innovative classes

4-VA project brings 'serious' games to nursing education

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 18:59:04 +0000

4-VA project brings 'serious' games to nursing education Mary Cunningham Wed, 10/21/2026 - 14:59

In This Story

Undergraduate nursing education often presents students with large content volumes and limited collaborative engagement, particularly in medical‑surgical courses. Yanika Kowitlawakul, associate professor in 911��’s College of Public Health, School of Nursing, saw a unique opportunity to utilize “digital escape room games” (DERGs) to provide an innovative approach to enhance engagement while fostering collaboration, critical thinking, and clinical judgment.

The 4-VA Team: (l to r) Kowitlawakul, Scrivner, James, Brooks, Guingab, Enfield

After attending a presentation by Virginia Serious Game Institute’s (VSGI) Jacob Enfield at 911��’s annual Innovations in Teaching and Learning conference, Kowitlawakul was intrigued by the work conducted at VSGI. She recognized the potential to support the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of DERGs aimed at addressing health-related decision making processes in her medical-surgical nursing course. She saw particular value in leveraging these innovative learning approaches to enhance engagement, collaboration, problem-solving skills, and academic performance among undergraduate nursing students.

However, Kowitlawakul reasoned, the effort would be greatly enhanced with a broader wisdom and knowledge base from nursing programs at other 4-VA schools. Consequently, she called upon Gretchen Wiersma, associate professor and Registered Nursing – Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program Coordinator at UVA and Michelle K. Edmonds, associate professor and associate dean of the Undergraduate Nursing Program at VCU to join in the 4-VA effort.

Kowitlawakul also included on the project a supporting group of volunteers from the 911�� community including Amanda Brooks, associate professor, BSN and ABSN program coordinator at the School of Nursing, and Terri Ann Guingab, an instructional designer, who both helped develop case scenarios, reviewed prototypes, provided feedback, collected pre- and post-test data, and evaluated and disseminated the results.

At VSGI, Jacob Enfield recruited and supervised the student workers on game design, conducted the study, and provided feedback throughout the production. Enfield’s students, Alexander Scrivner and Alex James, served as the project’s game artist and programmer, respectively, bringing the games to life.

Kowitlawakul was focused on ensuring the games created a real difference in students’ understanding of protocols, supported by data and results. She notes, “Limited evidence exists regarding how variations in game complexity might influence students’ learning experiences and outcomes. Our study was designed to specifically compare two digital escape room games — one on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the other on increased intracranial pressure (ICP) and closely examine students’ experiential and perceived learning outcomes as well as factors associated with problem-solving confidence.”

Both games were integrated into a 15-week medical-surgical nursing course in spring 2026. Seventy-five students participated in the AMI game and 52 in the ICP game.

Following that, a cross‑sectional design was employed, incorporating pre‑ and post‑quiz assessments and validated questionnaires. The results indicated that students spent more time and made more incorrect attempts in the ICP game, reflecting its higher complexity. Both groups demonstrated improved post‑quiz scores, indicating successful knowledge acquisition. Stress levels were higher during the AMI game, which was introduced earlier in the semester. Strong positive correlations were observed among problem‑solving confidence, collaboration, satisfaction, enjoyment, and creativity, particularly in the ICP game, suggesting that increased complexity may further enhance learning outcomes.

The findings of this study have several important implications for nursing education, particularly in medical–surgical courses. First, the results support the integration of DERGs as effective and engaging instructional strategies. Both the AMI and ICP scenarios promoted learning and engagement, suggesting that game-based approaches can enhance students’ active participation and knowledge acquisition in complex clinical topics commonly taught in medical-surgical curricula. Second, the influence of task complexity on performance outcomes highlights the need for careful instructional design. More complex scenarios, such as the ICP DERG, may increase cognitive demand and stress, which can negatively affect learning and confidence.

Third, the findings emphasize the importance of collaborative learning and peer interaction, particularly in early learning experiences. Incorporating structured teamwork and opportunities for discussion can help students build confidence in problem-solving, especially when first introduced to game-based learning strategies. Finally, given the negative impact of stress, especially in more complex scenarios, educators should consider strategies to monitor and manage student stress, such as providing clear instructions, debriefing sessions, and supportive learning environments. This is particularly important in medical-surgical education, where students must develop confidence in managing high-acuity clinical situations.

With the hard work completed, the team is now sharing their findings through a variety of journals and conferences. The response has been very positive and the team has already received requests from nursing schools around the country, as well as China, who have an interest in obtaining the games, creating their own similar games, or want to collaborate in additional work. The group is now preparing proposals for external funding to expand the project.

“This grant not only allowed us to explore scalable, game-based learning strategies that can be shared nationally and internationally, but also strengthened my personal teaching approach,” concluded Kowitlawakul. “Connecting with Gretchen, Michelle, the folks at VSGI, and nursing students was an inspiring experience that brought so many great ideas to the collective table for this project. It was energizing to collaborate with such a diverse and talented group working toward an important goal.”

This story was originally posted on the 911�� provost site.

Topics

CPH - School of Nursing

4-VA at Mason

Virginia Serious Game Institute

Nursing Research

Research

College of Public Health

innovative classes

911�� course brings expertise from audio description pioneer

sbrown79 — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:26:32 +0000

911�� course brings expertise from audio description pioneer sbrown79 Tue, 10/20/2026 - 11:26

In This Story

Rick Davis

Betsy Yancey

For some, accessibility in the arts is a question of philosophy. 911�� adjunct professor Joel Snyder approaches the idea more literally.

