Dr. Scott Northrup Awarded the Dean's Innovative Teaching Award for the College of Arts and Sciences posted: July 13, 2006
This award was given based on his use of technology in the classroom, specifically the Tablet PC. A white paper submission describes the transformation of two chemistry department courses, Chem1110/1120 and Chem3500. "The old modus operandi," as Dr. Northrup describes, was traditionally taught as a 'professor-centered' course where tedious tasks related to paper and chalkboard devoured too much valuable time from both professor and student. Paper handouts, quizzes, homework & grades along with multiple complex chemical equations on chalkboards consumed that time and fostered the never-ending catch-up mode that plagues many courses on campus. WebCT was a beneficial tool in the trek toward the paperless classroom but the Tablet PC closed the final gap between non-learners and learners in these chemistry courses. The digital whiteboard available with the Tablet PC replaced traditional whiteboards providing pre-class preparation and the ability to save all whiteboard presentations created live, in class. The "canned Power Point shows," as Dr. Northrup refers to them, hindered the natural observation of the process of problem solving. The annotations made to Power Point presentations brought the static content to life and once again the ability to save the spontaneous information in lectures make review for future course enhancements invaluable. Dr. Northrup concludes, "the judicious use of technology has radically affected the way I teach Chem3500 and 1110/1120, and it has radically affected the way students learn...I cannot imagine going back to teaching this course the old-fashioned way."
