The Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and the Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) invite Cornell faculty to apply for the 2024-2025 Creative Teaching Awards. This award series seeks to recognize and share innovative classroom methodologies and teaching implementations, with the goal of improving teaching through the sharing of new ideas, methods, and strategies. This year's theme highlights creative approaches to assessing student learning.

CTI and award winners are collaborating to create shareable case studies to document their assessment experiences for possible adoption by colleagues. Check back later this spring for more details on our awardee’s projects and how they may be adapted for different courses and learning environments. Awardees will also present their experiences at the Provost's Teaching Showcase scheduled for April 2025. 

Awardees

• Silvia Amigo-Silvestre and Emilia Mahiques, Department of Romance Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
• Brian Kirby, Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering
• Daniel Lebret, Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration
• George Orlov and Doug McKee, Department of Economics, College of Arts & Sciences
• Rong Yang, Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, College of Engineering

Honorable Mentions

• Darlene Campbell and Bethany Schiller, Office of Undergraduate Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
• Natasha Holmes and Nils Deppe, Department of Physics, College of Arts & Sciences
• Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, Department of Music, College of Arts & Sciences
• Tyrell Stewart-Harris, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

2024-25 Call for Applications

The deadline to apply for a 2024-25 Creative Teaching Award has passed. 

Have you found approaches that allow students to demonstrate their learning in creative or novel ways? New ways to engage students in assignments that mirror real-world experiences, or assessment methods that support ongoing opportunities for students to practice, learn, and improve? Assessment practices that are fair, consistent, equitable, and sustainable, including in light of changing technologies and student challenges and experiences? Creating meaningful, effective assessments can be challenging, at every level of scale. Yet, many faculty have begun experimenting with assessment methods that are alternative or non-traditional within their field. This competition seeks to draw out, recognize, and share innovative approaches to assignments and assessments. 

Up to five examples of innovative assessment practices will be selected to receive an award of $5,000 payable to a faculty research account. Award winners will collaborate with the Center for Teaching Innovation to document and share their experiences in online case studies for wider sharing and adoption by colleagues at and beyond Cornell, and will present their experiences at the Provost's Teaching Showcase scheduled for April 2025. 

Eligibility and Requirements

• All full-time faculty members (tenure-track, tenured, and RTE faculty) are invited to apply. Applications can also be submitted on behalf of a course team that includes postdocs, graduate students, or professional staff.
• Applications should describe innovations that have already been implemented in at least one class at Cornell.  
• The principal faculty member(s) will participate in the Provost’s Teaching Showcase event to share their teaching strategy with other faculty. 
• Successful award winners will collaborate with CTI to document their teaching strategy in a case study for possible adoption by colleagues.

Application Process

Interested faculty are invited to share their creative teaching approach via an online application, which must include:

1. Instructor’s name, department(s) and college(s)
2. Context of the course(s) in which the creative teaching approach has been implemented and your rationale for trying something new.
3. A description of the targeted student learning outcomes and how this teaching strategy better supports student learning or experiences.
4. An overview of the idea and its implementation.
5. Reflection on what went well, challenges, and lessons learned.