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The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) has selected Kelsey Bitting, assistant professor of environmental studies, and Jessica Merricks, assistant professor of biology, as CATL Scholars for the 2025-27 academic years. CATL has also selected Yidi Wu, O’Briant developing professor and assistant professor of history, as a CATL Scholar for the 2026-2028 academic years.

Bitting and Merricks’ project, titled “Impacts of Community-Engaged Courses on First-Generation Students, Students of Color, and Women in STEM Disciplines,” seeks to understand how integrating STEM education with service-oriented projects that address local needs can help students bridge academic knowledge with real-world challenges. By examining the impacts of community-based learning (CBL) on historically underrepresented students in STEM, their work will assess whether these courses boost students’ confidence, strengthen their sense of belonging, and encourage them to persist in STEM fields. The study will also explore how students with diverse and intersecting identities—such as first-generation students, students of color and women—perceive the value of CBL in fostering a meaningful connection between STEM and community impact. Their study will analyze survey responses and conduct in-depth interviews to understand how CBL may enhance motivation to persist in STEM fields and contribute to meaningful, community-focused work.

Wu’s project, “Dialogues at Tian’anmen: Students, Government Officials, and Beyond, 1989,” will immerse students in the varied perspectives of the 1989 Tiananmen Protests using Reacting to the Past (RTTP) pedagogies. In this application of RTTP, students will be assigned to roles such as activists, government officials, journalists, and workers, in order to help them learn about the complex social and political landscape of the time. As part of this project, Wu will develop instructional materials to share with other educators, including collaborators at Emory University, Virginia Military Institute, The Citadel and Angelo State University. By engaging students directly with historical narratives and perspectives, the project aims to foster critical thinking, public speaking and historical empathy, deepening students’ understanding of this significant event in Chinese history.

The CATL Scholars program accepts applications each fall, and all full-time faculty are encouraged to apply. Visit the CATL Scholars website or email CATL at catl@elon.edu for more information.