Nikki (Stephanie N.) Lewis, PhD
- Faculty Preceptor, Hillcrest Honors Living-Learning Community
- Honors College representative, Office of Undergraduate Research Advisory Board
Dr. Nikki Lewis is a collegiate associate professor and the research methods instruction lead for the Honors College at Virginia Tech. She also serves as the faculty preceptor for the Hillcrest Honors Living-Learning Community. In her previous professional roles at the university, she worked with colleagues to develop innovative active learning courses and presented her work at numerous educational conferences. She continues this work in course and curriculum development through her current role in the college.
Her service to the university includes membership on the advisory board for the Office of Undergraduate Research and positions on conference and symposium planning committees where students can present their research work to the university. Her continual engagement in undergraduate research education and involvement with research-associated campus initiatives shows her dedication to and passion for the process of learning about the research process.
Her previous research involved molecular docking methods for computer aided drug discovery and design with a focus on identification of nutraceuticals effective against the inflammation associated with diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and type 2 diabetes. Her current primary research within the scholarship of teaching and learning concerns research and problem-solving skill development in undergraduate honors populations and best practices for transdisciplinary learning. You can find publications on this and her previous work, and well as learning artifacts from course-based project on Google Scholar.
- Bachelor of Science, Biology, Christopher Newport University
- Doctor of Philosophy, Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Virginia Tech
Courses Taught:
- UH-1604 – Introduction to Honors Quantitative and Qualitative Research
- UH-2604 – Intermediate Honors Quantitative and Qualitative Research
- UH-3604 – Designing Protocols for Honors Quantitative and Qualitative Research
- UH-3614 – Data Collection/Analysis for Honors Quantitative and Qualitative Research
- COMM-2754H – Communicating Data (CHDP Module)
- UH-4504 - America’s Medical DEBT (Data, Ethics, Bias, and Therapeutics)
- UH-4504 + UH-4514 – SuperStudio: Data and social justice
Annual workshops:
- “Research practices and undergraduate research experiences” - Summer orientation for undergraduate interns at Virginia Tech, hosted by Office of Undergraduate Research
- “Mentoring Undergraduates in Research” Workshop, hosted by Office of Undergraduate Research
- “Mentoring Up”, Carver Scholars Seminar, February 9, 2024
- “Mentoring Best Practices in Research”, Biochemistry Department Seminar, March 11, 2024
Conference presentations:
- Stephanie N. Lewis & Anne-Lise Velez. Ethical Global Citizens: A review of ethical reasoning assessment in higher education. AERA Annual Meeting 2023, Chicago, IL. April 13-16, 2023. Poster Presentation & Conference Paper.
- Stephanie N. Lewis & Tamar Ballard. That’s research?: Student Perceptions of Course-Based Research Skill Development. 15th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, Blacksburg, VA. February 16-17, 2023. Platform Presentation.
Research Projects:
- Problem solving and research learning outcomes in honors courses (IRB #19-714): Assess student perceptions of the level of learning gains in research and problem-solving capabilities after participating in research-based courses.
- College-level assessments of learning.
Research Interests:
- Research and problem-solving skill development in undergraduate honors populations and best practices for transdisciplinary learning
Selected Publications:
- 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 European Honors Council, 6(2), 4, 1-8. https://jehc.eu/index.php/jehc/issue/view/15
- Lewis, S. N., & Brown, A. (2023) Abstracts as Puzzles: A Teaching Tool for Research Summarization. In Rowland, S., & Kuchel, L. Teaching Science Students to Communicate: A Practical Guide (pp. 159-164). Springer.
- Velez, A.-L., Lewis, S. N., Thomas, R. Ozkan, D. (2022). Learning Transdisciplinary Collaboration: 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%2F1932202X211061121
- Velez, A. K., Hall, R. P., Lewis, S. N. (2021) “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
- Lewis, S. N., Velez, A.-L. K., Ozkan, D. S., Thomas, R. C., Carlson, K. A. (2021) From Program to College: The Vision and Curriculum Evolution of the Virginia Tech Honors College. In Long, A. (Ed.), Honors In Practice: A Publication of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 17, 29-44.
- Lewis S. N., Brown A. M., MacDonald A. (2020) “Open Pedagogical Practices to Train Undergraduates in the Research Process: A Case Study in Course Design and Co-Teaching Strategies.” Open Pedagogy Approaches: Faculty, Library, and Student Collaborations. Editors: Kimberly Davies Hoffman and Alexis Clifton. Geneseo Authors: Geneseo, NY. (eBook).