Written by Katie Fites
Florida State University has named Dr. Erin Bush a recipient of the 2024-2025 University Teaching Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching, recognizing her excellence in instructional innovation, mentorship, and her commitment to fostering deep learning.
This award celebrates faculty who challenge students’ thinking, serve as positive role models, and cultivate an authentic love of learning. For Bush, who teaches in the School of Communication Science and Disorders (SCSD), the recognition reflects years of intentional and reflective teaching evolution.
Over the past 15 years, Bush has refined a pedagogical approach rooted in active learning and engagement. She credits this transformation to a simple yet powerful belief: “Whoever is working the hardest is learning the most.”
“My classrooms aren’t quiet places. Students are encouraged to ask questions, share examples, and learn from each other. I lecture less and facilitate more,” Bush said.
Her graduate courses alternate weekly between dynamic class discussions and hands-on case studies. Through team-based learning and a “learn-before-lecture” approach, Bush ensures students come prepared and ready to dive deep. The discussions center on current research articles, with students randomly called upon to answer guiding questions, a technique that encourages preparation, active participation, and professional communication.
“I design questions that help them see the complexity of human problems and healthcare challenges,” she explained. “It’s important to me that students don’t just understand these issues intellectually, but emotionally too.”
Bush’s case study activities, conducted in ever-changing small groups, simulate real-world scenarios that require collaboration, empathy, and a person-centered care mindset. “I give a lot of real and hypothetical examples to emphasize connecting with patients on a human level,” Bush said. “By the end of the semester, I see them designing assessment and treatment plans that are functional and personally-relevant to the patient.”
A tool she has recently started incorporating is based on the book What Color Is Your Brain, which she initially uses as an icebreaker but continues using for self-reflection throughout the semester to help students shift their mindset from student to professional clinician.
“They begin to think about themselves as future practitioners, how their personality shapes their collaboration style and how they can work well with others who think differently,” she said.
A key part of her teaching philosophy is helping students develop professional confidence and hone their critical thinking skills while accessing the latest research to inform their practice. “I want them to see that they can read difficult articles and that nuanced problems don’t have easy solutions,” Bush said.
Congratulations to Dr. Erin Bush for this well-deserved recognition!