Snyder is a pioneer in the niche industry of arts audio description—the process of translating the arts into spoken language, making theater, film, dance, and other art forms more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision.

Joel Snyder using a stenomask to audio describe a show. Photo provided.

Snyder has made that skill the center of a new audio description course in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA). 

He said 911�� stood out as the right place for the first-ever semester-long, for-credit audio description course in the United States because of the university’s existing commitment to accessible arts programming and its willingness to invest in the future of the field.

“I knew there was an interest at 911�� in making the arts events even more accessible,” Snyder said. “I’m thrilled that the university is forging ahead with courses like this."

For Snyder, the class is part of a broader vision for how accessibility should be understood on campuses and beyond: because audio description also enhances the experience of neurodivergent viewers. “It helps people on the autism spectrum, with ADHD, and it helps people who are learning a new language. Audio description builds literacy,” Snyder said.  
   
The course, CVPA 399 Audio Description for the Arts , connects students to a growing archive of audio description history and practice. Snyder donated more than 100 boxes of scripts, recordings, papers, and other materials to University Libraries in order to create a foundation for the Dr. Joel Snyder Audio Description Archive, a first-ever university-based collection of audio description historical materials and production elements. 

Snyder said he hopes the archive will be further digitized and made available to anybody around the world.

“These records provide a solid base to grow the primary source record on the development of audio description and thus accessibility from the last quarter of the 20th century to the present,” said Lynn Eaton, director, Special Collections Research Center. “Dr. Snyder’s donated collection will help current and future historians and researchers with essential documentation of his work and others in helping to make arts more broadly available.” 

There are nine students in the course, including three students who tune in from North Carolina, Texas, and Missouri respectively.

For Betsy Yancey, who has worked as the audience services manager at 911��’s Center for the Arts (CFA) for 24 years, the course offers a direct connection between the classroom and her day-to-day work.

Betsy Yancey (left) with her former student employees at the Center for the Arts.

“Part of my job is to coordinate access services for our performances—audio description, ASL interpretation, and captioning,” Yancey said. “I’m taking this course because I want to know more about [access services] and potentially be a backup in case our regular audio describer, Ermyn King, is unavailable.”

Her work at CFA includes coordinating with audio describers weeks before a performance, sharing scripts and rehearsal materials, and ensuring patrons can access show information in advance through large-print and screen-reader-friendly materials.

This season, more than 20 CFA performances include audio description, spanning productions in the School of Theater, School of Dance, and School of Music, as well as the professional artists series.

Yancey said she hopes the course encourages students and art professionals to think about accessibility as part of the creative process and not something added at the end.

“It would be great if all of our performing and visual arts departments as well as the companies that we present create the audio description script as they're working on their art because they know the [creator’s] intent,” Yancey said.  

“That's something that the audio describer may not know depending on how much access they've been given to the materials.”

She also sees opportunities for 911�� to expand audio description into digital spaces, including Mason Arts Amplified, the university’s digital arts platform.

"We have a college-wide commitment to making the arts accessible to more people, and Joel Snyder is one of the true founders of a key element of this mission, audio description,” said CVPA Dean Rick Davis. “His passion for this mission is stronger than ever after more than four decades of pioneering research and practice, and we're honored to have him with us."

Marybeth Haneline at the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage audio describing CrazySexyCool: The TLC Musical. Photo provided.

Marybeth Haneline, who is auditing the course through 911��’s Senior Citizen Tuition Wavier program, brings another perspective to the course.

She is now in her third season as a volunteer with the Metropolitan Washington Ear audio description program, a program Snyder spearheaded in the 1980s. Haneline, who has audio described dozens of shows, said the class will allow her to apply what she’s learning to live performance. 

For her final project, Haneline plans to audio describe Frida: A Self Portrait at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., where she is also currently enrolled in the Salon Series, an interactive, behind-the-scenes program.

Haneline plans to use the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System, a comprehensive movement framework, to audio describe the show.

“It's really the perfect show for this project,” said Haneline. “The solo performer is trained in the Suzuki Method and there are these movement pieces that provide space for me to develop a script and do something useful.”

Snyder hopes students leave the course with practical skills they can use in professional settings.

“I hope they build the skillset of writing, voicing, and audio editing descriptions for professional work,” Snyder said. “Audio describers, the writers, and the voice talents are in great demand.”

He also hopes audio description continues to expand across 911��, including in visual art spaces. 

“If there's an art exhibit on campus, there should be audio descriptions of those images available,” Snyder said.

As the course gains momentum after several semesters of planning, Snyder sees 911�� as part of a much larger shift—one that treats access as a creative and educational responsibility.

Topics

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Skills-focused academic minor programs prepare 911�� students for the workforce

Susan Martonik — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 16:33:19 +0000

Skills-focused academic minor programs prepare 911�� students for the workforce Susan Martonik Wed, 10/14/2026 - 12:33

In today’s competitive job market, students are increasingly looking for ways to distinguish themselves in the eyes of potential employers. To help its graduates gain a competitive edge, 911�� is strengthening students’ career readiness through its specialized workforce-ready minor programs. To date, 34 programs are available—and more are on the way.

