JACKSON, September 10-- Union University recently recognized two faculty members with Innovative Instruction Awards for demonstrating fresh, effective methods of teaching.
Kina Mallard, chair of the department of communication arts, and Barbara McMillin, chair of the department of English, received awards recognizing the originality and success of their classroom projects.
"This is our fourth year to present these awards, and we're delighted to see the wealth of new ideas coming from our faculty," Union Provost Howard Newell said. "Drs. Mallard and McMillin both demonstrate great resourcefulness and creativity in their efforts."
Mallard received first place honors and $1,000 for guiding media law students through a Supreme Court simulation exercise. In a new approach to the course's case studies, students were divided into groups consisting of nine court justices, a prosecution team and a defense team. Students then debated four hypothetical cases, covering media issues such as class, censorship, libel, privacy and copyright. Pre-tests and a final examination demonstrated the project's effectiveness.
McMillin received runner-up honors and $500 for employing computers as a method of interpreting poetry. Students were asked to evaluate poems both in traditional discussion sessions and through viewing and critiquing poems onscreen via word processors. The students, typing their immediate reactions onscreen beneath the poem's text, demonstrated greater comprehension. Discussion based on recall from reading poems on traditional print media proved less effective.
Candidates for Union's Instructional Innovation Awards present written summaries of their projects and the results observed. These summaries are reviewed and recipients are selected by a faculty committee appointed by the provost.
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Last updated on September 10, 1996.
