'Innovations' Event Showcases Projects

The showcase, 2009 Innovations in Teaching and Learning Symposium, was held in Dewberry Hall and exhibited a wide range of university student and faculty research and creations, many of which are placing the university among leading research institutions.

Many of the projects exhibited have already conjured much attention. Senior psychology major Tizoc Perez-Casillas has partnered with associate professor Jane Flinn, the director of the undergraduate neuroscience program, to study the effects of trace metals such as zinc and copper on memory and learning in rats. The research team discovered evidence that large doses of zinc, which is widely prescribed to elderly to help alleviate age-related vision problems, may hamper memory. “In America, more is sometimes seen as better. This is certainly not the case,” said Perez-Casillas.

Of the 31 exhibitions featured at Innovations 2009, seven received top honor awards. The seven recognized works included Teatro sin fronteras, Creatura, Cultural Fusion Field Day, Mason Votes, Gender and Conflict Expression and Management in Same-Sex Relationships, Creating Videos from Community Nonprofits, Development of a Gas-Phase Chemiluminescence System to Measure Arsenic in Drinking Water and An Intelligent Glove Which Interprets Sign Language.

“Innovations 2009 marked the tenth year of celebrating a wide range of students’ creative contributions to Mason, from showcasing posters of theoretical research to the development of digital gaming and showcasing projects of social entrepreneurship,” said Jennifer Korjus, director of learning support services who helps coordinate the event. “This year, the Center for Teaching Excellence joined the event and sponsored faculty showcases, which highlighted a variety of topics ranging from distance education to strategies to help faculty and students make it through the semester.”

Mason was awarded $90 million in sponsored research in 2008, a 300 percent increase from 1998’s award of $31 million, making Mason a Level 2 research institution and placing the university’s ranking 170 among the 600 ranked national institutions.

Mason has large aspirations for its future as a leading research institution. “It is the goal of the university to reach Level 1 and to get there reasonably quickly. This means we will need to go from about $90 million to $250 million in sponsored research by 2014,” said Roger Stough, vice president of research and economic development, in the spring 2009 edition of Mason Spirit.