The Cromwell Center for Teaching and Learning Advisory Board is proud to award the 2026 Innovation in Teaching Award to Dr. Shaun Ramsey. Dr. Ramsey is a professor and chair of the mathematics and computer science department. He began his career at Washington College in 2004 after completing an undergraduate degree in computer science with a concentration in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware in 1999, followed by a PhD in computer science at the University of Utah.
Dr. Ramsey teaches courses in Computer Graphics, GUI and Mobile Development, Operating Systems, and Theory of Computation. His innovation award celebrates his success in what he calls “interdisciplinary learning through play.” In courses like Game Design and Computer Organization and Architecture, Dr. Ramsey uses creative experiential projects to shift abstract subjects into concrete “celebrations of creation and expression.” Dr. Ramsey observed that students find their way to computer science through a love of gaming but are faced with introductory courses that do not connect what they’re passionate about doing, which requires advance programming skills, to beginning course content. He also understood the need to offer introductory classes that would appeal to both aspiring computer scientists and the computer-curious non-major alike.
Dr. Ramsey’s innovative teaching approach addresses these gaps and lowers barriers to entry to computer science by centering creativity, play, and interdisciplinary collaboration at the heart of classroom practice. His model shifts abstract, and perhaps intimidating, introductory computer science content into hands-on and curiosity-driven exploration that blends technical problem solving with artistic and creative thinking. He achieves this by designing mixed-level game design courses that center group project-based problem solving and development activities and allow students to learn from each other as they acquire new knowledge and skills. By intentionally recruiting major- and non-major students, then pairing them together in course projects, he models the ways in which the field of game design benefits from a wide range of disciplinary approaches to the work. The CTL commends Dr. Ramsey for innovative pedagogy that creates the opportunity for students who may not otherwise imagine themselves as game designers to find a sense of belonging in that field.