Summary
Sarah Cummings is a Teaching Professor and the Director of Advancements in Teaching Excellence. She previously served as the director of the University Core Curriculum. She has received multiple teaching awards at the college, university, and system levels, including the Gene LeMay Outstanding Teaching Award, the Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award, the NSHE Regents' Teaching Award, the F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher Award, and the Paul and Judy Bible Teaching Excellence Award. She has been recognized as a Westfall Scholar Mentor and a Senior Scholar Mentor. In addition to helping students learn and apply content knowledge within her field, Dr. Cummings is committed to training students to develop skills that they will continue to utilize in any career: how to think critically, how to identify and solve a problem, how to work as a team, and how to communicate effectively. Dr. Cummings uses active-learning strategies to support student success and learning in large-enrollment courses. She has been actively engaged in curriculum development at the course, department, university, and national levels. Her recent scholarship has included integrating sustainable chemistry and systems thinking into organic chemistry courses.
Awards
- 2019 Paul and Judy Bible Teaching Excellence Award
- 2017 NSHE (Nevada System of Higher Education) Regents' Teaching Award
- 2016 F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher Award
- 2012 Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award
- 2010 LeMay Award for Excellence in Teaching
Presentations on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- “Integration of systems thinking and communication in a course on green chemistry.” S.A. Cummings and B.J. Frost, Oral Presentation, American Chemical Society National Meeting, April 2021.
- "Comparison of traditional lecture, online, and flipped class approaches to a large enrollment organic chemistry course." S.A. Cummings, Oral Presentation, Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Greeley, CO, August 2016.
- "Green chemistry principle #9 (catalysis): cCWCS workshop inspired curricular reform in large enrollment organic chemistry laboratories." S.A. Cummings, Oral Presentation, Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Greeley, CO, August 2016.
Education
- Postdoctoral (2006-2007), University of Utah (Matthew S. Sigman)
- Ph.D. Chemistry (2006), Columbia University (Jack R. Norton)
- B.S. Chemistry (2001), Haverford College