Frey wins teaching award​

Regina (Gina) F. Frey, the Florence E. Moog Professor of STEM Education, has been honored with an Excellence in Teaching Award from Emerson Electric Co.

Frey, PhD, whose primary appointment is in the Department of Chemistry, in Arts & Sciences, is executive director of The Teaching Center and co-director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE) at Washington University in St. Louis.

Frey is a national leader in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and in research on active-learning STEM pedagogies, including peer-led team learning. Since joining WUSTL in 1994, Frey has focused on the development, implementation and evaluation of pedagogies that improve student learning and help students transition to university-level learning.

She is one of the primary instructors for the "General Chemistry" course, which each year enrolls approximately 850 undergraduates, most of whom are in their first year at the university. Frey is the principal architect of the WUSTL peer-led team learning program, now offered in all three courses of calculus, as well as in general chemistry. She currently co-teaches two first-year "Women in Science" courses and a graduate-level course, "Introduction to Teaching as Research." She is also a member of the university’s Committee on the Assessment of Student Learning.

In addition, Frey conducts research on teaching and learning — including projects in which she collaborates with Mark McDaniel, CIRCLE co-director, and faculty across the disciplines to develop and evaluate teaching innovations that integrate cognitive-science research. At The Teaching Center, Frey works with faculty colleagues from all schools to develop, evaluate, refine and improve their teaching.

Frey is one of the founding members, with Kathryn Miller, PhD (chair of biology) and Victoria May (Institute for School Partnership executive director) of the STEM Educational Research Group, a faculty discussion group that meets weekly to discuss their pedagogical scholarship on student learning in science, technology, engineering and math. This group, which began meeting in 2008, includes members from the departments of biology, chemistry, education, engineering, mathematics, physics and psychology, as well as  the Institute for School Partnership (K-12 science and math education).

With her collaborators at WUSTL, Frey has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Luce Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program, the Hewlett-Packard Technology for Teaching program and, most recently, the Association of American Universities Initiative on Improving STEM Education.

Each year, Emerson Electric Co. recognizes more than 100 teachers throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area with the Excellence in Teaching Award. This award recognizes educators ranging from kindergarten teachers to college professors for their passion for teaching, their impact on student learning and their knowledge and creativity. The awards were given during a ceremony in November at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton. Recipients are selected by their school districts or institutions.