“These programs provide students with an opportunity to enter the workforce equipped with the practical skills and experiences that employers seek,” said Elizabeth Loun, program manager for university internships in the Undergraduate Education. “They are also highly accessible. In many cases, students can earn a workforce-ready minor by completing only a few additional courses before graduation.”

911��’s workforce-ready minor programs currently span seven schools and colleges. They are designed to complement any major, and all programs include internship-based courses and career-relevant assignments, giving students the opportunity to gain practical experience and ensuring career readiness. Available minors include environmental consulting, government contracting, nonprofit studies, renewable energy, leadership, arts management, and more. These programs are designated in the course catalog for the first time this fall, making them easier for students to identify and explore.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The workforce-ready minors are strategically aligned with high-demand occupations identified by the Virginia Career and Technical Education Resource Center, a Virginia Department of Education-funded initiative that helps ensure that academic programs remain connected to the needs of employers across the commonwealth. These occupations are grouped into 17 career clusters—including energy, health sciences, information technology, and government and public administration—and represent 83 distinct career pathways.

“In the years ahead, we anticipate significant growth within these career clusters,” said Loun. “By helping students develop in-demand skills, our workforce-ready minor programs prepare 911�� students to pursue opportunities in these fields and contribute as future leaders.”

To expand access to career-focused learning opportunities across the curriculum, 911�� launched the Workforce-Ready Minors initiative earlier this year. Through the initiative, faculty members received stipends to modify programs, enhance courses, or create internship courses.

In the School of Art, Professor John von Bergen used the grant to redesign AVT 462 Advanced Sculpture, an upper-level course that teaches students advanced 3D fabrication techniques used in contemporary creative industries. With the Workforce-Ready Minors program, von Bergen enhanced the course to have a career-relevant focus each week. Throughout the semester, students create presentation materials tailored to careers in art, design, fabrication, and creative technology, participate in resume workshops, and engage with industry professionals to gain real-world experience and build professional networks. This course is scheduled to be offered in fall 2027.

“We received a tremendous response to our call for proposals this spring and summer,” said Loun. “The strong interest from faculty enabled us to double the number of workforce-ready minor programs in just a few months. In some cases, existing programs already met the workforce-ready minor criteria and required no additional funding.”

She continued, “With a final round of grants being distributed this fall, we look forward to building on this momentum and broadening our portfolio of offerings even further.”

Browse workforce-ready minors

Topics

Undergraduate Education

School of Art

innovative classes

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

minors

workforce

Students

Playing it out: A new way to teach health economics

Heather Carroll — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:49:22 +0000

Playing it out: A new way to teach health economics Heather Carroll Wed, 10/07/2026 - 13:49

In Phillip Zane’s 911�� classroom, students weigh an invitation to jump out of an airplane. The skydiving lesson and jump are free, and the exercise assumes there is zero risk of death. But an injury could mean $10,000 in medical expenses and $1,000 in lost wages.

Some have health insurance. Others don’t. Everyone has to decide whether to take the leap.

Phillip Zane presenting to students during class
Photo by Heather Carroll/College of Public Health

The imaginary jump brings a question of health economics within reach: how insurance can change the risks people are willing to take, and what happens when those choices add up across a health care system.

Zane, an associate professor in the Department of Health Administration, Policy, and Informatics, has built his Health Economics and Policy course around such experiments, pulling students into questions that can seem abstract or remote on a textbook page.

He and his colleagues, including associate professor Debora Goetz Goldberg, describe the approach in a new paper, “More Than a Game,” published in a special issue of The Journal of Health Administration Education focused on gamification.

Course evaluations from 129 students between 2022 and 2025 suggest the approach resonated: About 89 percent found the class environment engaging, and 85 percent said the teaching methods enhanced their learning.

In written feedback, students said the games clarified challenging concepts and exposed them to classmates’ different approaches.

Invitation to play

Students participating in Zane's class
Photo by Mary Cunningham

The idea took hold during a summer of online teaching in 2022, when most students kept their cameras off. Zane wanted a way to keep them engaged. “It’s a topic that I love, but they didn’t seem to get it,” he said.

Many of his health administration students came to the course with little background or interest in economics. Game theory—which examines how people make decisions when their outcomes depend on others’ choices—offered a way in. A former antitrust lawyer, Zane had used its principles in the past to help clients decide whether to settle lawsuits. Now he thought it might help students understand the economic forces underpinning health care.

Zane started with the “ultimatum game,” a well-established experiment in which one party offers to divide a financial windfall with another. In his version, Kit Kats stand in for cash. One student makes a proposal to their classmate, who can accept it or turn it down, with a rejection leaving both empty-handed. As it turns out, some students would rather get nothing than accept an unfair share—prompting a discussion about why fairness can outweigh personal gain.

From there, Zane began adding more exercises, some adapted from existing game-theory models and others of his own design, and adjusting according to student feedback.

Students listening to Zane during class. Photo by Mary Cunningham/College of Public Health

In his original orange juice game, students are assigned to groups with different levels of competition, from a single seller with a monopoly to a crowded market with many sellers. Zane tells each group he will pay up to $5 for a bottle of juice. The monopolist can hold near that ceiling, while competing sellers must undercut each other. In the most crowded market, the price can fall close to zero, showing students how competition drives down prices.

The games are only part of the lesson. After playing, students explain their choices and compare their reasoning with others in the class. Reading those reflections helped Zane see whether the economic lessons were landing.

