The LAMP Educator’s Learning Community was established in 2019. It was heavily informed
by a workshop given by Milton Cox at the 2018 Original Lilly Conference for College
Teaching. Learning communities for college teachers have historically been termed
Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs). However, in order to be inclusive of college
educators who are not faculty, we chose to instead call our community an Educator’s
Learning Community (ELC). In our ELC, we use Change Theory, Resistance Theory and
Effective Implementation Practices to support prior fellows and catalyze continued
shift to active learning / student-centered practices. Our specific goals are:
1) support prior fellows who have shown demonstrable dedication to implementing evidence-based teaching practices, measuring impacts on student learning and disseminating their findings (e.g. publication, presentation or establishment of related programming) / continued LAMP involvement
2) catalyze continued transformation of classrooms from being teacher-centered to being learner centered / spread ripples about active learning successes using the approach that is most known to be successful: people talking to people over time.
3) establish both an institution-wide and state-wide, sustainable community of STEM educators.
These goals dovetail with UW’s Strategic Plan (Explicitly: Goal 1, Bullet 4.2, Goal 4, Bullet 1.3&4).
Meet the 2026 Class of LAMP ELC Members and Immerse in their SoTL
Members of the 2026 LAMP Educator Learning Community, called Leaving the Light On, have been hard at work to design, propose and implement their Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research. Their journey began in February with a kickoff Saturday workshop focused on theories of change. They gleaned training on how to become a change agent within their divisions, units and departments, and how to integrate their knowledge of theory of change into their SoTL. Following this kickoff session, ELC members met every other week to discuss and support one another’s work as they read The SoTL Guide: (Re)Orienting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. On a late April Saturday, each member gave a lightning talk about their proposed SoTL. Throughout June, they worked diligently to complete their research proposals that were submitted to the Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching Peer Review Board. The below research titles and abstracts communicate the exciting SoTL being performed by the group!
Liana Boggs-Lynch
Beyond the Code - The Pressures and Promise of Affective Coding in Biology
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Coding is increasingly essential in the biological sciences, yet many students face
anxiety and lack foundational tech skills. This project examines a scaffolded coding
curriculum at a Mountain West Life Sciences Program using knowledge surveys to measure
changes in confidence, attitude, and self-assessed learning. We evaluate active-learning
and affective strategies to improve engagement and persistence and invite participants
to adapt these approaches to their own challenging topics.
Liana’s full proposal gives more insights into her research! |
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Sabrina White
Expanding Empathy Through Perspective-Taking with Snakes and Spiders
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Human empathy has declined in recent decades, despite evidence that it is a trainable skill. This study explores whether interacting with commonly misunderstood animals can foster empathy in college students. Participants complete surveys and drawing activities before and after guided interactions with snakes and a tarantula. Discussions grounded in cognitive ethology encourage students to consider the animals' perspectives and experiences.
Sabrina’s full proposal offers details on her research! |
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Ian Hammontree
A Mixed-Methods Program Exploring Chemical Engineering Students’ Identity
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Explores a proposed mixed-methods research program, utilizing longitudinal qualitative research to probe chemical engineering students’ ideas of identity, motivation, and development over an academic career and generate quantitative questions and hypotheses. The session will be focused on the initial qualitative study design.
Ian’s full proposal offers a more complete description of his research! |
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McKensie Phillips
Determining Course Effectiveness by Examining Instructional Alignment
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This project explores course effectiveness through the lens of instructional alignment. A three-component framework will examine existing alignment among course objectives, activities, and assessments; student learning and confidence gains; and student and faculty perceptions of alignment. Findings will be synthesized to evaluate the extent to which instructional alignment can serve as an indicator of course effectiveness.
McKensie’s full proposal gives more details about her research! |
Kayla Burd & Tripp Bishop
Classroom environment: Active learning methods, active learning space, or both?
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Research suggests that students' learning environments may impact their learning, learning motivation, and engagement. Further, research demonstrates that active learning, compared to lecture-based methods, is associated with superior student outcomes (e.g., knowledge confidence). Taken together, learning environments and methods may interact to support student learning. The current research examined the influence of learning environment space and active learning methods on student outcomes.
