As technology changes the way people look at the world, some faculty members at Iowa State are changing the way students learn about it.

Now, those people are being rewarded for their efforts.

Eleven faculty teams have been selected to receive this year’s Miller awards. These awards are given to faculty development proposals that enhance undergraduate academic programs and student learning.

Funded by a gift from the Wendell Miller estate, the award is a one-time, $25,000 grant to be used to further develop the team’s program.

Sue Ravenscroft, associate professor of accounting, said the application process is quite rigorous.

“We write the proposal; the department head has to read it and write a letter of approval. A faculty committee ranks it, the dean of the college ranks it, and finally it goes to the committee at the Center for Teaching Excellence, where they choose the winners,” Ravenscroft said.

Ravenscroft’s team received the award for its work in determining long-term outcomes of smaller class sizes in introductory courses.

The grant awards faculty members who are innovative and work for improvement, said Douglas Yarger, professor of geological and atmospheric sciences.

“For 100 years, the way we’ve taught, with lectures and labs, hasn’t changed,” he said. “But things are different now. Computers are just wild — we can do things with them that we couldn’t even imagine before.”

Yarger is a member of a team that received the award for its work in developing a new student outcome assessment tool.

“We wanted to create something fun for students to use, so we used something exciting like severe weather to learn from, and we let them try their hand at forecasting,” he said. “We let them learn from their mistakes, giving them quick feedback from our computer database.”

Yarger said the award will allow his team to hire more undergraduates so members can get their program off the ground.

“This allows us to do something that we couldn’t find the funding for any other way,” he said. “I look at it as ‘seed money.’ The grant allows us to get far enough along so that we can get even more complex and apply for larger grants.”

Cynthia Haynes, assistant professor of horticulture, said the program encourages faculty members by recognizing their efforts.

“It’s a huge honor and a great way to feel supported by your colleagues,” she said.