Innovation in education is key to the continued success of future generations. It prevents stagnation and allows new ideas to flourish. With that in mind, the College of Technology is pleased to announce Matt Wilson, associate clinical professor of general technical education, as the recent recipient of the Gem State Innovative Educator Award in written communication for his redesign of first-year composition courses around modern technology. This year’s award recognized educators who helped non-majors understand and apply concepts in their courses as well as use high-impact practices—which are described as educational opportunities that have been widely tested and shown to improve student success, particularly in underserved communities.
“Receiving this award gives me some validation in my approach to teaching general education courses, but it’s also a validation of the contextualized general education model that we have at the College of Technology, where the practical transfer of general education knowledge and skills to students’ professional and personal lives is our primary goal,” Wilson said. “So I’m really a product of my environment, and it’s the environment that fosters the types of teaching that the Innovative Educator Award recognizes.”
Wilson received this award for several reasons, including for carefully integrating AI into the curriculum, negotiating the practical impacts of its use—both positive and negative—as well as the ethical considerations of its use. He did this by amplifying the framing of writing as a way of thinking rather than an outcomes-oriented task, and by teaching rhetorical ways of thinking around the generative use of AI through interactive exercises involving AI text generation followed by critical reflection.
“Matt saw both the promise and the danger of generative AI and set out to work on projects that could help students better understand how to make informed decisions about when and how to use this type of technology,” said Clayn Lambert, director of the Business and Support Services department. “Matt has tried to move away from prescriptive approaches like, ‘You should…’ or ‘You should not…’ and instead focus on helping students understand their role as intelligent, informed users to make better decisions that can be applied in a wide variety of situations.”
According to Wilson, the main reason for the success of this approach is that students are curious and engaged, making the lesson a team effort. It is this shared desire that drives the College of Technology to improve its methods, allowing for a non-traditional college experience for students who need it. Wilson will receive the award along with the other winners in Boise in October.
