Excellence in Teaching Award

The UCEA Excellence in Teaching Award is presented to individuals who have provided outstanding teaching, course development, mentoring of students, and service to continuing education. This award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to credit or noncredit programs and who have provided inspirational teaching to continuing education students.

Ann D. Murray

Kansas State University

Teresa M. C. Bartel recalls the support she received from her major professor while pursuing her doctorate degree. A Professor of Family Studies and Human Services, Ann Murray assisted Bartel in conducting a nationwide Web-based survey of adoption agencies. She supported Bartel when she moved east with her husband, corresponding via more than 1,000 e-mails and later enabling Bartel to propose her dissertation via teleconference, and defend her doctorate via videoconference; Murray provided the tools to establish a link between Kansas State and Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.

Murray was an early adopter of distance learning technologies, being one of the first professors to utilize the University's course management system, K-State Online, in teaching courses to distance students. Today, more than 200 residential and distance students have taken the three courses she teaches online: assessment of young children, child development, and infant behavior and development. Using K-State Online, she incorporates various types of learning materials into her teaching: Web pages, narrated slide shows, group discussions on message boards, live chats and video.

"Dr. Murray has developed a reputation for excellence in teaching and consistently engaging students in creative learning experiences," says A. David Stewart, Assistant Dean of K-State's Division of Continuing Education. "Through the use of a variety of online learning tools and techniques, her teaching methodology always respects and accounts for different student learning styles and engages all her students in active learning experiences. Learning becomes a partnership between Dr. Murray and her students."

Murray's approach to online learning strikes a balance between giving students the freedom to complete coursework on their own time, and involving them in interactive group activities; it is her belief that requiring students to interact synchronously prevents them from feeling disconnected in cyberspace and builds a sense of a learning community. Students in her online classes are required to log on to the class Web site for a two-hour session each week, and are given a "plan for the night." Activities vary from week to week and contain a mix of individual activities such as Web searches with reports due to the message board, and group activities such as live chats or debates. Students touch base with Murray at the beginning of the two-hour session, return to ask questions throughout the class, and provide feedback about the activities before logging off for the evening.

When Bartel earned her Ph.D., Murray toasted her as a pioneer in using today's technology to achieve a doctorate degree from a distance. But Bartel saw it differently: "It is Dr. Murray who is the pioneer, in giving students the wings to achieve their dreams while giving them the support they need when they stumble."