UWRF faculty selected for Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program

Program members collaborate on effective approaches to student learning

July 1, 2025 - Two University of Wisconsin-River Falls faculty have been selected as 2025-26 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars (WTFS), a recognition of their teaching excellence and their desire to focus on new, innovative approaches to educate students.

Katherine Bangert, an assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders, and Bob Zhiwei Zeng, an assistant professor of agricultural engineering technology, were chosen for the honor by the Universities of Wisconsin. They are among 21 participants chosen from the UWs’ 11 comprehensive universities.

Bangert and Zeng applied for the program last fall and were selected by a committee of their peers on the UWRF campus. The one-year program began in late May and will culminate with a research presentation at the annual Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning in April 2026.   

Bangert will explore how grading and feedback can better support student learning, with a focus on how team-based learning and grading affects motivation, creativity and outcomes, especially in graduate health professions education.

“I’m particularly excited about the program’s focus on collaborative learning, engaging with pedagogical literature, and cross-disciplinary collaboration,” Bangert said.

Zeng will research ways to improve retention of underrepresented engineering students through data-driven solutions. This will involve examining the academic, social and financial challenges these students face and developing recommendations to better support underrepresented students, foster student success and create a more inclusive engineering community.

“What excites me most about this opportunity is the chance to combine my passion for equity-minded teaching with meaningful action,” Zeng said. “I’m eager to contribute to a more inclusive engineering education environment and to learn from other faculty engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning across disciplines.” 

“The Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars program remains the most impactful professional development opportunity currently available to instructors at UW-River Falls,” said Cyndi Kernahan, professor of psychological sciences and director of the UWRF Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. “By engaging with colleagues from diverse disciplines, career stages, and institutions across the Universities of Wisconsin, participants gain valuable insights into student learning and develop innovative, evidence-based teaching practices that enhance student success.”

Photos: Katherine Bangert (top), Bob Zhiwei Zeng (bottom)