June 2023  SoTL Spotlight

The June SoTL Spotlight highlights a collaborative THINK! project in progress. Maurice Penny and Coty Richardson (both Adjunct Faculty in the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology) completed THINK! and are currently awaiting IRB approval on their THINK! project. The title of their manuscript is: “Examining the Impact of Active and Passive Remote Learning in Undergraduate STEM Education Using Learner-Designed Materials”

Maurice Penny, Adjunct College of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Maurice Penny is adjunct faculty in the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Grand Canyon University. He received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Winston-Salem State University, a Master of Science in Physiology (medicine), and Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership K-12 from Grand Canyon University.

He has more than 17 years serving students in education, ten years in East Central ISD as a science teacher and interim administrator. He has taught for seven years at the university level, three years at Palo Alto Community College, four years at Texas A&M University San Antonio, and six months at Grand Canyon University.

As a recent doctoral graduate, Maurice has been doing research with the Center for Innovation in Research on Teaching (CIRT). He completed writing up his dissertation findings and submitted to a journal for publication in 2022. He completed THINK! (January 2023 Cohort) where he met his research partner, Coty Richardson. The title of their research project is: Examining the Impact of Active and Passive Remote Learning in Undergraduate STEM Education Using Learner-Designed Materials. He found THINK! to be such a rewarding experience that he enrolled in another section of the program in May 2023 (while waiting for the January 2023 project to receive IRB Approval) and has another SoTL THINK! project in progress! His research interests are application of classroom best practices by investigating active learning, cognitive load reduction, effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom, and STEM education.

Coty Richardson, Adjunct Faculty, College of Science, Engineering, and Technology

Coty L. Richardson, Ph.D. is adjunct faculty Grand Canyon University in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. Coty has taught in higher education since 2011 in many diverse areas of study including exercise science, kinesiology, biology, psychology, nutrition, and practicum/internship in both online and face-to-face course formats. In addition to GCU, she also serves as adjunct faculty at Concordia University Chicago in the college of Health Science and Technology teaching Applied Exercise Science as well as Linn-Benton Community College where she teaches general psychology and developmental psychology in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities department. 

Coty’s educational background includes her B.S. in Nutrition Science, M.S. in Kinesiology/Corrective Exercise, and Ph.D. in Performance Psychology.  Her research interests include student cognition and learning, student perceptions on learning, active/passive learning on student performance, and deficit-driven learning. Coty met her research partner Maurice Penny through CIRT’s THINK research programming. They are investigating active and passive remote learning in undergraduate stem education using learner-designed materials.