“It became pretty clear that most of the students were getting it,” he said.

In addition to Zane and Golberg, additional co-authors to the paper were doctoral students Shaan Muberra Khan and Sravya Vunnam of the Department of Health Administration, Policy, and Informatics.

The Journal of Health Administration Education special issue also features HAPI professor John Cantiello and associate professor Renee Geschke’s research on case-based learning.

Key Takeaways

911�� associate professor Phillip Zane uses games and simulations to teach health economics.
A new journal article by Zane describes the teaching approach as part of a special issue on gamification.
In evaluations, most students found the learning environment engaging and said the teaching methods helped them learn.

In This Story

Phillip Zane, JD

Debora Goetz Goldberg, PhD, MHA, MBA

Topics

Simulation

Active Learning

immersive technologies

innovative classes

Students

This course turns climate science into real-world impact for Virginia communities

ckearney — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:32:10 +0000

This course turns climate science into real-world impact for Virginia communities ckearney Tue, 07/21/2026 - 16:32

What difference does a tree make? That’s what 911�� researcher Luis Ortiz wanted to find out—before it was planted. Cities increasingly experience extreme heat that poses danger to anyone outside. The urban environment, even on a very small scale, can either help alleviate the problem or make it vastly worse.

Professor Luis Ortiz with his Micrometeorological Modeling class. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

“We teach students the fundamentals of how the broader weather interacts with very, very local aspects of the built environment,” said Ortiz, who teaches in 911��’s J. Shukla Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences. “By very, very local, I mean, what happens if I put a certain tree in one location, or if I apply a coating to a building’s surface to reflect the sun.”

Ortiz’s course, CLIM 759 Micrometeorological Modeling for Local Climate Action, targets “hyperlocal” community needs. It’s a way of taking research out of the lab and into the real world where it can have immediate impact. Ortiz and other professors—in collaboration with 911��’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth—piloted a model to create classes that work almost like nonprofit start-ups with municipalities and neighborhood groups as clients.

“We are meeting communities where they are and figuring out what their needs are related to weather hazards on heat, flooding, and air pollution. This is all based on the extensive community engagement that we've been doing with the Virginia Climate Center,” said Ortiz, who is the codirector of the VCC.

This is the second year that Ortiz is offering the graduate-level class, which is open to every major. The students work individually with community groups to study their needs and model the outcomes of various interventions. Last year, students worked with South Side ReLeaf in Richmond to model extreme heat zones around schools and shopping centers. This year, they ran individual projects with the cities of Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington, as well as Groundwork USA. These stakeholders were all invited to a day of final presentations at the end of the semester.

“The students are learning urban microclimate physics, as well as the software and models needed to understand them and answer real-world questions,” said Ortiz.

The course is truly interdisciplinary, attracting students majoring in fields from across the university, including GIS, civil engineering, mathematics, and fluid dynamics. They use social science methods to determine the communities’ needs.

Ivy Stempkovski, a climate dynamics PhD student who helped develop the course and is now taking it, created models to evaluate how public water features, such as splash parks, help kids cool down.

“My peers are thinking of things that never would have crossed my radar,” said Stempkovski. “That’s important because the whole goal is to make sure that we're maximizing impact for our community partner and the community themselves. If it weren't for the different perspectives, I think we could risk falling short. For instance, the engineers take a more practical perspective, and the GIS students know more about zoning laws.”

Gavin Middleton, a PhD student in earth and geoinformation sciences, took the course in its first year. His models revealed startling facts about how a lack of green spaces increased citizens’ susceptibility to heat stroke.

“The area I was looking at was an elementary school,” said Middleton. “This school was right next to a six-lane road that had no trees. We found that if kids were walking down that road in the middle of the summer heat, there was about a 5 percent chance that you got a heat stroke on any one kid.”

Other projects showed high risks of heat stroke and asthma attacks around unshaded shopping complexes with large parking lots, as well as bus stops where people would have to wait for long periods with no relief.

“I would say that it was a very important experience to actually get to know the people that my science affected,” said Middleton. “It's definitely not something you see at every university.”

Ortiz built the course as part of his work at the VCC and based it on the lean start-up model for businesses.

"Our students are both learning state-of-the-art modeling techniques and using them to answer important questions for stakeholders in the commonwealth and beyond,” he said. “With this model, students work on real-world problems, and our partners get access to science-backed data and insights to help them build stronger, more resilient communities.”

This research supports the Grand Challenge Initiative's goal of building a more climate-resilient society.

Discover more GCI climate research >>

Learn about other solutions >>

Topics

innovative classes

Virginia Climate Center

The AI-powered classroom: tutors, avatars, and new models for learning

Mary Cunningham — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 19:17:45 +0000

The AI-powered classroom: tutors, avatars, and new models for learning Mary Cunningham Thu, 07/09/2026 - 15:17

As health informatics expert Sanja Avramovic introduces new artificial intelligence (AI) tools into her classrooms at 911��, she's also made a point of asking students what they think, both through formal research and casual conversation.

In one early experiment, Avramovic designed AI avatars to present course material in short, on-demand videos students could watch at their own pace. Some students balked a little, finding the digital instructors monotone and robotic. They said they preferred a human.

So Avramovic asked a follow-up question: Should she remove the videos?

