Both Penn State and West Chester University have a new general education class on their schedule because of Drew. Drew created a natural disasters movie class for West Chester University and made how weather altered history for Penn State.
Between West Chester University, Penn State, and Drexel University, Drew has taught over 60 courses, which include:
Drew’s innovation in the classroom earned him Penn State’s Teaching Excellence award, and his research has earned over $15,000 in grant awards.
Meteorologist Drew Anderson has two research focuses: sustainability and science communication.
Drew travels around the world for his research in sustainability. He records on-location videos to show how some countries excel with sustainability and how others fall behind. While these videos give students a global perspective, they also help students connect to the rest of the world.
In addition to media-focused learning, students learn through experience in his classes. He'll have students go on a sustainability scavenger hunt on campus. When they arrive at a location, augmented reality media unlocks on their smartphone. The short video, website, or interactive image that pops up explains how there is something sustainable right in front of them.
Online, Drew has students step away from their computer to do hands-on experiments with household items. When students experience a scientific concept firsthand, with their hands, it makes the concept more clear and it makes the concept stick with them.
Drew likes to share his latest research with the academic community at seminars and conferences. Some of his talks have focused on how to excel at online teaching, science communicaiton, and sustainability communication.