About Scholarly Teaching

CETL Scholarly Teaching promotes and advances research-based pedagogies for faculty and graduate student teachers in all delivery modalities (e.g. face-to-face, hybrid, online). Programs empower all educators at KSU to pursue excellence in their teaching within a scholarly, evidence-based framework. 

Scholarly Teaching Staff

Name
Position
  • Tris Utschig

    Tris Utschig Director for Scholarly Teaching and Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering

    UtschigPosition:
    Director for Scholarly Teaching and Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering

    Phone: (470) 578-6410
    Email: tutschig@kennesaw.edu
    Location: House 3211


    Dr. Utschig is dedicated to providing CETL services specifically addressing the scholarly teaching needs of KSU faculty. In this role he manages and contributes to the CETL Team in creating institutes, workshops, webinars, and book chats; running faculty learning communities; conducting classroom observations; and providing custom consulting services to colleges, departments, and individual faculty to leverage the learning sciences in bringing a scholarly approach to all aspects of the teaching and learning process. Tris brings significant expertise and consultation experience in choosing pedagogical techniques, performing course and learning activity design, assessing student learning outcomes, conducting research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and with writing and implementing externally funded educational research proposals. As Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Tris also teaches courses for the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

    Tris's experience with online teaching and learning:

    • Facilitated countless online webinars and workshops, beginning in 2013.
    • Completed the Online Course Design Certification program through KSU CETL
    • Serves as the professional development director for the Academy of Process Educators where he mentors other faculty across the nation to deliver high quality online workshops.
    • Has experience as an online learner in two MOOCs and three year-long faculty self-growth learning communities.

    Tris's focus areas

    • Classroom assessment strategies
    • Collaborative learning
    • Learning activity design
    • Process education (learning to learn)
    • STEM pedagogy
  • Hillary Steiner

    Hillary Steiner Associate Director for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Educational Psychology, Department of Psychological Science

    Hillary SteinerPosition:
    Associate Director for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Educational Psychology, Department of Psychological Science

    Phone: (470) 578-6147
    Email: hsteiner@kennesaw.edu
    Location: House 3211


    Hillary Steiner, Ph.D., provides support to colleges, departments, and individual faculty in the areas of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and the science of learning. She chairs CETL's international SoTL Summit conference; facilitates the SoTL Manuscript Completion program; provides consulting services and workshops on all aspects of the SoTL research process including finding external funding; coordinates the SoTL Travel Funds program; collaborates with other campus entities including the Office of Research and the Library; and serves on national and international SoTL committees and editorial boards, including as Regional Vice President (USA) for ISSOTL. Hillary maintains the nationally recognized directories of SoTL conferences and journals, online SoTL resource pages, and the KSU-SoTL listserv. Currently a Professor in the Department of Psychological Science, she has taught introductory and educational psychology, a variety of first-year seminars, and graduate courses on the high-school to college transition in face-to-face, hybrid, and online formats. Most recently, she collaborated with the Interactive Research Methods Lab to create the Hopscotch 4-SoTL model, which is used by scholars worldwide to create well-informed research designs. She received the USG Board of Regents' SoTL Award in 2017. Read more about Hillary's research here.

    Hillary's Areas of Focus:

    • The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
    • Cognitive and social-cognitive perspectives on learning as applied to higher education 
    • Interpretation of student course evaluation feedback

    Hillary's Faculty Website

  • Mandy McGrew

    Mandy McGrew Educational Specialist for Scholarly Teaching and Part-Time Instructor of American Studies

    McGrewPosition:
    Educational Specialist for Scholarly Teaching and Part-Time Instructor of American Studies

    Phone: (470) 578-6257
    Email: alb1724@kennesaw.edu
    Location: ALC 4501


    Mandy McGrew serves as the Educational Specialist for Scholarly Teaching, providing a wide variety of services rooted in evidence-based teaching practices and ascribing to the philosophy of learning-centered teaching. Mandy coordinates the CETL Consultation program which includes one-on-one confidential teaching consultations, face-to-face and online teaching observations, and student feedback focus groups. She also develops and facilitates face-to-face workshops and online webinars for KSU faculty wishing to advance their teaching. Mandy supports various institutional initiatives including the It's About Engagement initiative and creates custom workshops and programs for departments and colleges across campus. She also provides targeted programming and support to part-time faculty as the Director of the Teaching Academy for Part-time Faculty and CETL liaison to the Part-time Faculty Council. She also teaches American Studies in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department and is a doctoral candidate in Educational Leadership at Valdosta State University. Mandy is dedicated to researching and promoting inclusion and equity in higher education.  

    Mandy's Areas of Focus:

    • Teaching Consultations and Observations
    • Inclusive pedagogies
    • Learning-centered teaching
    • Service-learning and community engagement
    • Contingent and part-time faculty programs and services

    Mandy's experience with online teaching and learning:

    • Has taught online for the Interdisciplinary Studies Department since 2019
    • Online Course Design certification
    • Creator of three online CETL programs
    • Four years experience in online learning environments as a participant

Support Areas

  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
  • Learning-Centered Teaching
  • Institutional and USG teaching and learning initiatives
  • Course design, facilitation, and assessment
  • Graduate student professional development

Services

  • Workshops, webinars, and book chats
  • Consultations on teaching and learning practices
  • Consultations on teaching-related grants and research projects
  • Teaching observations in all modalities
  • Student focus group SGIDS: Small Group Instructional Diagnoses
  • Custom-designed services for academic programs/units  
  • Teaching and learning graduate-level credit and non-credit courses  
  • International graduate student teacher support
  • Syllabus and teaching philosophy review  
  • Online pedagogical resources
  • Teaching journal and conference directories  
Past News from Scholarly Teaching
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