The Cross Endowed Chair at Illinois State University is pleased to announce that Dr. Elahe Javadi from the School of Information Technology is the recipient of the 2022-23 Dr. John Chizmar and Dr. Anthony Ostrosky Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award.
Javadi’s experiences with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) have helped her to better understand ways in which to support her students’ learning and engagement. Javadi has completed numerous SoTL studies, which she has shared in a variety of peer-reviewed journals and at disciplinary conferences. Specifically, Javadi has studied aspects of her introductory information systems course to understand (and ultimately promote) independent learning and student engagement in online course discussion experiences. She has extended this work to include the investigation of potential impacts of social comparison by allowing students to view an anonymized graded (with formative feedback) transcript of online discussions. Additionally, she has studied the impacts of providing structured, elaborative feedback to students to specify how their online discussion posts and comments could be improved.
Javadi’s SoTL work in upper-level information systems courses has focused on investigating techniques for experiential learning, and those related to methods for addressing group work challenges. She utilized flipped classrooms and Dojos sessions (intensive deliverable-oriented work sessions) for improving group processes and countering the prevalent divide-and-conquer approach to group work. In her most recent project, Javadi examined the affordance of virtual reality environments for group collaboration for peer learning. She values service learning and has studied a few different forms of involving students in service-learning activities that benefit both Illinois State students and the K-12 community around the University. The SoTL aspect of this work has evolved into a form of ongoing participatory action research (PAR).
Javadi’s SoTL projects have made differences in the classroom, have been shared at international and national research forums, and have been consistently shared at the Illinois State University Teaching & Learning Symposium. Her SoTL efforts have been supported by the School of Information Technology, the Office of the Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, the Center for Integrated Professional Development, and the Center for Civic Engagement. Further, her work has been shaped by collaborations with Illinois State colleagues, peers from other academic institutions, industry experts, and members of the community. You can see a list of Javadi’s recent SoTL related scholarship on the Cross Chair’s website.
About the award
The Dr. John Chizmar and Dr. Anthony Ostrosky Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award recognizes and encourages high quality and quantity of scholarship of teaching and learning work at Illinois State and in the discipline beyond Illinois State that contributes to the SoTL field, the SoTL body of knowledge, improved teaching, and enhanced student learning.
About the Cross Endowed Chair
K. Patricia Cross endowed the Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State in honor of her father, Clarence L. Cross, a beloved teacher of physics at Illinois State for over 30 years. The Office of the Cross Chair supports and enables the demonstration of Illinois State’s commitment to the promotion of scholarship and research on the teaching and learning of Illinois State University students.
In June of 2022, the Cross Chair was merged into the Center for Integrated Professional Development (formerly known as CTLT), with the chair now serving as the director of Scholarly Teaching. This reimagined unit supports evidence-based teaching, online learning, and other aspects of instructors’ professional lives.
