Four “Innovation in Education” grants have been awarded to Missouri S&T faculty for 2016-17 as part of a new grant program funded by the Innovation Team. The program is administered through the Center for Educational Research and Teaching Innovation (CERTI).

The program seeks to infuse one or more of the following skill sets into undergraduate student curriculum: creativity, entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation or design thinking.

The funded proposals are:

• “Bringing Entrepreneurial Thinking and Innovation to a Senior Design Course,” Dr. Mihail Cutitaru, assistant teaching professor of electrical and computer engineering, for $4,250.
• “Redesigning the Global Village as a Three-Credit Faculty-Led Study Abroad Program,” Dr. Audra Merfeld-Langston, interim chair and associate professor of arts, languages and philosophy, for $5,000.
• “Improvement of Teaching Effectiveness by Active and Cooperate Learning,” Dr. Mingzhen Wei, assistant professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering, for $4,810.
• “Introducing Design Thinking Into a Biological Design and Innovation Course,” Dr. David Westenberg, associate professor of biological sciences, for $5,000.

Results of this research will be shared with the campus at the Missouri S&T Teaching and Learning Technology Conference in March 2017. For more information on the program, visit the CERTI website.