Gertrude Cox Award

2008–2009 Nominees and Winners

Nominations for the 2009–2010 Gertrude Cox Award will be accepted November 1, 2009 – December 4, 2009

Winner - Transformative Large Scale Projects

Dr. Jeff A. Joines
Textile Engineering Chemistry and Science

Dr. Stephen D. Roberts
Industrial & System Engineering

Photo of Joines and RobertsThe Winners in the Transformative Large Scale Projects category are Dr. Jeffrey A. Joines, an Associate Professor in Engineering Chemistry and Science, and Dr. Stephen D Roberts, a Professor of Industrial Engineering. They are honored for their course TE/ISE 110 - Computer Based Modeling for Engineers, a course that not only brings a new curricular approach to computational thinking, but is also defining and demonstrating a revolutionary change in developing pedagogy that can be employed across a variety of evolving curricula. They start with computer-based modeling for engineers, and have created a system that tracks and assesses student growth and learning in this form of computational thinking throughout their entire time here at NC State, from freshman through senior year. This impressive advancement in longitudinal assessment has the potential to enhance teaching and learning in every corner of our community, region and state.

Honorable Mention - Transformative Large Scale Projects

Dr. Hiller A. Spires
Curriculum, Instruction & Counselor Education

Photo of SpiresHonorable Mention in this category goes to Dr. Hiller A. Spires, Professor & Senior Research Fellow, Curriculum, Instruction & Counselor Education who is recognized for her work in New Literacies and Design Studio: Teachers Experiencing the Power of Learning Through Technology (ECI 546, Literacy, Technology, and Media). This work is particularly consistent with the objectives of NC UNC Tomorrow, in reaching out to middle school students throughout the state in a way that will have multi-generational impact on future learners. The course employs an impressive suite of pedagogical tools and technologies to address contemporary topics, and introduces the concept of new literacies, putting the need for creativity and imagination necessary for success in the 21st century into an outreach environment to meet today's educational challenges.

Gertrude Cox Award Winner - Innovative Technology Enhanced Courses

Dr. Gabriel Keith Harris
Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences

Photo of HarrisThe Winner of the award for Innovative Technology Enhanced Courses goes to Dr. Gabriel Keith Harris, an Assistant Professor of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences. Dr. Harris is honored for his course FS 201: Food Science and the Consumer. This Food Science course is a hybrid, using Moodle and other appropriate technologies to address both an on-campus and a distance education cohort, giving opportunities to students in both physical and virtual space to learn and review a rich variety of course materials. The course deploys its technology seamlessly and very effectively, not only in bringing guest experts to both cohorts, but also in using that expertise to demystify high profile concerns from fad diets to chili peppers and peanut butter. Dr. Harris takes the science of nutrition and embeds it in the context of the students' personal experience and current media events to make the teaching of biology relevant and fascinating to his students.

Gertrude Cox Award Winner - New Instructional Tools & Methods

Laura Ladrie
Institute of Advanced Analytics

John Jernigan
Institute of Advanced Analytics

Photo of Ladrie and JerniganThe winners in this category are Laura Ladrie, the Academic Program Coordinator at our Institute for Advanced Analytics, and John Jernigan, the Institute's IT Coordinator, for their project exploring Google Tools in the Classroom. This experiment provides a valuable model of selecting tools for courses and curricula that enable much closer in and out of class collaboration among students and faculty and outside reviewers, critics and assessors. The exigencies created by growing ties to the off-campus community demands a suite of tools commonly available to our community partners. This undertaking demonstrates that tools like Google's suite can be used to construct an academic-corporate environment. Ladrie and Jernigan assembled a set of appropriate tools that are free, accessible to everyone, very flexible and powerful, and will be as meaningful for our students after graduation as they are within the academic program.

Gertrude Cox Award Nominees

Louise Antoinette Dolan
Foreign Languages And Literatures

Photo of DolanLouise A. Dolan, also a Lecturer in Foreign Languages And Literatures is nominated for her work with the Distance Education version of FLS201-601 Intermediate Business Spanish Grammar I. Another extensive utilization of Elluminate, this course makes excellent use of online resources to extend language instruction not only to our resident students in an especially "schedule-friendly" guise, but also to previously marginalized student cohorts. This course helps fill a more and more critical need in our university's curriculum, in teaching the Spanish 210 requirement.

Dr. Ed Gehringer
Computer Science-Engineerig

Photo of GehringerDr. Ed Gehringer, an Associate Professor in Computer Science-Engineering was nominated for his continuing work with Expertiza. This ground-breaking Web-based system for peer-reviewing student work has been previously recognized in our Cox award ceremonies. We are pleased that it continues to be recognized via peer review publications in collaborative education. Particularly gratifying is the increasing international adoption of the system showing that the influence of Expertiza continues to expand.

Karen L. Tharrington
Foreign Languages And Literatures

Lee Ann F. Gillen
Distance Education & Learning Technology Applications

Photo of Tharrington and GillenKaren L. Tharrington, Lecturer, in Foreign Languages And Literatures, and Lee Ann F. Gillen, an Instructional Designer with DELTA, are nominated for their Distance Education version of FLS 102 (Beginning Spanish II). A wonderful example of the good things that happen when faculty and instructional designers work closely together, this course is excellently organized, and demonstrates how tools such as Elluminate can build bridges between the virtual and the actual, particularly the realm of conversation and feedback; so vital to the study of language. The course provides substantial technical assistance to the distance ed students in recording their oral assignments and in giving them assessments of their conversational skills.

Dr. Raymond Ting
Curriculum, Instruction & Counselor Education

Photo of TingDr. Raymond Ting an Associate Professor of Curriculum, Instruction & Counselor Education was nominated for his work on ECD 530: Theories and Techniques of Counseling. The course is impressive for its technological sophistication; it combines multimedia of Elluminate, and video or audio recording for students submitting some of their assignments via webcams, etc. But perhaps even more impressive is its role in broadening NC State's international scope. Dr. Ting has also developed a website and series of workshops based on this course called Chinese Career Key. The increasingly popular program is designed to meet the training needs for professionals offering career guidance and services in Hong Kong, particularly those working in the schools.

View nominations for 2008–2009

Previous Winners

If you have further questions about the Gertrude Cox Award or about this website, please contact cox_award@ncsu.edu.