Dean Ganskop Receives the Provost’s Innovative Teaching Award

The 2025–2026 Provost’s Innovative Teaching Award recognizes Dean Ganskop, Lecturer in the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, for an innovative teaching approach that connects real-world data collection with experiential learning in the classroom.

The Provost’s Innovative Teaching Award honors faculty who use technology and creative approaches to teaching in ways that significantly enhance student learning and engagement.

In his courses ISTE-438 Contemporary Databases and ISTE-610 Non-Relational Data Management, Dean developed a project funded by a Provost’s Learning Innovation Grant awarded 2024-2025 academic year. The project brought together students in his database course with members of the RIT Beekeeping Club. Working collaboratively, students explored the challenges of managing large volumes of sensor-generated data by analyzing real-time data collected from campus beehives.

Through this partnership, students were able to observe how sensors measure factors such as temperature, humidity, vibration, and hive activity, and then design data architectures capable of storing and analyzing that information effectively. The project helped students develop a deeper understanding of the volume, variety, and velocity of real-world data, concepts that are central to modern database systems.

The collaboration also created reciprocal learning opportunities. Beekeeping Club members gained insights from the hive monitoring systems and sensor data, while students in the database course worked with authentic, real-time datasets rather than simulated examples.

Student feedback reflected the impact of the experience. A majority reported that interacting with the Beekeeping Club and working with live sensor data improved their understanding of how data is structured, analyzed, and used in practice. One student noted that the experience helped “solidify the real-world context of the project,” highlighting the value of working with authentic data rather than hypothetical scenarios.

The project also demonstrates how partnerships between academic courses and student organizations can create meaningful experiential learning opportunities across campus. By connecting classroom learning with real-world contexts, Dean’s work exemplifies the type of innovative teaching the award seeks to recognize.

Dean will be honored at the Provost’s Celebration of Teaching and Scholarship on Wednesday, April 8, where outstanding faculty and staff recipients are recognized for their contributions to advancing teaching and learning at RIT.