College of Business faculty member Tim Muth won the Teaching Innovations competition at the recent Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) teaching workshop on the Georgia State University campus in Atlanta.
The annual event drew about 80 attendees from the U.S. and internationally for discussions, lectures and interactive engagement on a range of areas, from the latest teaching innovations and modern instructional tools to best practices for student engagement and skill-based training for students.
The No. 1 topic, Muth noted: Teaching in the age of AI.
The May 28-30 event featured a Teaching Innovations competition. The nine participating educators had each submitted a summary of their innovative teaching activity prior to the workshop, and at the workshop they had three minutes to present their innovations.
Muth’s topic was, “Ten Simple (but Effective) Tips to Engage & Motivate Students.”
Muth said he started with an activity he has used in his classes involving a shelled peanut and the question for his students on their first day: “How are you like this peanut?” (The exercise is a novel icebreaker that eases students into their new class and allows Muth to learn something about each student’s personality as they respond to the question.)
Then he told a student engagement story using his top 10 tips, a collection of practical, easy-to-implement steps. They include: “Know your students.” “Active Class Discussion.” “Set a Positive Tone.” “Tell Stories to explain complex topics.”, and “Experiential Learning projects.”
The attendees voted on the “best/favorite” teaching innovation, and Muth and his tips came out on top. It is not surprising he was recognized for his teaching acumen.
In 2022-23, Muth won Florida Tech’s Kerry Bruce Clark Award for Excellence in Teaching. In both 2019-20 and 2020-21, he was awarded the Student Government Association’s Professor of the Year for the Bisk College of Business. And in 2016, he received the Teacher of the Year award from the Bisk College of Business.
