Fulton Wins Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award
The Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is delighted to announce that Dr. Crystal Fulton is the 2018 recipient of the ASIS&T/Clarivate Analytics Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award. The award’s purpose is to recognize the unique teaching contribution of an individual as a teacher of information science.
The Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award is sponsored by Clarivate Analytics. It was established in 1980 and is administered by the Education and Professional Advancement Committee.
Dr. Fulton was selected as the winner from among a pool of outstanding candidates who were judged based on these criteria: evidence of sustained and unique contributions to teaching information science; impact on students, colleagues, and institutions; innovative and imaginative teaching materials and methods; professional association activities related to teaching excellence; research activities related to teaching excellence; and previous teaching awards.
In selecting Dr. Fulton, the award jury provided the following citation: “The jury unanimously recognizes Dr. Crystal Fulton, University College Dublin, as ASIS&T/Clarivate Analytics Outstanding Information Science Teacher of the Year. Dr. Fulton is an accomplished educator who has demonstrated an abiding commitment to quality information education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The nomination and supporting letters attest to her depth and breadth of knowledge in the field, her teaching skill, her scholarship and her enduring impact on students.
Through her classroom practice, academic scholarship and administrative leadership, she has advanced student-centered and constructivist teaching and learning practices within her school and across university communities. Her nomination provided numerous examples of a pedagogical approach that seeks to meet the current needs of students and simultaneously provide them with the opportunities and scaffolding to build their own critical thinking skills, problem-solving capacities and creativity.
Dr. Fulton’s nominator noted that her published scholarship provides ‘students with a wealth of material to support their learning at the same time offering concrete examples of the potential power of information science research to effect change in society.’ For example, she is co-investigator on a research project exploring how e-tutorials support undergraduates’ acquisition of digital research skills. Through her collaboration with scholars in Greece and Scotland she is also examining the digital literacy development of students, librarians and in the workplace. Her study of the impact of gambling on individuals and society in Ireland has impacted policy development at a governmental level.
Dr. Fulton’s students comment on the profound impact she has had on their lives. She provided intellectual stimulation, allowed them to make and learn from their mistakes, provoked them to examine information systems and research in unfamiliar, creative and engaging ways. She took them outside the walls of the university and out of their comfort zones. Her students put into practice what they learned from Dr. Fulton on a daily basis.
The jury is honored to recognize Dr. Fulton as the Outstanding Information Science Teacher of the Year.”
Upon learning of her selection as the 2018 Clarivate Analytics Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award winner, Dr. Fulton said, “I am honoured to receive the Clarivate Analytics Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award. Facilitating my students as they forge their educational pathways is a highly rewarding, mutual learning experience. This award means a lot to me, because it recognizes the innovative work we do in the classroom. I am grateful to my students, my nominator, and ASIS&T for their appreciation and support through this award.”
Dr. Fulton will accept the award at the 2018 meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) which will be held in Vancouver, Canada, November 10-14, 2018.