AI avatar created by Sanja Avramovic. Image created by AI.

"They said, 'don't you dare,'" she recalled. "'They're excellent supplemental material. Leave them. But we want you to teach.'"

That push and pull has become a central dynamic at the College of Public Health, as faculty respond and adapt to the undeniable rise of AI in higher education. The question is no longer whether AI belongs in the classroom, but how to use it in ways that actively benefit students.

“The goal isn’t AI-free learning,” Avramovic said. “It’s AI-augmented thinking.”

Learning to think with AI

Sanja Avramovic, assistant professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy

One challenge is persistent: How do you keep students learning when AI can provide answers in seconds?

Research by Avramovic, assistant professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy Abdul Hafeez, and colleagues found that students can become overly dependent on AI-generated answers, reducing their engagement, interaction, and critical thinking.

Rather than prohibiting AI use, faculty developed and tested AI tutors that function more like coaches than answer generators, walking students through assignments one step at a time. In order to build them, instructors map out common mistakes and teach the systems how to respond in ways that promote deeper learning. “It interviews students,” Hafeez said. “It compels them to think critically.”

Early findings suggest this approach can help counter passive AI use, with students showing stronger performance and engagement than their peers. In one analysis, undergraduates using the tutors improved performance by nearly 9 percentage points. This research was supported by 911��'s Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning Curriculum and Teaching Leadership Funds.

Tempering the trust

Along with the enthusiasm for AI’s potential, faculty are just as focused on teaching students where the technology falls short.

Vanessa Chee, an assistant professor in the Department of Global and Community Health, warns students against relying on it too early in the learning process, likening it to “using roller blades when you’re crawling.”

In one global health course, Chee requires students to develop a 2,500-word narrative and a presentation proposing a public health intervention entirely on their own. Afterward, they use AI to generate a version of the same project, and compare the two.

That exercise is often revealing. Many students walk away disappointed by the quality of the generated work, but with a sharper understanding of what their own thinking contributes, Chee said.

Katherine Scafide, an associate professor in the School of Nursing, introduces AI early in the research process, using it to help students scan the literature and identify possible gaps worth investigating. But she draws a line between assistance and analysis. Students are expected to verify sources, refine their own research questions, and critically test whether AI summaries actually hold up.

"I encourage AI to assist in some structural aspects of writing, like outlining and grammar, but not to author the work," she said. " AI can be a writing tool, but it cannot be an author."

For Avramovic, the biggest concern is that students will trust AI too quickly. She recalled one student who relied heavily on AI while studying, learned flawed logic, and then repeated it on an exam.

“Don’t use AI until you know enough to correct it,” she tells her students.

Rebuilding the classroom

As AI changes how students learn, faculty are also rethinking how they create and deliver their own course content.

With one undergraduate health informatics class, Avramovic and colleagues realized that much of the content felt disconnected from the clinical realities that nursing students—who are required to take the course—would eventually face. So, the instructors used AI tools to rewrite assignments around nursing-specific scenarios, like identifying problems in electronic health records. They also introduced AI-generated videos narrated by digital avatars, guiding students through technical material.

The updates made a difference. Nursing students in the AI-redesigned course showed statistically significant learning gains, more than half said AI-generated videos were more helpful than assigned readings, and nearly four out of five reported that the tools improved their overall learning experience.

Farrokh Alemi, a professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, took a similar approach in his graduate statistics course, using AI to help deliver lectures and tutor students.

For students, the change meant more access to their instructor. “Because the AI handled a lot of mechanical tasks, I used the extra time to have more interactions with students, give them career advice, call up at-risk students, just be more available,” he said.

Evolving the toolkit

Faculty at the College of Public Health compare the current moment to earlier technological shifts in education, from the arrival of calculators in math classrooms to the rise of the internet and online learning.

Students still need to learn the fundamentals, faculty said, but once they understand the underlying concepts, AI can help them explore more complex problems and apply knowledge in new ways.

“You still need the human in the loop,” Avramovic said.

The technology continues to evolve quickly. But faculty say the larger goal remains to help students build the skills they’ll need in a world where AI is already becoming part of the job.

Key Takeaways

911�� College of Public Health faculty are using artificial intelligence tools including AI tutors and digital avatars to enhance teaching and student learning.
Instead of prohibiting tools like ChatGPT, instructors are teaching students to think critically, verify AI outputs, and use AI responsibly.
AI is helping redesign courses, personalize learning, and prepare College of Public Health students for an AI-integrated workforce.

In This Story

Sanja Avramovic, PhD

Katherine Scafide, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAFS

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

College of Public Health

innovative classes

Students

GCI-Education

911�� anthropology students test ancient tools — and earn points for spear throwing

Katarina Benson — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 22:31:49 +0000

911�� anthropology students test ancient tools — and earn points for spear throwing Katarina Benson Thu, 06/11/2026 - 18:31

To Kimberly Foecke, studying the past doesn’t need to be a passive experience.

The 911�� assistant professor of anthropology believes in the importance of hands-on learning so much that she created the ANTH 399 Experimental Archaeology course on experimental archaeology to help bridge theory and practice.

This past spring, undergraduate and graduate students got their hands dirty with a variety of experiments in the field that tested theory discussed in the classroom.

Students created new versions of old tech in their archaeology labs. Photo by Haagen D. Klaus.

