NCFR members Alan C. Taylor, Ph.D., CFLE; Dee Hill-Zuganelli, Ph.D.; and Kerry Weil Tripp, J.D., were each recognized with a Cognella Innovation in Teaching Award for Family Science during a virtual awards ceremony at the 2021 NCFR Annual Conference.

Publisher Cognella and NCFR partnered to create the award, which recognizes outstanding instructors in the Family Science discipline who go above and beyond to introduce cutting-edge teaching practices that engage their students and advance the discipline.

The first-place honor went to Alan C. Taylor, Ph.D., CFLE, a tenured professor within the Department of Human Development and Family Science at East Carolina University. The judging panel was impressed by how he developed an innovative and unique graduate-level instructor preparation program which provides students with a hands-on and deeply immersive opportunity to learn the principles of effective instruction. The panel believes the constructive, practical feedback received by participants in the program is building and molding the next generation of instructors.

The judging panel was so impressed by the entries submitted by Dr. Dee Hill-Zuganelli and Dr. Kerry Weil Tripp they chose to award both educators with second-place awards.

Dee Hill-Zuganelli, Ph.D., an assistant professor of child and family studies at Berea College, leveraged remote teaching technology and online communication platforms to help students evaluate safety and sense of belonging among LGBTQPIA+ minoritized students. As part of a seminar course called “Sexuality in Everyday Life,” students were challenged with identifying and sharing “safe zones” on campaign and share their evaluations as part of a broad group discussion. With permission, Dr. Hill-Zuganelli shared key themes and testimonials from the seminar confidentially with members of the campus LGBTQPIA+ issues task force and prepared a report on the learning activity. The task force is now following this teaching template to host in-person and online student forums on appraising LGBTQPIA+ safety.

Recognizing that her students might graduate without an international experience, Kerry Weil Tripp, J.D., a principal lecturer in the Department of Family Science at the University of Maryland, created the university’s Virtual Global Internship Program. The program allows students to engage with international researchers and businesses, as well as local partners working with international populations. Through this program, students have had the opportunity to conduct global research on topics ranging from environmental justice to COVID-19 contract tracing in Africa to the impact of the pandemic on Korean-American families. During the first year of the Virtual Global Internship Program, Dr. Weil Tripp supported the creation of over 50 virtual internships opportunities.

To learn more about the recipients' unique contributions and innovations, read their profiles on the Cognella website.