Inspiring Learning Award 2021-22 Recipient
Chelom Leavitt, PhD
"BYU needs more professors who trust the undergraduates and give them chances to succeed and see their true place and worth in the academic world. I have never felt more confident in my abilities because of Chelom’s efforts. Beyond this, her passion for the content of her teaching has influenced thousands of students. She has positively changed the culture of the church in countless ways concerning healthy sexuality and marriage. I hope to one day learn her pedagogy and influence as she has. Thank you, Chelom for your words of encouragement and active desire to help your students progress and further educate Zion."
I work with undergrad and grad students in a lab to workshop both academic studies as well as public scholarship articles on relationships and sex. We work collaboratively, which allows for A LOT of open discussions about theory, daily practicalities, and socialized messages. We are friends and colleagues and even the newcomers to the lab can offer helpful perspectives. More experienced grad students work with new RAs and this helps both the experienced and unexperienced. We have a system of review which encourages peer review (undergrads), a more knowledgeable review (grad students), and then a review by me.
Students in my lab assist in academic research through coding, running simple models, and literature review. Secondly, they can help manage participants in our interventions. Lastly, they can write blogs that synthesize research and communicates findings in an easily digestible format for the general public.
My lab members talk about the friendship we all share and how friendship encourages them to persist even when projects get tedious or difficult. We celebrate each other’s successes in and out of the lab. It’s a safe, warm environment where we each are willing to be honest about the difficulties of academic pursuits.
It’s so rewarding to see someone gain confidence in their abilities. Once upon a time I was a student who didn’t know my potential and a number of professors helped me catch that vision. Doing the same for students now is just expressing my deep gratitude for my teachers.