Foecke’s course pushes critical thinking and experimental design while focusing on the themes of innovation of technology, exploiting and processing food resources, and cultural and social transmission of knowledge--all subjects she says are applicable and transferrable to other areas of study.

“I think active learning is so important,” Foecke said. “All of these experiments we do have information we can then project back into the archaeological record. This is interspersed with lecture where we talk about how to design experiments for different types of material that we find in the record. This helps students to understand how to test the capabilities of ancient technology and other archaeological items we find and create testable predictions for the artifacts.”

Labs included flint knapping, the art of creating tools out of stone. Students struck obsidian sent from one of Foecke’s peers in Kenya into a sharp flake and used their new tool to cut chicken feet. They also created scale buildings to test the load-bearing capacity of different roof types through experimental architecture, and they cooked ancient recipes for adhesives to test strength, longevity, and flexibility to use for hunting tools.

“I’ve done things in this class I’ve never done before,” anthropology junior Sophia Taylor said. “I got to process oats with a big slab of slate and a grinding stone. I never thought my wrists would be sore from something like that, but I’m finding out new knowledge every day.”

The class culminated with experimental spear throwing on the lawn next to the Mason Pond parking garage at the end of April. Wielding replicated ancient spears that Foecke constructed at her father’s woodshop in Maryland, her students conducted accuracy and penetration tests.

Foecke created a hands-on spear workshop for students. Photo by Haagen D. Klaus.

“It is a nice break, a nice change having the hands-on,” anthropology graduate student Chuck Tjersland said. “It’s different and really does play a role. You read enough about experimental archaeology filling in some of the gaps.”

Added Tjersland’s class partner, anthropology undergraduate student David Rubalacaba: “How often do you throw spears for a grade?”

Foecke set up targets—featuring a drawing of a wooly mammoth—and hoops for students to throw wooden spears through. Each student attempted five throws, recording points for each target struck.

Foecke said the experiment displays what ancient civilizations encountered when having to use sticks that aren’t the most aerodynamic and while facing tough weather conditions. “They’re learning how difficult it is to throw a non-ideal spear and hit a target first time, every time,” Foecke said. “It is almost impossible, even for professional javelin throwers.”

Another station featured stabbing blocks made from insulated foam. Students tested the differences in cut size using two types of spears: one just whittled on one end and the other with an arrowhead stone attached to the end. The experiment showed that the spear with the arrowhead always made a wider and more jagged cut.

Both the spear throwing and spear stabbing experiments tried to answer the “why.” Why spend all this time throwing a spear with a high miss rate? Why take so much time flint knapping or carving stones to attach to sticks when whittling would only take five minutes?

“That animal bleeds out more quickly and therefore you eat dinner sooner,” Foecke said. “It is these kinds of questions around something weird in the record that we have to explain. We have to explain why and what the process is that causes us to see that pattern in the archaeological record. Experimental archaeology is all about creating predictions and hypotheses for why we see the patterns that we do and the processes that we do.

“This is the favorite part of my job. I love to teach, and I love to create cool experiences in the classroom.”

Students throwing spears. Photo by Haagen D. Klaus.

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Costello MBA students drive real-world impact for nonprofit in Innovation and Design Lab

Katelynn C Hipolito — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:25:39 +0000

Costello MBA students drive real-world impact for nonprofit in Innovation and Design Lab Katelynn C Hipolito Thu, 06/11/2026 - 15:25

Launched in the spring 2026 semester, the Innovation and Design Lab for Business and Government (MBA 797) is a new experiential MBA course offered at the Costello College of Business at 911��.

loannis Bellos (back left), Natalie Foley (front right), Jessica Knocklein (back right), Deborah Casello (back, third from right), Tierney Marden (back, second from right), with Innovation and Design Lab students including, Lyne Joseph (back, fourth from right), David Pagan (front, second from left). Photo provided by loannis Bellos.

"The Innovation and Design Lab students approached KEYS 365's challenges with curiosity, compassion, and a genuine commitment to meaningful impact," says Deborah Casello, president of KEYS 365. "This work matters deeply because it will help KEYS 365 continue to empower more communities with free suicide prevention education." KEYS 365 is based in Fairfax, Virginia.

Created by its co-instructors, Ioannis Bellos, director of the MBA and MS in Management programs at Costello, and Natalie Foley, senior advisor at 911��’s University Business Consulting team and adjunct professor at Costello, the Innovation and Design Lab is a student-led course that was developed in partnership with NobleReach Foundation, a corporate and community partner of Costello.

“My vision for this course was to create an innovation experience that infuses an entrepreneurial, problem-solving mindset—one that is valuable whether students go on to become entrepreneurs, work in industry, serve in government, or lead in mission-driven organizations,” says Bellos. “Innovation is not just about launching new ventures; it is about learning how to engage with stakeholders, navigate ambiguity, test assumptions, and develop practical solutions under real constraints.” Working with a nonprofit, the students had to devise creative solutions with limited resources while meeting the timeline of their client.

“Effective innovation begins with understanding human needs and designing meaningful experiences that solve practical problems in ways that create lasting impact. The course also taught me that in consulting, the problem a client initially presents is not always the problem that ultimately needs to be solved, and that process of discovery is often what leads to the most innovative and user-centered solutions.”

