Teaching Scholar Awards

The next call for nominations will be for the 2026 Teaching Scholar Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Faculty engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning use a formalized, scientific, and scholarly lens to examine questions in higher education pedagogy to improve their teaching and make their results public for examination, critique, and replication. This award recognizes scholarship of teaching and learning that involves rigorous examination and investigation of one’s own classes and/or academic programs at Virginia Tech and is designed to recognize teaching faculty members who have dedicated themselves to the pursuit of scholarship addressing higher education pedagogy. Recognizing that this form of scholarship may look different across different domains (e.g., engineering, music, chemistry, forestry, philosophy), the award criteria remain sensitive to this variation, and faculty members from all domains are encouraged to submit nominations. 

Eligibility Requirements:

• Be full-time or part-time faculty members at Virginia Tech.
• Have teaching as one of their primary responsibilities.
• Present work based on higher education pedagogy.​
• Must demonstrate actively pursuing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning through a record of past presentations/publications and/or presentations/publications currently under review.

Nomination Materials:

All nominations will be submitted using an online submission form. If you have questions, please email teaching@vt.edu.

Submission Form: The submission form requires 1) the nominator’s name, department, and email address (self-nominations are welcome) and 2) the nominee's name, department, college, rank, years at Virginia Tech, area of expertise, and email address.

Nomination Packet: The nomination packet must be uploaded to the online submission form, be a single PDF file, and include the items listed below. 

1. Summary of Accomplishments: An explanation of the nominee's scholarship of teaching and learning research interests, guiding research questions, theoretical framework, and relevant scholarly productivity. Additionally, provide evidence of impact on student learning and any broader impact of research. (3 pages max)
2. Supporting Materials: Materials may include exemplary artifacts of SoTL work such as peer-reviewed publications, conference proceedings/papers, and/or published scholarship recognized in the discipline. (2 items max)
3. Abbreviated CV: A curriculum vita that effectively demonstrates active teaching and learning scholarship with a history of sustained effort. The curriculum vita should highlight current teaching and learning scholarship. (2 pages max)
4. Course/Teaching History: Provide a general overview of classes taught to contextualize SoTL work. For each course section, include the course number and title, CRN, and course catalog description. Other pieces of information (e.g., SPOT scores) may also be included but are not required. 

The next call for nominations will be for the 2027 Teaching Scholar Award for Project-Based Learning.

Purpose: Project-based learning is a flexible teaching strategy that supports faculty working to scaffold students through appropriate expectations for their level of development, interests, and goals. PBL can take many forms, but ultimately students are engaged in the exploration of authentic problems as a method of both learning and applying content knowledge to meet course outcomes. This award is designed to recognize faculty who have incorporated project-based learning pedagogy into or across their courses, demonstrating a positive impact on student learning. Recognizing that the approach to projects may look different across different domains (e.g., engineering, music, chemistry, forestry, philosophy), the award criteria remain sensitive to these variations, and faculty members from all domains are encouraged to submit nominations.​

Eligibility Requirements:

• Be full-time or part-time faculty members at Virginia Tech.
• Have teaching as one of their primary responsibilities.
• Present work based on their own teaching practices.​
• Must demonstrate the use of project-based learning pedagogy with a positive impact on student learning.​

Nomination Materials:

All nominations will be submitted using an online submission form. If you have questions, please email teaching@vt.edu.

Submission Form: The submission form requires 1) the nominator’s name, department, and email address (self-nominations are welcome) and 2) the nominee’s name, department, college, rank, years at Virginia Tech, area of expertise, and email address.

Nomination Packet: The nomination packet must be uploaded to the online submission form as a single PDF file, and include the items listed below. 

1. Summary of Accomplishments: An explanation of the nominee's approach to project-based learning and motivation for adopting PBL, highlighting how the nominee’s PBL work has been informed by and/or contributes to the scholarship of teaching and learning. Additionally, provide evidence of impact on student learning and any broader significance beyond the nominee’s classroom (3 pages max)
2. Supporting Materials: Materials may include course artifacts, examples of media coverage highlighting PBL experiences, letters of support from PBL stakeholders (e.g., students, supporting partners, clients), and/or published scholarship (2 items max)
3. Abbreviated CV: An abbreviated version of the nominee’s CV highlighting PBL implementation (2 pages max)
4. PBL Course List: A list of course sections in which this nominee has implemented PBL during the past five academic years. For each course section, include the course number and title, CRN, and course catalog description. Other pieces of information (e.g., SPOT scores) may also be included but are not required. 

The next call for nominations will be for the 2028 Teaching Scholar Award for Large Class Teaching.

Purpose: Large-enrollment classes present unique opportunities and challenges for faculty teaching in such contexts. This award is designed to recognize faculty members who have a longstanding record of teaching excellence in large-enrollment courses (which, for the purposes of this award, is defined as approximately 100 or more students per section). Recognizing that teaching excellence may look different depending on the course, discipline, and instructor, the award criteria will be sensitive to these variations, while focusing primarily on 1) impact on student learning in large classes, and 2) effective, engaging, and/or innovative pedagogy, informed through the examination and/or production of the scholarship of teaching and learning, in the large class environment.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Be full-time or part-time faculty members at Virginia Tech.
• Have teaching as one of their primary responsibilities.
• Present work based on their own teaching practices.​
• Must have taught large classes at Virginia Tech over the last five years, averaging at least one large class section per year in those five years.​

Nomination Materials:

All nominations will be submitted using an online submission form. If you have questions, please email teaching@vt.edu.

Submission Form: The submission form requires 1) the nominator’s name, department, and email address (self-nominations are welcome) and 2) the nominee's name, department, college, rank, years at Virginia Tech, area of expertise, and email address.

Nomination Packet: The nomination packet must be uploaded to the online submission form as a single PDF file, and include the items listed below. 

1. Summary of Accomplishments: An explanation of the nominee's teaching excellence in the large class context through the nominee’s impact on student learning.  Additionally, provide evidence of the nominee’s use of effective, engaging, and/or innovative pedagogy, informed through the examination and/or production of the scholarship of teaching and learning, in the large class environment. (3 pages max)
2. Supporting Materials: Materials may include an example of students’ work, course artifacts, references to pedagogical literature, media coverage of student experience, published scholarship, and/or statements of support from the nominee’s supervisors, colleagues, and/or students. (2 items max)
3. Abbreviated CV: An abbreviated version of the nominee’s CV (2 pages max)
4. Large Enrollment Course List: Include a list of the nominee’s large-enrollment course sections (approximately 100 or more students per section) for the past five academic years. For each course section, include the course number and title, CRN, enrollment number, and course catalog description. Other pieces of information (e.g., SPOT scores) may also be included but are not required.