Teaching and Research Integration in the Classroom and Community
Fall 2023
We are thrilled to announce the Teaching and Research Integration in the Classroom and Community (TRICC) Speaker Series for the Fall 2024 semester. TRICC Speaker Series features faculty scholars who highlight insights and innovations on how their teaching and research mutually inform each other through research-informed teaching practices, such as testimonio, undergraduate and graduate research, community engagement, self-study in teaching and student learning, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) among others. Our featured speakers will explore how teaching and research intersections contribute to students' sense of belonging and success. Please join us this Spring semester as we learn from and with our featured speakers!
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September 18, 2023 - 11:00am-12:00 p.m. Alyssa G. Cavazos, PhD Director, Center for Teaching Excellence
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Alonso Troncoso, Undergraduate Student SaLT HSI Student Partner Leader
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Understanding Undergraduate Latinx Students’ Learning Experiences in STEM Courses: Prioritizing Student Voices in Teaching and Learning
Alyssa Cavazos
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Writing and Language Studies where I teach undergraduate and graduate coursework in writing studies. Additionally, I also serve as the Director for the Center for Teaching Excellence where I oversee a plethora of professional development activities and partnerships. I am also fortunate to co-lead and direct our Students as Learners and Teachers at a Hispanic Serving Institution (SaLT HSI) program where we have opportunities to explore meaningful and engaging teaching and learning experiences centered on student voices and success.
I graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American with a Bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Spanish in 2006 and a Master's of Arts degree in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition in 2008. After I earned a doctoral degree in Rhetoric and Composition from Texas Christian University in 2012, I was fortunate to return to the Rio Grande Valley to continue working with students, faculty, and staff from our community. My pedagogical and scholarly interests center on language difference in the teaching of writing, translingual writing across communities, students' learning experiences in higher education, professional development in higher education, and border rhetorics. I am committed to designing linguistically inclusive pedagogies, which can lead to students’ academic success across academic disciplines in higher education.
I am fortunate that my scholarly and teaching efforts have been recognized through both internal and external awarded grants where I have had the opportunity to research students' learning experiences as well as design innovative teaching and learning practices responsive to students' needs and student success. I am also grateful that my care for and commitment to meaningful teaching and learning experiences have been recognized through various teaching awards, such as the University of Texas System 2017 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the 2017 UTRGV Excellence Award in Teaching, the 2022 Center for Online Learning and Teaching Technology Online Teaching award. Additionally, I currently serve as a fellow in the UT System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. When I am not working, I enjoy exploring nature with my family.
Alonso Troncoso
My name is Alonso J. Troncoso, and I am currently a Senior majoring in Business Administration with a minor in psychology. I plan to graduate on May 2024. Currently, I am a Student Partner Leader with Students as Learners and Teachers at a Hispanic Serving Institution under the Center for Teaching Excellence, and I also served as a Research Assistant with Dra. Alyssa Cavazos for an internal Faculty Research Seed grant where we explored the learning experiences of students in STEM undergraduate courses. I believe that education is constantly evolving, and it would be great if we adapt to these changes in education, so we can succeed. As a student, I care about our education, and I am sure that our contributions through SaLT HSI will help our current students and future generations as well.
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October 05, 2023 - 11:00am - 12:00pm Alejandra Ramirez, PhD Assistant Professsor/Writing & Language Studies
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Jaqueline Medina, Graduate Student Teacher/Curriculum Design Committee Member
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Thania Robles, M. ED., M.A Teacher/Educational Diagnostician
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Studying Anzaldúa in her context, the Rio Grande Valley, as a process of conocimiento and decolonization: healing in research, writing, and teaching.
Alejandra Ramirez
Is an award winning artist and scholar whose research has been published in public news outlets and academic journals. Her edited collection with Routledge, Transnational Decolonial Arts Praxis, is set for publication in early 2024.
Jacquelyn Ann Medina
Is currently a graduate student working towards a Master’s Degree of Art in English with a concentration in Rhetoric, Composition, and Literary Studies. For the past 7 years, Jacquelyn has dedicated herself to educating underprivileged, at-risk students in Donna ISD. Aside from her roles and responsibilities in the classroom, she has written curriculum for the district for 4 years. As a graduate student, much of her work entails developing and creating culturally-relevant lessons for the students she serves.
Thania Robles
Is a certified teacher and educational diagnostician. Over the past eight years, Thania has worked on helping at-risk students in the RGV use their cultural knowledge and learn new skills to amplify their voices by creating and delivering culturally relevant, evidence based lessons.
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November 09, 2023 - 12:00pm-1:00p.m. Anthony T. Marasco, PhD Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Composition, School of Music
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Integrating Burgeoning Research and Career Paths into the Music Technology Curriculum
I am a composer and performer of electronic and electroacoustic music, a designer of hardware and software instruments, and an educator. As an internationally recognized artist, my music and installations have been presented across the United States as well as in Norway, Italy, Brazil, Denmark, and Canada. As a composer, I write music that showcases the features and functionality of computer music instruments by highlighting their sonic flexibility and varied expressive interface options. The core tenets of my compositions and interactive multimedia installations are to exhibit the artistic viability and performance potential of music technology, using tools that are low cost, modifiable, or open source.
The central focus of my research is to demystify and advance the use of computers as musical instruments. By building new tools to expand their prowess as expressive, collaborative musical instruments, my research—in the form of papers, compositions, live performances, workshops, and software/hardware systems—aims to bring these devices to wider audiences outside of academia and showcase what they provide to musicians of all skill levels. My research has reached a global audience through forums such as the New Interfaces for Music Expression (NIME) Conference, the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the Web Audio Conference, the Hybrid Live Coding Interfaces workshop, the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI) conference, the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) conference, and the Sound, Image, and Interaction Design Symposium.
I received my degrees at Lebanon Valley College (BM), Towson University (MM) and Louisiana State University (PhD). I’ve been the recipient of numerous awards and grants such as the grand prize for the 2013 UnCaged Toy Piano Festival's Call for Scores, a UTRGV Faculty Seed Grant, the UTRGV College of Fine Arts Emerging Scholar Faculty Excellence Award, and an Alumni Award for Creative Achievement from Lebanon Valley College.
Please complete your nomination with the follwong information:
- Full Name of Faculty Member
- Academic rank
- Department
- College
- UTRGV e-mail
- Why do you nominate this faculty member to serve as a speaker in TRICC?
- How does the faculty member engage teaching and research integrations in the classroom and/or community to enhance student learning and success?