Dynamic Spaces: Radford Classrooms are Learning Places of Inspiration and Exploration

Traditional classroom settings have long served as the primary place of academic instruction on college campuses. But today, Radford University faculty are enhancing the classroom experience through hands-on learning, re-imagined spaces, innovative technology and flexible delivery.

Anatomy labs allow for hands-on learning and virtual exploration

In an article published last year in the Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Sciences, three Radford University biology professors demonstrated how the university uniquely prepares its undergraduate students by giving them opportunities to work with “real human tissue” in the classroom setting. Using human whole-body donors, or cadavers, they wrote, “is the gold standard in anatomy education.”

According to faculty members Laura Gruss, Matthew Close and Sara O’Brien, “Dissection is a standard pedagogical tool in gross anatomy courses in medical schools, physical therapy schools and other health science graduate and professional training programs.”

“This is a great example of how our faculty are providing distinctive learning opportunities for our students, providing them with a true advantage in their career aspirations,” Gruss said.

Victoria Leeks ’21 is one student whose lab experience with cadavers in the Center for the Sciences on the university’s Radford campus has paid off. “The resources offered at Radford University not only created an unforgettable experience but shaped the knowledge and skills I use at work,” said Leeks, a forensic autopsy technician for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the northern district of Virginia.

Those courses and experiences, Leeks explained, gave her a distinct advantage toward landing her current position.

“I am forever grateful for my experience, as I do not think that I would be where I am without the resources at Radford University and the guidance of Dr. Gruss and the other instructors at Radford University.”

At Radford University Carilion in Roanoke, the Virginia Intercollegiate Anatomy Lab (VIAL), located two floors from the top level of the Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital, gives students in Radford’s physician assistant and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs a similar hands-on learning experience that will prepare them for their chosen healthcare professions.

Mark McAllister, an assistant professor who teaches courses in the physician assistant program, delivers much of his instruction in the VIAL.

In the fall semester, students examine lower and upper limbs and, later, the back. In the spring, they delve into the “big cavities,” McAllister explained, “the chest, thorax, abdomen and pelvis.”

SMART Lab makes students feel ... ‘smarter!’

“Come in; use it. It’s yours,” School of Communication Professor John Brummette, M.S. ’03, says as he introduces the SMART Lab to Radford students who are looking to put some real force and energy into their research projects.

SMART is an acronym for Social Media Analytics and Research Technology. The lab is an innovative learning space designed to give Radford undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty researchers, the resources and training needed to conduct social sciencerelated research.

A few weeks into each semester, many Radford students receive research assignments and soon flock to the lab for answers. Brummette, the lab director, or a graduate assistant meet with students to give them an overview of what can be accomplished there.

“One thing I love about the lab is students come with meaningful research,” Brummette explained. “They’re not just going through a process to pass an assignment.”

Kirsten Cecil has a rather unique perspective of the lab, having conducted research as an undergraduate student – she earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 2023 – and now as one of the graduate assistants helping Brummette operate the research space.

“I have seen the lab make a difference in others’ research,” Cecil said. “It is very rewarding to see the moment a student’s eyes light up when they realize how the technology we offer can elevate their research.”

Working toward a master’s degree in strategic communication, Cecil used the lab’s powerful monitoring and analytics tools to examine social media posts in relation to forecasting the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

“The SMART Lab has truly made an impact in my time at Radford,” she said. “I feel like the puzzle pieces of what exactly I wanted to do with my life fell into place once I saw what the SMART Lab could offer.”

Faculty flexibility accommodates student’s changing circumstances

Will O’Neal ’24 graduated from high school, joined the West Virginia National Guard and worked in construction, but the moment he truly found his place, and himself, was when he walked into a chemistry lab at Radford University.

O’Neal came to Radford to pursue a nursing career. One of his first classes was a nursing chemistry course taught by Christopher Bibeau. “It was my favorite class,” he said. “I absolutely loved it.” So much so that he changed his major to chemistry.

“The professors in the chemistry department helped me find my place,” O’Neil said, even if that place was not physically on campus.

Before his final semester in the fall of 2024, O’Neal’s wife was accepted into veterinarian school in North Carolina, so the couple and their then 4-year-old daughter, Emma, moved from the New River Valley to Raleigh. O’Neal was apprehensive, at first, about how the transition would affect his own academic journey at Radford.

He quickly learned, however, that the kindness and generosity of Radford’s chemistry faculty extended far beyond what he had imagined. They allowed him to take a couple of classes remotely and often scheduled course and lab time around O’Neal’s busy family life.

“All of the chemistry faculty were exceptionally supportive,” said O’Neal, who is now weighing medical school and a potential position as an environmental chemist. “A lot of my professors really bent over backward to help me. They were willing to help us so we could stay together as a family.

“If it hadn’t been for my professors supporting me,” he continued, “my journey would have been significantly more difficult.”