James Wright, associate teaching professor in agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the recipient of the Distance Education Teaching Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. Wright teaches two of the largest courses in the department, with class size averaging between 100 and 200 students per semester. The success of his online, lecture-based courses is evidence of the effort he has put into course design and delivery to ensure students are successful in meeting course learning outcomes. Both courses are part of the core curriculum for instructional technology and agricultural systems technology, as well as the occupational safety certificate.
Wright joined the faculty at Iowa State after a career in manufacturing. His enthusiasm in sharing his expertise and his desire to help every student succeed in class and then carry their knowledge into the workplace has been a consistent feature of his teaching career.