Four graduate teaching assistants receive COVID-19 Exceptional Effort Awards

Four Iowa State University graduate students have been awarded for their commitment to supporting student learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

647 individuals and teams across Iowa State’s campus received nominations for COVID-19 Exceptional Effort Awards, which included 12 award categories. Of the 52 winners, the names and departments of those who received Graduate Student Teaching Impact awards are: Caroliena Cabada, English; Nicole Hayes, Psychology; Jameel Kelley, Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering; and Trevor Kliever, Interior Design. For their efforts, they received a $500 stipend in their paychecks.

All four recipients of this award served as graduate teaching assistants within the past year. When COVID-19 forced a transition to remote and hybrid learning, they each found ways to support and engage with their students.

Nicole Hayes

“During this time, we have experienced a nationwide pandemic, economic and social instability, and isolation due to school and community closures. This was a particularly challenging time for students, as many of them had experienced or knew someone experiencing some sort of trauma,” said Hayes, who has taught several psychology courses online and in person during her time at Iowa State. “In order to meet the needs of students, I promoted an inclusive and supportive environment by actively engaging with students, both collectively via group discussions and individually using available technology.”

Hayes added that it’s important for instructors to regularly reach out to students struggling in classes.

“Instructors are often the first point of contact for students who may be experiencing challenges,” she said. “I would encourage instructors to be more aware of students that may be struggling with coursework and deadlines and to reach out to them with campus resources.”

Kliever, whose first semester of teaching was in the spring of 2020, met with faculty to discuss how to restructure design classes for a virtual setting.

“We were all struggling trying to figure out how to utilize technology, and to figure out how to help students draw and start drafting and rendering virtually,” he said. He also noted that some students were having difficulties shifting from learning in a design studio to learning at home, so he worked to keep an open line of communication.

Trevor Kliever

“I tell [my students] I don’t care if it’s over the weekend, or if it’s late at night. Send me an email, I’ll see it the next morning, and I’ll be able to help you out even though we’re not in class time,” he said. “And I always tell them, if you need more clarification, please reach out again. I just keep that communication going because I think that’s how they’re going to best feel supported.”

Kelley taught his first large class (Virtual Environments, Virtual World, and Applications, which centers around the understanding and implementation of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality) in the fall of 2020. Because of the pandemic, he made changes to the ways he planned to add value to the class.

“While there exist numerous teaching styles to choose from, you must find one that works best for you in the context in which you are teaching,” he said.

Early in the semester, Kelley noticed that students in his class were not voicing questions or concerns until the end of the class period, which resulted in long wait times to speak with him. He adjusted by conducting consistent office hours instead of by appointment, which had not been done for the class before. He also used Canvas to create a structured discussion environment and monitored Webex chats for questions.

“The best way I found to provide support was to provide plenty of helpful online resources, make myself available more often to problem-solve with students, be responsive to those students that reached out with problems, and applaud students that went the extra mile in their projects,” he said.

Teaching classes for the past year has not been without its challenges. Kliever needed to learn to verbally express design ideas to students, rather than being able to draw them. Similarly, Kelley had to adjust to virtually helping students solve and debug issues with hardware, instead of being able to do so in person. However, seeing students succeed has been well worth their efforts.

“Knowing that I left an impact on students and was able to be that support system, I think for me, that’s the most meaningful, and that’s why eventually I want to become a professor,” Kliever said.