— Lyne Joseph, Costello College of Business MBA student

Continuing the trend of increasing experiential learning curricula across Costello’s academic courses, Bellos and Foley collaborated on their overlapping areas of expertise and interests in design thinking and nonprofit organizations. After developing the course framework, Bellos and Foley connected with NobleReach Foundation, knowing they shared a commitment to experiential learning, mission-driven innovation, and preparing students to tackle meaningful, real-world challenges.

To complement Foley’s background in innovation consulting with Fortune 500 companies and large nonprofits, they were able to tap into NobleReach’s resources for the social impact component. “Over eight weeks, 911�� students worked directly with KEYS 365, a mental health and suicide prevention organization, to tackle two challenges that constrain small nonprofits everywhere: how to build sustainable fundraising without burning out leadership, and how to recruit and screen volunteers for emotionally demanding work,” says Jessica Knocklein, education manager at NobleReach Foundation. “They talked to stakeholders, tested their thinking, and delivered practical solutions. That process is exactly what the next generation of mission-driven leaders need: the ability to bring an entrepreneurial mindset to the hardest problems communities face.”

The course was experiential from day one, led by students rather than instructors. “We didn’t start with a lecture,” says Foley. “The student teams kicked off each class, presenting their field work from the past week, noting ‘this is what we did, this is what we learned, this is how things changed.’ I was really impressed with the level of ownership.” Students did customer interviews every week, pushing them to develop and iterate innovative solutions in a fast-paced, real-world environment.

“The course was not only a great opportunity to apply what we had learned throughout the MBA program, but it also gave us new tools that I think are crucial for every MBA student to know about,” says David Pagan, a Costello MBA student. “Some of the best businesses in the world solve problems with design thinking, and I’m excited to take the lessons I learned here to tackle whatever challenges I take on next.”

A major takeaway for Lyne Joseph, another Costello MBA student, was learning that in people-centered work and business, it does not have to be one or the other. “Effective innovation begins with understanding human needs and designing meaningful experiences that solve practical problems in ways that create lasting impact,” she says. “The course also taught me that in consulting, the problem a client initially presents is not always the problem that ultimately needs to be solved, and that process of discovery is often what leads to the most innovative and user-centered solutions.”

“The Innovation and Design Lab students approached KEYS 365’s challenges with curiosity, compassion, and a genuine commitment to meaningful impact,” says Deborah Casello, president of KEYS 365. “This work matters deeply because it will help KEYS 365 continue to empower more communities with free suicide prevention education.”

By integrating innovation and design thinking frameworks with hands-on experiential learning, the Innovation and Design Lab provides a space for Costello students to take ownership of their work and navigate complex, real-world challenges with confidence. Furthermore, through strategic business partnerships like these, students learn to address the needs of clients, lead with empathy, and deliver solutions that create meaningful impact.

Ioannis Bellos and Natalie Foley have been selected to speak more about the course at the Stearns Center Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference this September.

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Building a strong foundation one course at a time

sbrown79 — Fri, 15 May 2026 17:26:49 +0000

Building a strong foundation one course at a time sbrown79 Fri, 05/15/2026 - 13:26

As one of the key focal points of 911��’s Grand Challenge Initiative, building a climate-resilient society requires not just innovation in sustainable infrastructure, but innovation in how the university prepares future leaders in sustainability.

Assistant professor Xijin “Emma” Zhang recently launched CEIE 499/619 Innovations in Civil Engineering Materials, a first-of-its-kind special topics course in 911��’s College of Engineering and Computing that aims to give students—undergraduate and graduate alike from any degree program — a strong foundation in the emerging technologies that are reshaping the future of civil engineering.

Emma Zhang presents to her students. Photo by Shayla Brown/Office of University Branding.

The course was developed after Zhang submitted a proposal to the Institute for a Sustainable Earth’s Creating Impactful Research Connections Through Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) program. Following panel review, the proposal was selected for development, an outcome that underscores 911��’s emphasis on translating research into real-world solutions.

“My hope is that the course helps students understand how climate issues impact material properties and how we can improve material properties [when designing] future infrastructure,” said Zhang.

In the course, students study the fundamental physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of major construction materials, including aggregates, steel, concrete, asphalt, and wood. This course also introduces students to analytical techniques for assessing material performance and explores how advancements in civil engineering materials are influencing modern design, construction, and sustainability practices.

“I noticed that there was an opportunity to further expand students’ exposure to civil engineering materials within the CEIE program, and I really wanted to help students become more familiar with this topic,” Zhang said. “While developing this course, I spoke with government agencies and community partners that specialize in sustainability design in the Northern Virginia area and beyond to better understand the skills and knowledge communities and industries are seeking from future professionals in terms of sustainable infrastructure techniques and materials.”

One of Zhang's students presents his work. Photo by Shayla Brown/Office of University Branding.

Those conversations also highlight another defining strength of 911��: its close connections to government, industry, and regional partners. Zhang engaged with organizations including Northern Virginia Regional Commission, Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Virginia Department of Transportation. 

 Discovery interviews with these partners helped shape the course around real-world priorities such as safety, cost efficiency, and sustainability maintenance. In turn, students’ semester projects focus on analyzing the life-cycle of construction materials, encouraging them to think critically about how engineering decisions affect both infrastructure performance and environmental outcomes.

In preparing the course, Zhang also worked with 911��’s University Sustainability to learn more about sustainable materials and practices already being implemented across campuses.