For more about Kayla, Tripp and Rachel’s research, check out their complete Lilly Proposal. |
Max Seibold
Tell Me What You Feel: Uncovering the Emotional Landscape of STEM Classrooms
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This study explored and sought to gain a clearer understanding of how college STEM students emotionally experienced their classroom learning activities. Using anonymous surveys across multiple STEM courses and modalities, the project mapped affective profiles tied to instructional modalities and student groups. The findings helped instructors identify the emotions their modality fostered in students. It also connected these emotions to the presence of deep motivation, belonging, and engagement. |
Sarah Pence
The Making of a Professional: Student Perspectives on Identity Formation
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How do students come to see themselves as professionals? This poster presents findings from a qualitative study exploring professional identity formation among students at different stages of a professional degree program. Analysis of student reflections reveals key experiences, relationships, and beliefs that contribute to the development of confidence, belonging, and professional self-concept, offering insights for educators seeking to support student growth.
You can read more about Sarah’s SoTL in her Lilly Proposal!
Sarah also created a visual piece showcasing her SoTL! |
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Deepthi Amarasuriya
Ask An Expert Incorporating Being Human in STEM
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The revised Introduction to Astronomy (ASTR 1005) was reintroduced in Fall ‘24 after a six-year hiatus. Updates emphasized discoveries from recent space missions and student interviews with active researchers to highlight the collaborative nature of modern astronomy. Beginning in Fall ‘26, students will also explore researchers’ personal journeys into science. The goal is to dispel misconceptions about science and encourage greater interest in STEM fields.
Read more about Deepthi’s project on her full proposal. |
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April 4, 2025
A panel conversation with some members of the LAMP Educator's Learning Community:
December 5, 2024
UW Educators learn and present at the 2024 Lilly Conference on College Teaching - check out more by visiting this press release.
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November 28, 2022
Seven Learning Actively Mentoring Program (LAMP) educators from the University of Wyoming and Laramie County Community College recently presented projects at the Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio...(follow this link to the rest of this news release). “Every member of the LAMP learning community shared an evidence-based project that showcased and simultaneously modeled student-engaged pedagogy,” says Rachel Watson, UW Science Initiative LAMP director. “Their sessions were exemplar at a conference of highly capable SoTL scholars.” |
 Claire Campion, a UW zoology and physiology graduate student from Rochester, Minn.,
discusses her poster on the assessment of the motivation and growth of graduate students
in a grassroots outreach group called COPSE (Community Outreach Program on STEAM Engagement)
during the Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching. (Photo taken by Rachel)
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Pictured above from left to right is Amy Rhoad, Christi Boggs, Rachel Watson, Deepthi Amarasuriya, Reshmi Singh, McKensie Phillips and Tawfik Elsehabi
From November 17th to the 21st, five LAMP Educators and two mentors traveled to the Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The LAMP Educators all completed the 2019-2020 yearlong LAMP training and then became a part of an Educator Learning Community (ELC) that gathered regularly for over a year. Throughout the ELC, these instructors expanded their knowledge of active, inclusive, student-centered pedagogies. All educators completed a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project that they presented as either an oral or poster at the Lilly Conference. Miami University is the cradle of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and the conference organizers are the preeminent authorities on both SoTL and Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs).
Pictured above from left to right is Reshmi Singh, Milton Cox and Deepthi Amarasuriya. Deepthi and Reshmi took part in Milt's Faculty Learning Community Workshop.
Deepthi Amarasuriya from Northwest College in Powell, WY presented a poster centering on a novel active learning strategy she has implemented for her physics courses. She calls this method the “Layered Approach” and it is an inclusive pedagogy allowing students to learn in different ways using different resources and through metacognitive and small group approaches.
Dr. Tawfik Elshehabi of UW’s Petroleum Engineering Department led conference attendees through an interactive investigation of teaching philosophy construction. Attendees were invited to engage in written, visual and multimodal versions of his philosophy and were given time to generate these formats of their own philosophies to share with their students.
Dr. Reshmi Singh (Pharmacy) and McKensie Harris (Animal Sciences) presented on a study entitled Exploring Multidisciplinary and International Engagement by a Faculty Cohort. This study utilized by qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to inquire into the multidisciplinary teaching, research and scholarship of educators at UW and Wyoming’s community colleges.
