also involving them in the university’s mission to serve the state of Georgia.
David Gay
Moon Jung Jang
Moon Jung Jang and David Gay are co-recipients of a Creative Teaching Award. Gay is a professor in Franklin College’s mathematics department, and Jung Jang is an associate professor of graphic design in the Lamar Dodd School of Art. They collaborated to enrich students’ learning experience by helping produce visual models that convey advanced mathematical concepts accessible to broad audiences. Gay and Jung Jang jointly taught a workshop in which students designed math outreach products for use in schools and museums. The course culminated in a “pop-up math museum” exhibition at the Lamar Dodd School of Art. Their creative combination of math and art helps to better the learning of their students.
Puliyur Seshadri MohanKumar
Puliyur MohanKumar is a professor in Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging at the College of Veterinary Medicine. He developed the first online non-thesis master’s in comparative biomedical sciences. MohanKumar also developed “Clinical Correlations” practices for first-year students where he takes students to the veterinary teaching hospital weekly so they can witness relevant cases connected to the anatomy coursework covered in the classroom.
Amy Trauger
Amy Trauger is an associate professor in the geography department of Franklin College. She uses innovative teaching practices to engage students. In her GEOG 1101 course, students worked in groups over the semester to build a faux world given a geographic map of a fathom region. As the course progressed, Trauger introduced new changes to student scenarios ensuring that they engaged with the course content on a deeper level. Her teaching practices allowed students to experience a fun and comprehensive understanding of geography.
Learn more about the criteria for the Creative Teaching Awards and past recipients.
—Khristina Gallagher
