A new article recognizes the incredible work of Dr. Nancy Boury, assistant professor of plant pathology and microbiology at Iowa State University, and her unique approach to student engagement through interactive, game-based learning. Dr. Boury is the winner of the American Society for Microbiology’s 2022 Carski Award for Undergraduate Education, which recognizes significant contributions to education in microbiology.
In a new article for Times Higher Education, Dr. Nancy Boury shares her award-winning approach to teaching undergraduate students at Iowa State University.
After 25 years of teaching college students in a “traditional” lecture-based setting, Dr. Boury has found that the key to engaging students lies in leaving behind the comfort of what’s familiar in favor of finding small ways to challenge students through interactive, game-based practices.
What’s inside Dr. Boury’s toolkit for successfully engaging with her undergraduate classes? Team-based learning, word puzzles and games, online discussions through Packback, and game-based learning.
“I frequently use the online platform Packback to set up a focus question for students. This was especially helpful when I built a new course called Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Living in a One Health World, during the fall semester of 2019 (and yes, that date is correct).
Students would have to answer a probing question about the week’s topic, ask one question, then reply to two posts from their classmates. It not only provoked a lively conversation, it also gave students a chance to improve their writing and researching skills by bringing academic articles into the discussion. “
Excerpt from “Why interactive and game-based instruction beats lecturing every time”