Amy Rhoad (Veterinary Science) presented about her use of case studies in a large, undergraduate medical microbiology course. She utilized a critical thought assessment strategy to explore impact of varying case study approaches. During her session, she immersed conference attendees in a mock food poisoning case study called, A Case of the Conference Blues.
McKensie Phillips was the last of LAMP ELC members to present her work on Knowledge Surveys. McKensie’s research shows that students’ knowledge/confidence is, on average, greater at the end of the semester than it is after an one course unit! LAMP Data Analyst, Ella DeWolf was invaluable in supporting McKensie’s statistical analysis and data visualization.
LAMP Mentors, Rachel Watson and Christi Boggs, presented a poster showing increased connectivity in the social network after yearlong LAMP and the subsequent ELC. This corresponds with educators’ decreased feelings of isolation, increased feelings of confidence and pedagogical knowledge. The social network analysis also reveals a disproportionate increase in advice giving for several ELC members after the second year in the ELC. This may indicate either the need for multiyear development or LC-style cohorts when facilitating educators in becoming opinion campus leaders and change agents.
When asked to reflect on the experience, the ELC members shared:
“Dr. Watson did an outstanding job on every step of this journey to the 2021 Lilly. I felt over-prepared and ahead of many schools. I highly recommend joining this incredible community of caring learners.” – Tawfik Elshehabi (Petroleum Engineering)
“I felt very validated to know that the POGIL model of teaching is very similar to the approach I developed [The Layered Approach].” – Deepthi Amarasuriya (NWC Physics)
“Even though I had seen my colleagues presentations before, in this context I was still able to learn something new.” – Amy Rhoad (Veterinary Science/College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Academic and Student Programs)
“Being on this journey with these incredible educators has been renewing and inspiring.” – Christine Boggs (LAMP Mentor, Head of Digital Teaching and Learning)
“Feeling energized being with my ELC and others who care about learning & STUDENTS! Got to learn and get reminded about threshold concepts, mindset and of course building communities thru FLCs!”
Click the following link to read more info about this most successful Conference: https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2021/12/uw-lamp-educators,-mentors-present-projects-at-national-conference.html
Our inaugural class included educators from diverse STEM disciplines. These educators completed SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) projects that were presented at the 2019 Original Lilly Conference for College Teaching. This pilot ELC has allowed us to see that involvement in LAMP increases the density of connections in the social network. This correlates with participants’ feelings and experiences changing from those of being alone/isolated to being part of a community. Additionally, their feelings of confidence, and capability to engage in educational research increase! And speaking of educational research, below are the descriptions and full presentations for each ELC member.
• Jessica Sutter (UW Physics and Astronomy). Real Problems, Real Data: Active Learning in a 14 Billion Lightyear Classroom. View the full presentation at: https://youtu.be/d3ycGsXdC88
• Kerry Sondgeroth, Michele Larson and Rachel Watson (UW Microbiology and Life Sciences). Measuring Changes in Students' Perception of Active Learning and Feelings of Inclusion. View the full presentation at: https://youtu.be/4a3vXgI3q1w
• Michele Larson (UW Life Sciences). Assessing Student Mindsets, Self-Assessment, and Learning. View the full presentation at: https://youtu.be/5rWJj9GQZys
• Michelle Mason (UW Physics and Astronomy). You're Not Teaching Me Anything!: Struggling With Incivility and Students Who Know Best. View the full presentation at: https://youtu.be/YQYEfSMk5-M
• Mariah Ehmke (UW Agriculture Economics). Facilitating Applied Economic Modeling in Undergraduate International Trade Policy Instruction. View the full presentation at: https://youtu.be/5sdQLHikXOg
• Jessica Sutter, Rachel Watson and Ed Nuhfer. Evolving the Statement of Teaching Philosophy: From Traditional to Multimodal. This was a poster.
• Rachel Watson, Christi Boggs and Sierra Jech. "Leaving the Light On": From Feeling Alone to Feeling Connected Within an Educator Learning Community. View the full presentation at: https://youtu.be/lYS-UvaXpfk
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.