“I ask students to think about how materials are produced. For example, we need to consider their manufacturing process and the amount of carbon emissions associated with it,” Zhang said. “Also, I encourage students to think about what happens at the end of the materials’ life cycle, how can we recycle or re-utilize it for another project?”

Zhang said she hopes students will carry this mindset into their future careers in the civil engineering industry.

Senior civil engineering major Andres Lozano already sees how the course connects classroom learning to real-world impact Lozano hopes to enter the civil engineering field, specializing in structural and water resources engineering.

“I see this class as an opportunity to learn about innovations in materials and to contribute to the industry with new applications that are not yet widely used in current practice,” Lozano said. “There is still a gap between research and field implementation, but in Professor Zhang’s class, we’re working toward filling that gap by analyzing the performance and sustainability of current material applications and exploring potential improvements for future practice.”

Lozano, a Bachelor’s to Accelerated Master’s student, also works as a research assistant in 911��’s Flood Hazards Research Lab revising projects for real-world clients from jurisdictions such as Fairfax County, Arlington County, the City of Petersburg, the City of Emporia, and the Town of Jarratt in Virginia.

Zhang and her students in the Engineering Building. Photo by Shayla Brown/Office of University Branding.

“The bridge infrastructure in Virginia and throughout the country is facing challenges related to aging, durability and rehabilitation,” Lozano said. “I see myself contributing to the development of rehabilitation strategies, that strengthen infrastructure resilience and protect the communities that depend on it. This course’s focus on materials and construction methodologies is such a good fit for me, and I now feel more prepared to take on these challenges in a professional setting.”

Through courses like Innovations in Civil Engineering Materials, 911�� is equipping students with the technical expertise, collaborative mindset, and community-connected experience needed to lead in a rapidly changing world. In doing so, the university continues to advance its mission of producing knowledge that matters—and solutions that strengthen communities locally and globally.

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Learning experience design course helps students dive head-first into client consulting

sholla4 — Wed, 06 May 2026 17:26:55 +0000

Learning experience design course helps students dive head-first into client consulting sholla4 Wed, 05/06/2026 - 13:26

Learning doesn’t stop when you finish school. Whenever you start a new job or a new program, you learn new rules, new strategies, and new systems. And just like classroom education, there’s science behind how that learning can be best supported.

Lisa Giacumo. Photo provided.

“Large multinational or national organizations need people with knowledge of how people learn and how to create systems and supports for learning and development,” explained Lisa Giacumo, associate professor of learning design and technology in 911��’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD).

Learning experience design (LXD) and user experience (UX) research are two key pillars of the CEHD’s learning design and technology master’s program. Giacumo has spent her faculty career developing courses on accessible workplace learning, needs assessment, and evaluation, that merge theory with hands-on application to give students a “nuanced” understanding of real-world use cases. The research and design courses (i.e., EDIT 732 and EDIT 752) she leads currently pair students with live clients to develop solutions for LXD problems or new opportunities.

“The recursive loop of asking for input, getting feedback, professional reflection, and making revisions is an important part of the process that is hard to conceptualize from textbook alone,” said Giacumo. “With live clients, students get a chance to see how things might work outside of a textbook while learning how to communicate as a consultant.”

This semester, students worked with two startups: EMK Learning Solutions LLC and Research Sphere.

“Working with a live client and a team really made the whole experience feel more like a UX job. You have deadlines, you have limitations, you have to make decisions and iterate. It feels very realistic,” said 911�� alumna Georgiana Patrichi-Abarca, BA Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’15, a current student in the learning design and technology master’s program. She’s been able to apply what she’s learned in class to her full-time job with the U.S. Department of State, developing training for a new piece of software.

Master’s student Tyler Girvan came into the learning design and technology program with a background in video game design and graphic design. “Getting that practical experience from research inception to executing a prototype was the stand-out element of the course for me,” said Girvan. “It helped me understand where I can feed my past skills through these new filters.”

Girvan continued, “You have to balance meeting the needs of the user while negotiating the ideas and goals of the client, and that’s a skill we were able to develop working with real clients as opposed to simulations."

“The closer you connect what you do in the learning environment to what you need done in the performance environment, the easier it is for learners to transfer what they learned into desired performance on the job,” said Giacumo.

Maurine Kwende, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’15, CERG Learning Technologies ’15, and PhD Education ’23, is the founder and CEO of EMK Learning Solutions LLC, one of the participating businesses for the course. Her business works with companies to help improve their training and leadership capabilities, leveraging Kwende’s own expertise in learning systems and design. This semester, students worked on developing a professional development chatbot for EMK Learning Solutions that could coach employees when a human coach and trainer isn’t available or isn’t an option. The bot will also be a thinking and brainstorming partner for new employees to get a head start on ideas prior to meeting with their supervisors or stakeholders.

Kwende found the commitment of the students in the course commendable. “They’re dedicated and passionate about our field,” she said. “In the beginning, it felt like a mentoring process ,which was very exciting. Then it became a two-way process: I mentored them as a consultant, and they reverse-mentored me in the areas of technology. In the end, the students helped expand my thinking and showed me the potential of the product. They grew a seed into a full tree.”

“911�� attracts many very talented, smart, and driven individuals,” said Giacumo. “These students contribute to these organizations’ success stories. And after the classes are over, my students build their own success stories by landing their next job or promotion and continue developing their consulting practices on a solid foundation.”

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