May 2023 Spotlight

The May SoTL Spotlight highlights a collaborative THINK! project in progress. Adjunct Faculty, Alexis Chontos and Online Full-time Faculty (OFTF) John Kenney completed THINK! and are currently writing up their manuscript. The title of their manuscript is: “Examining The Impact of Instructor Created Video Tutorials and Best Online Exemplar Teaching Practices for Successful Outcomes with Visual Arts Students”

Alexis Chontos, Adjunct Faculty College of Arts and Media 

Alexis Chontos is adjunct faculty in the College of Arts and Media at Grand Canyon University. She received a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Pittsburgh, a Bachelor of Science in Education from Pennsylvania State University, as well as an Associate of Science in Computer Science from Community College of Allegheny County. Before accepting a full-time teaching position with The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division, she was the Webmaster for The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and was an Online Adjunct Faculty member.

During her tenure as Webmaster, the site achieved numerous awards, including Best University Web Site from the Web Marketing Association, a Gold Award from the W3 Awards, and was an Honoree of the Webby Awards. Alexis is also a judge for the International Academy of the Visual Arts, International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, Web Marketing Association’s WebAward, and the Webby Awards. She has also presented at several conferences on topics related to web design and instruction in the visual arts.

New to conducting research, Alexis has been an extremely active participant in research programming offered through the Center for Innovation in Research on Teaching (CIRT). Her engagement in the 2021 Fall SoTL Summit prompted her interest in enrolling in THINK! to learn how to conduct SoTL research in her online classroom.

John Kenney, OFTF College of Arts and Media

John Kenney has over 15 years experience as an Art Director, having served as lead designer and managed several design teams in agency environments. He has taught Graphic Design and the Fundamentals of Advertising for both ground and on-line instruction at Grand Canyon University. He was the first full-time on-line faculty instructor for the College of Arts & Media and is now a lead faculty instructor.
 
As one who has realized significant success as a graphic designer, John received the “Best in Phoenix” award for most community votes during Phoenix Design Week 2022 for his cookbook design “Small Space, Big Taste” and in 2023 he received a finalist award for “Bold Abstractions 2023: International Juried Art Awards” for his piece “Desert Monsoon”, a 60 X 34 acrylic on canvas.

Since joining a THINK! cohort in 2022, he has found a new interest – conducting research alongside his teaching practice. John’s research interests include SoTL in Digital Design.