Chippewa Valley Times

Several faculty and instructional staff members at the University of Wisconsin-Stout have been recognized for their contributions to education as the new academic year begins.

Emma Green, assistant professor of developmental psychology, and Pranabendu Mitra, associate professor of food science and technology, were selected as 2025-26 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars by the Universities of Wisconsin. They join a group of scholars from 11 campuses across the state for the upcoming academic year.

The Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars program offers UW faculty and teaching staff an opportunity to collaborate with peers from different campuses and disciplines. Participants engage in discussions about effective teaching methods based on evidence and conduct research projects aimed at improving student learning through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).

“I applied for this fellowship because I think that it is necessary to keep my eyes open on continuous improvement of teaching methods, as teaching is dynamic,” said Mitra.

As part of their fellowship activities, Green and Mitra attended a Faculty College retreat in May and a Summer Institute in June. They will also participate in a Winter Institute in December, followed by a conference next April where they will present findings from their research projects.

Mitra’s project will examine how student-created lectures and project design affect “learning, intrinsic motivation and sense of belonging of the students.” He believes that this work will help him refine his teaching practices. “Will benefit my students because I will be better equipped to support student success, motivation and sense of belonging,” he added.

Green’s research focuses on understanding how post-secondary students perceive evaluation in academic settings. “Broadly, my project is a qualitative study that aims to understand post-secondary students’ perception of evaluation in the academic setting,” she said. “For example, what do students think other students think about them when they’re called on in class?”

She plans to involve students both as research assistants and participants. “I hope that by understanding the perspectives of students, this could eventually lead to adaptive teaching techniques in understanding students’ expectations and reactions to the post-secondary academic environment,” Green added.

In addition to these fellowships, six employees received Outstanding Teacher awards during UW-Stout’s Opening Day Presentation and Awards Recognition event on August 25. The awards are determined by votes from undergraduate and graduate students at UW-Stout. Recipients include Saleh Alnaeli (mathematics, statistics and computer science), Julia Chapman (biology), Avigdor Edminster (social science), Lauren Johnsen (English, philosophy and communication studies), Nels Paulson (social science), and Derek Sturgill (mathematics, statistics and computer science).

Two faculty members received Outstanding Graduate Faculty awards: Molly Welch Deal (counseling, rehabilitation and human services) for one college, and Laura Reisinger (hospitality and technology innovation) for another college.

The recipients were recognized by Chancellor Katherine Frank during the opening event at Memorial Student Center.

Classes for UW-Stout’s fall semester begin Wednesday, September 3. In fall 2024, there were 221 faculty members along with 179 instructional academic staff at UW-Stout.