2025 Festival of Teaching and Learning
About the 2025 Festival of Teaching and Learning
On April 11, 2025, the Blue Sky Lab hosted the 2nd annual Festival of Teaching and Learning, an expo of innovative teaching methods and techniques that invited Purdue educators to share best and most novel practices. 300+ members of the Purdue community joined together in to celebrate Boilermaker creativity in and out of the classroom.
Co-sponsored by Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence, Innovation Hub, and Teaching Academy, the event promoted further teaching innovation by offering new models, networking opportunities, and cash awards to support future teaching experiments.
2025 Event Photo Gallery2025 Festival of Teaching and Learning Award Winners
Congratulations to the award winners of the 2025 Festival of Teaching and Learning! See the overview below, and click on the link at the bottom to view the full descriptions of the award winners.
Teaching Academy Award for Pedagogical Innovation
This award honors presenters whose work best embodies the values of Purdue’s Teaching Academy and the Framework for Teaching Excellence.
Krystal Hans, Forensic Entomology, College of Agriculture, Cold Case Investigations: Engaging Students and the Community as Citizen Detectives
Innovation Hub Awards for Innovative Uses of Generative-AI
This award recognizes recipients of Purdue Innovation Hub grants whose work demonstrates innovation in classroom uses of AI.
J.T. Eagan, Accounting, Daniels School of Business, The Griswold Family Tax Case
IMPACT Festival of Teaching and Learning Recognition
This award honors exceptional teaching innovation by instructors who have completed IMPACT training.
Student Integration
Beatriz Castro (faculty lead), Ayush Bansal, Gabriella Conjelko, Alana Diedrick, Carla Hernandez, Samantha Johnson, Wojciech Kielbus, and Madison Munoz, Biological Sciences, College of Science **, LearnerX Lab
Ximena Bernal (faculty lead), Anthony Ilobinso, and Tomas Vargas-Bernal, Biological Sciences, College of Science **, The PokéBio Project
Mary Beth Lencke (staff lead), Karla Cunningham, Maggie Doran, and Nick Quinn, Exploratory Studies, Academic Fellows and Exploration
Imaginative Activities
Josh Polk and Madison Schnurpel, Computer Graphics Technology, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, The Miniature Dark Ride Project
Michael D. Johnson, English, College of Liberal Arts, Grading for Growth
Tom Lucas, Engineering Technology, Purdue Polytechnic Institute, Photovoice & AI for Data Analysis
Natalie Schneider, Organization Behavior and Human Resources, Daniels School of Business, The Gameplay Project
Community Impact
Casie Bass, Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, The Equine Project
Zachary La Fratta, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences, Blended Learning and Competency Perceptions
Katie Jarriel, John Martinson Honors College, Spring Break Game Jam
** Denotes winner of the IMPACTful Audience Choice Award—IMPACT and SoTL Fellows Poster Session
Blue Sky Awards for Excellence in Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Pedagogy
This award honors innovative and inclusive approaches to interdisciplinary teaching.
Melanie Beasley, Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts, Generating 3-D Scans of Bone Fragments
Stuart White, Biological Sciences, College of Science, The Wobble Bot Project
Jacob Adler, Biological Sciences, College of Science, History, Ethics, and Genetics Across Disciplines
Jason Ware, John Martinson Honors College, The Wabash Murals Project
2024 Festival of Teaching and Learning
On April 12, 2024, the Blue Sky Lab hosted the 1st annual Festival of Teaching and Learning, an expo of innovative teaching methods and techniques that invited Purdue educators to share best and most novel practices. 300+ members of the Purdue community joined together in to celebrate Boilermaker creativity in and out of the classroom.
Co-sponsored by Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence, Innovation Hub, and Teaching Academy, the event promoted further teaching innovation by offering new models, networking opportunities, and cash awards to support future teaching experiments.
2024 Festival of Teaching and Learning Award Winners
Congratulations to the award winners of the 2024 Festival of Teaching and Learning! See the overview below.
Teaching Academy Awards
This award honors presenters whose work best embodies the values of Purdue’s Teaching Academy and the Framework for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Elizabeth Brite, John Martinson Honors College: International service-learning model (HONR 399: Beyond Afghanistan)
Dr. Rustin Webster, Purdue Polytechnic Institute: Catapult design challenge (MET 10200)
Innovation Hub Awards for Innovative Uses of Generative-AI
This award recognizes recipients of Purdue Innovation Hub grants whose work demonstrates innovation in classroom uses of AI.
Dr. Haiyan Li, Minsun Kim, Ty C. Climer, and Cheng Lixia, PLaCE, College of Liberal Arts: Chat GPT in ESL classrooms (ENGL 11100)
Dr. Ramses Martinez, School of Industral Engineering: AI tools for critical thinking (IE 37000)
IMPACT Festival of Teaching and Learning Recognition
This award honors exceptional teaching innovation by instructors who have completed IMPACT training.
Dr. Beatriz Castro Bohorquez, Department of Biological Sciences: Tools for transforming large lecture classrooms (BIOL 203/4)
Dr. Michael Johnson, Department of English: Self assessments in the writing classroom (ENGL 106)
Dr. Corrinne Lim-Kessler, Department of Psychological Sciences: Models for crafting and exploring cultural narratives (PSY 39200)
Dr. Jason Ware, John Martinson Honors College: Performance-based experiential education (HONR 312: Jazz)
Blue Sky Awards for Excellence in Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Pedagogy
This award honors innovative and inclusive approaches to interdisciplinary teaching.
Dr. Jacob Adler, Department of Biological Sciences, “Research for All: Community Focused Experiences” (BIO 135)
A Fay Barber-Dansby, Purdue Polytechnic Institute: Design thinking with community orgs (TECH 120)
Thomas Lucas, Purdue Polytechnic Institute: Science communication podcast “Most Significant Bit” (MFET 374),
Dr. Zahra Tehrani, John Martinson Honors College: Models for ethical reflection in science policy (HONR 299: Modern Eugenics)