Faculty Research

Honors College faculty actively engage in research and creative scholarship that supports our core values and philosophy of teaching and learning.  Our work explores innovative approaches to honors, undergraduate, and higher education to scale at Virginia Tech and beyond. Additionally, faculty engage in transdisciplinary, collaborative, and disciplinary research that helps address our most pressing societal challenges (see our Faculty’s Bio pages to learn more). Below is a list of selected publications contributing to the national and international conversation around the scholarship of teaching and learning:

• Budowle, R., Velez, A.K., & Lewis, S.N. (2023). The Virginia Tech Honors Minor: Mapping a guided path for students to take risks in collaborative discovery. Journal of the European Honors Council, 6(2), 4. https://doi.org/10.31378/jehc.191
• Knox, P. and Heilker, P. (2023). Honors colleges, transdisciplinary education, and global challenges. In R. Badenhausen (Eds.) Honors colleges in the 21st century (pp. 423-475). National Collegiate Honors Council Monograph Series. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchcmonochap/130
• Bott-Knutson, R.C., Hart, J., Appel, H., Kotinek, J., Knox P., Ziegler, W., Roberts, D., Radasanu, A., Nichols, T., & Fine, L. (2023). Simul Fortior: The rise of an honors collaborative and The Justice Challenge.  Journal of the European Honors Council, 6(2), 5. https://doi.org/10.31378/jehc.187
• Radasanu, R., Bott-Knutson, R.C., Fine, L.E., Kotinek, J., Hart, J.L., Nichols, T., Appel, H., Roberts, D.M., Knox, P., & Ziegler, W. (2023). A relational model for honors education: From contagion to permeability.  Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 24, 47-62. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchcjournal/780/
• Kotinek, J., Bott-Knutson, R., Fine, L., Hart, J., Ziegler, W., Knox, P., Nichols, T., Sumner, S., Appel, H., Andersen, M., Bryk, M., Radasanu, A., Cassady, J., & Garbutt, K. (2023). The Justice Challenge: Honors endeavors innovative pedagogies through the Grand Challenge Scholars Program. Honors in Practice, 19, 121-124. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchchip/394/
• Hart, J., Bott-Knutson, R., Appel, H., Kotinek, J., Knox, P, & Ziegler, W. (2023).  Pedagogy of engagement, innovation, and reflection: Hackathons in honors education. Honors in Practice, 19, 125-128. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchchip/388/
• Appel, H., Bott‐Knutson, R., Hart, J., Knox, P., Radasanu, A., Fine, L., Nichols T., Roberts, D., Garbutt, K., Ziegler, W., Kotinek, J., Cooke, K., Keen, R., Anderson, M., & Kapur, J. (2023). Teaching and learning in the fourth space: Preparing scholars to engage in solving community problems. In R. Badenhausen (Eds.), Honors colleges in the 21st century: Opportunities and challenges (pp. 441-476). National Collegiate Honors Council. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchcmonochap/131
• Budowle, R., Porter, C. M., & McLennan, C. (2023). Justice and equity approaches to college and university student food (in)security: Introduction to the special section. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 12(2), 3-9. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.013
• Schinkel, K. R., Budowle, R., Porter, C. M., Dai, B., Gifford, C., & Keith, J. F. (2023). Service, scholarship, and sacrifice: A qualitative analysis of food security barriers and strategies among military-connected students. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 123(3), 454-465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2022.07.002
• Velez, A.K., Hall, R., & Lewis, S.N. (2022). Designing transdisciplinarity: Exploring institutional drivers and barriers to collaborative transdisciplinary teaching. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 28(2), 138-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2021.1992196
• Velez, A.K., Lewis, S.N., Thomas R., & Ozkan D. (2022). Learning transdisciplinary collaboration: Undergraduate student perceptions of successes and areas for improvement in transdisciplinary, problem-focused honors seminar courses. Journal of Advanced Academics, 33(2), 187-216. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X211061121
• Lewis, S.N., Velez, A.K., Ozkan D., Thomas R., & Carlson K. (2021). From program to college: The vision and curriculum evolution of the Virginia Tech Honors College. Honors in Practice, 17, 29-44. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchchip/343/
• Velez, A.K., Ngaruiya, K., & Ozkan D. (2021). At the annex of service and higher education: A multidisciplinary assessment of the role of service learning. Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, 11(4), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.18666/JNEL-2020-9649
• Budowle, R., Krszjzaniek, E., & Taylor, C. (2021). Students as change agents for community–university sustainability transition partnerships. Sustainability, 13, 6036. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116036
• Lewis, S.N., Brown A., & MacDonald A. (2020). Open pedagogical practices to train undergraduates in the research process: A case study in course design and co-teaching strategies. In A. Clifton and K. D. Hoffman (Eds.), Open Pedagogy Approaches: Faculty, Library, and Student Collaborations. Geneseo Authors. https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/openpedagogyapproaches/chapter/open-pedagogical-practices-to-train-undergraduates-in-the-research-process-a-case-study-in-course-design-and-co-teaching-strategies/