UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.— Penn State Learning named Marielle Manes and Austin Bentzinger as the recipients of the Outstanding Guided Study Group Leader Award for the spring 2024 semester. Each student received a certificate of recognition and a $500 stipend for their exceptional work in fostering a collaborative and supportive learning environment. 

The award recognizes Guided Study Groups (GSG) leaders’ commitment to creating and sustaining a welcoming and academically supportive learning community for their assigned course. Working closely with course instructors and routinely attending class sessions, GSG leaders’ efforts include hosting drop-in study sessions in which they review course materials, help students hone their problem-solving skills and stimulate a challenging and collaborative learning environment. Both of this semester’s recipients exemplify the award criteria, and their dedication is noted in the following comments from their nominators. 

Mariell Manes, a food science major in the College of Agriculture Sciences, is the Guided Study Group leader for CHEM 112B. She received multiple nominations and was noted for her willingness to meet regularly with course faculty to help hone her well-prepared presentations to provide the best academic support. Manes excels at creating a welcoming and inclusive learning environment by getting to know her students and encouraging them to work together to foster collaborative learning, according to her nominators. Students in the course have provided universally positive feedback to the instructors letting them know how helpful her sessions are and how her exam reviews were a major factor in improved scores on exams.  

In her acceptance letter, Manes described the incredible experiences she has gained as a GSG leader and how it enabled her to add a minor in chemistry to go along with her food science major. She said she feels that the deeper understanding of the course gained through being the GSG leader has enabled her to help so many students, and maybe even spark a passion for chemistry. She said she is confident that the leadership, communication and teaching skills that she has learned being a GSG Leader will serve her well as a laboratory operations intern with the Hershey Company. 

Austin Bentzinger, a physics and mathematics major in the Eberly College of Science, earned the award as the GSG leader for PHYS 211 and has received nominations for multiple semesters. All nominators noted Bentzinger's’ cheerful and helpful presence in both the lectures and his GSG sessions. His strong knowledge of physics enabled him to create GSG sessions that challenged students while also helping them to better understand how to break down and solve complex problems. He was well known in his sessions for always trying to remember students’ names, and not always successfully. But this never deterred him, and he even attempted this during his exam reviews, which often attracted more than 100 students.  

Numerous students were quick to note on the Student Educational Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ) surveys how helpful his sessions were, with some describing him as inspirational. Bentzinger said he came to the GSG leader role following his Penn State start at the Lehigh Valley campus knowing that it would help his communication and people skills. It also allowed him to quickly immerse himself into the collaborative learning environment that GSG provides, making connections with students that continue well past their success in PHYS 211. His experience as a GSG leader led to his acceptance into Penn State’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program where he will continue to excel towards his graduation with degrees in both physics and mathematics. 

Penn State Learning extends its congratulations to these outstanding GSG leaders. 

Additional information about the award, which is funded by philanthropy, and ways to give to Penn State Learning is available at pennstatelearning.psu.edu. In addition to providing no-charge Guided Study Groups supporting a wide range of courses, Penn State Learning also provides tutoring in mathematics, world languages, public speaking and writing. 

Penn State Learning is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education.