YSU professor recognized for reducing costs

Staff report

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A Youngstown State University associate professor has been recognized for finding creative ways to reduce the cost of course materials for her students while also improving educational content.

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut announced the University System of Ohio’s 2011 Ohio Faculty Innovator Award winners Thursday. The annual awards recognize 10 University System of Ohio faculty or faculty teams.

Lauren Cummins, YSU associate professor in teacher education, is among the 10.

“Ohio’s economic competitiveness is built on the strength of its higher education system and keeping access to that system within reach of Ohio families,” Fingerhut said. “The faculty we honor today have, with their dedication and hard work, helped make it easier for students to succeed in ways that will make them, and Ohio, more successful in today’s knowledge economy.”

Cummins uses VoiceThread and Wiki to teach Methods and Theories in Early Childhood Education, a distance-learning course. A Wiki is a Web-based application that allows a group of users to set up pages, and allows people to edit it and contribute to it within the Web browser.

Cummins’ method takes students to critical thinking and reflective engagement as they view digital imagery and read publications and resources of their choice to create a Wiki, the chancellor’s office said in a news release.

The digital material for the graduate course saves each student $121 in textbook costs.

University System of Ohio faculty members were nominated by colleagues or students aware of each professor’s course materials and the impact they had on student savings.

The faculty received awards after a panel of independent reviewers determined their practices were innovative and saved students money. Their work and stories provide the model to support adoption of materials like these across every institution in Ohio, the release said.