Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine faculty member Karen Mulloy won the 2023 F. Marian Bishop Educator Award from the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR).
This award recognizes an APTR member who has made significant and outstanding contributions to the instruction of students or residents that advances the field of public health and prevention.
Mulloy’s work with the Master of Public Health program was the driving force in collecting this award.
“In the Master of Public Health program, Dr. Mulloy championed innovation in teaching and learning,” said Daniel Tisch, director of the program. “As a recipient of five teaching awards and fellowships, she has incorporated technological advancements and the latest learning methodologies to our students. In 2018, she worked with our University Technology ([U]Tech) division to convert our historical environmental health core course into a modern, hybrid learning environment incorporating elements of a ‘flipped classroom.’
“This change received the highest praise from students for its effective new structure and the opportunity she designed for new shared learning and discovery in the classroom sessions,” he continued. “Her expertise in different learning methods also prepared her to revise her course during remote learning of COVID-19 and again back to an on-campus setting. Indeed, Dr. Mulloy serves as a resource for all faculty seeking the best possible learning environments.”
Mulloy’s excellence is noted in the university’s data collection of student feedback. Her course evaluations are always significantly higher than the departmental average, with student comments praising her passion for the material and ability to convey complex concepts.
For example, a student last year stated, “I really enjoyed this class and learned so much about how environmental health affects me and others daily in our lives, from our drinking water to our air quality to how we can be exposed to so many toxic things but not see the impacts until later on in life. This class has encouraged me to be more mindful of what I consume and my waste footprint (and so much more).”