Andrei Straumanis and Stacy Sparks Receive TONIC Award

Andrei Straumanis and Stacy Sparks have been selected to receive a Transformational Online Instruction Contributions (TONIC) award. This award recognizes professional instructional faculty who have demonstrated “exceptional creativity and rapid innovation in hybrid/online instruction”. During a tough COVID year, Andrei and Stacy have accelerated and expanded cooperative learning and community building. This honor is especially noteworthy because it recognizes a joint collaboration by one of our longest-term Professors of Chemistry Instruction, Stacy Sparks, with one of our newest, Andrei Straumanis. Through their efforts, Andrei and Stacy aim to enhance engagement and inclusivity via the strategic use of peer-plus-a-year Learning Assistants that support virtual groupwork in large courses. Their strategies will be showcased in the Faculty Innovation Center’s Technology-Enhanced Learning Symposium in May.