Three Washington State University faculty have received 2025 awards from the WSU Teaching Academy for their accomplishments.
“The efforts of these educators are truly noteworthy, and the organization is honored to recognize their excellence with our awards,” said Kate Watts, academy chair. She also complimented Nicholas Cerruti, grants and awards chair, and his team for evaluating nominations.
Ananth Jillepalli, computer science assistant professor in the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, received the academy’s “Outstanding Publication in the Scholarship of Teaching in Higher Education” award. He is first author on a paper titled, “Hands-on Lab Exercises for Onsite and Remote Education Delivery in a CPS Communications Systems Course.”
It was published in the proceedings of the 113th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Baltimore, Maryland. The authors anticipate that hands-on exercises accessible via on-campus and remote mechanisms in other disciplines can potentially lead to an increase in student self-initiated motivation and productivity.
Molly Schotzko, assistant professor of strategic communication in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, and Brenna Miller, assistant professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences, both received the “Teaching Academy Award for Excellence in Teaching a Large Class.”
Schotzko has taught more than 1,400 students across 35 courses, and her teaching evaluations indicate her students value and appreciate the level of passion, enthusiasm, and dedication she brings to her teaching. She uses elements of universal design for learning to make her classes accessible to all.
Miller has taught more than 50 classes to roughly 2,500 students. She uses active learning techniques, and approaches teaching from varying perspectives to reflect differing identities and to allow her students to see themselves in history. She has worked for three years on, and is associate director of, a “History for the 21st Century” project, which has helped instructors across the country better engage students in large classes.
