Molly Downing receives 2023 Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer
Molly Downing, PhD, assistant professor of practice in the Division of Pharmacy Education and Innovation at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, was one of six Ohio State faculty members selected for the 2023 Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer.
The annual award recognizes a maximum of six lecturers or other associated faculty for their teaching excellence. Honorees are inducted into Ohio State's Academy of Teaching and recognized with an honorarium made possible by the Office of Academic Affairs. The honorees were notified of their awards through surprise announcements led by senior university leaders and recognized at the first home football game on Sept. 9.
As a faculty member, Dr. Downing supports teaching assistants and adjunct instructors in content development and delivery, student assessment and best practices in online instructional design and delivery. As a fully remote instructor, Dr. Downing takes on the role of curriculum developer, finding new ways to personalize online learning.
Dr. Downing was well-versed in remote work years before the pandemic forced many people to transition. After earning her PhD in pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in 2010, she took a postdoctoral fellowship with professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies Nicole Kwiek, PhD.
After completing her post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Kwiek in 2014, Dr. Downing joined the Ohio State College of Pharmacy as an instructor. The role became largely experimental as Dr. Downing moved out of the Columbus area. In 2018, Dr. Downing stepped into the role of assistant director of Generation Rx, the college's national outreach, engagement and education program that aims to teach safe medication practices across the lifespan. Both of these changes meant that she would teach almost exclusively online.
Dr. Downing notes that understanding the needs of virtual programming took a lot of work, but it helped her to “design very intentional and purposeful student-centered learning.” Although her environment for teaching was shifting dramatically, she maintained the priority of guiding and uplifting students.
“I started to work on my presence in an online asynchronous environment in 2015,” Dr. Downing said. “I’m never going to meet these students in person, so how can I make them feel heard, validated and supported?”
To combat the distance that comes with online instruction, Dr. Downing modeled her curriculum to break from the default lecture format. She abandoned the role of “gatekeeper of all content and expertise” and implemented diverse methods of learning, such as presenting information in a variety of formats, asking students to engage in different ways and actively offering feedback and support.
“As an administrator, I consider a Molly Downing-created course to be a ‘role model’ in course design.” Dr Kwiek said. “Her course frameworks are renowned in the college (and beyond) for their clarity, organization and adherence to evidence-based teaching."
Not only has Dr. Downing achieved technological success as an asynchronous faculty member, but she has served as a role model for students over the years. By embracing the role of facilitator, Dr. Downing has opened her online learning environment to greater collaboration with students. Her nominators for the Provost’s Award emphasized the strength of her compassion for students and the importance of the mentorship that she offers.
“Molly is the epitome of a best practices teacher,” said Dr. Kwiek. “She not only builds exquisitely well-designed courses that engage students in contemporary and relevant content, but she also leads her classroom with a student-first approach. She does everything that you would hope an educator would do: using the science of learning and best practice support techniques to maximize the educational experience for her students.”
In reflecting on her own experiences as a mentee, Dr. Downing credits much of her professional success to Dr. Kwiek’s guidance. Reaching out to Dr. Kwiek for a fellowship had signaled the beginning of a long partnership between the two. While completing her postdoc, Dr. Kwiek’s mentorship provided Dr. Downing with guidance that has become central to her own teaching philosophies.
“Everything I know is either through her or because she helped open a door for me by saying, ‘Yes, take the time to go do this because you want to grow,’” Dr. Downing said.
Having had strong mentors like Dr. Kwiek in the past, it’s a full-circle moment for Dr. Downing to be recognized for her own mentorship. Knowing that her students will take forward positive experiences of learning brings her hope for her students’ futures.
“If you’re in the position where you can mentor and help others, then there’s that ripple effect of passing on best practices in education," Dr. Downing said.