UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Frank Ritter, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) and director of the Applied Cognitive Science Lab, has received the 2022 Graduate Faculty Teaching Award.
The award, established in 1992 by The Graduate School, is presented to faculty members in recognition of outstanding teaching performance and advising of graduate students.
Ritter is one of the founding members of the College of IST, which began in 1999. He helped create the graduate program and has served on the Graduate Advisory and Graduate Recruiting Committee. He also has been an active representative to the Graduate Council and committees in The Graduate School.
Ritter is an expert on human-computer interaction (HCI) and cognitive science. His research explores how HCI and cognitive science interaction and also how system can be improved through understanding how users interact with systems. The research is relevant in consumer, medical and governmental applications. He recently created a course that explores and teaches the theory behind COVID-19 public health guidelines.
While educating his graduate students, nominators said, Ritter stresses the importance of conducting research worthy of publication and then following through by publishing the research. Both his graduate and undergraduate students have achieved publication through class projects.
Some class projects have produced real results. One, developed in 2019 by a visiting Fulbright Scholar and Penn State graduate student, resulted in the banking literacy app BancAprende for youth in Guatemala. Another app produced by students to help with depression was a finalist in the Nittany AI Challenge.
“These class projects that turn into publications show that Ritter is not only teaching the material, but his courses are also teaching how to function as a professional in science and engineering,” a nominator said. “They are a type of professional seminar that attracts students from across the University. Ritter’s students gain collaboration skills that will serve them well whether they end up in higher education or industry. He sets them up for success as productive scholars.”
Nominators said Ritter is “a pillar of our community of graduate education and a leader in its growth and development.” They said his passion for relevant research and producing student success is evident in both the research funding he secures and the lively and productive environment of his lab, which is populated by diverse graduate and undergraduate students.
One former student said she went from being a novice at the topic of human-computer interaction (HCI) to having a publication accepted at the 2021 AsianCHI symposium.
“That could not be done without Dr. Ritter’ help. To be honest, none of the authors, except Dr. Ritter, had research experience in the HCI field before the IST 521 course,” the former student said. “Dr. Ritter spent a lot of personal time helping our team to formulate our idea, organize the paper structure, provide valuable advice and even proof-read every line of the publication. When we got rejected in the first submission, he actively encouraged and inspired us to have another try. He helped us study the reviewers’ suggestions and discussed the revision work with us patiently. In this process, he also taught us how to cooperate with multiple authors and conduct valuable research work to make contributions to this community. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Ritter.”