Awards

President's Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Technology (2023)

About Meghan Porter

Since joining the Indiana University faculty in 2015 as a visiting lecturer in the Department of Chemistry directly following her graduation from the department’s Ph.D. program, Meghan Porter has leveraged technology to enhance student learning and opportunities for success within the classroom. She believes that integrating an array of technological teaching methods into her curricula creates an environment that promotes engagement and gets students excited about learning for a greater purpose than just earning a grade.

Committed to fostering an inclusive learning environment, Porter employs technology to connect with students in large lecture settings. Porter’s successful implementation of the “flipped-classroom” distinguished her as an academic leader dedicated to enhancing the student learning experience. Porter provides lecture and extra-help videos for students to access outside of the classroom and uses in-class time for small group work. The vast majority of her students accessed the optional materials throughout the semester, and the effectiveness of the “flipped-classroom” model is demonstrated by the significant improvement in student before and after assessment scores. Porter also utilizes teaching technology such as Top Hat and Learning Catalytics to gauge student understanding of content in real-time and adjusts her teaching pace as necessary. During 2020, she volunteered to support several faculty members in adapting to online instruction by using various teaching technologies, including InScribe, Kaltura, PlayPosit, Doceri, and more.

By introducing additional optional video resources for students to view outside of the lecture period, student success skyrocketed, especially among underrepresented minority students. Through analyzing course GPA data before and after introducing recordings of live lectures and extra-help videos, Porter found that these additions contributed to significant, positive changes in GPA. Porter’s use of technology in her curricula is constantly evolving as she responds to student feedback and analyzes the legitimacy and potential effectiveness of up-and-coming teaching technology.