Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching as a Teaching Assistant award from the Office of the Provost

About: This award recognizes sustained excellence in and innovative approaches to undergraduate teaching and contributions beyond classroom instruction that have an overall positive impact on undergraduate student learning. Honorees are represented from three employee categories: 5 Teaching Assistants, 5 Specialized Faculty, and 5 Faculty.

Celebration of Teaching Excellence - 2025 Program 

Rebekah was one of the two College of Applied Health Science awardees for 2025. Click the image below to see the announcement in the College of Applied Health Science's monthly newsletter. 

Teaching Experience

Instructor of Record at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

SHS 320: Development of Spoken Language 

• Description: This course will explore the complexities of spoken language development. We will explore what children’s language skills and speech patterns look like from infancy through adolescence. Taking a developmental psychology approach, we will examine the major achievements of children’s language development and the ages at which children typically achieve these milestones. We will discuss how a child’s environment shapes this developmental trajectory. In addition, you will be introduced to the tools that scientists use to discover how language works and their major research findings. We will also take time to consider how to apply each of these topics to children from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Finally, you will be encouraged to reflect on how all of this information relates to your own experiences, observations, and future careers. 

• Semesters taught

  • Summer 2024

  • Summer 2023

SHS 380: Communicative Competence and Disorders 

• Description: This course will explore the concept of ‘communicative competence’ and what it means to become a “good” or “successful” communicator. We will engage in critical thinking by applying theories of communicative competence to our own experiences and observations. I will introduce you to the concept of discourse across multiple contexts and highlight the fundamental skills that underlie discourse development in typically developing individuals. Finally, we will discover tools and methods of discourse analysis used in communication research and apply them to document communicative competence in populations with communication disorders. Throughout the semester, I will guide you to think about how to apply these topics to children and families with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and perspectives. 

• Semesters taught: 

  • Spring 2024