Sharon Lauricella
PhD
Professor
Communication and Digital Media StudiesFaculty of Social Science and Humanities
Dr. Sharon Lauricella is an award-winning instructor and is an expert on issues pertaining to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in higher education. Dr. Lauricella’s objective is to improve student engagement, explore creative assessments, and help students and faculty have more fun in higher education.
Languages
English
Areas of expertise
- Alternative grading
- Cultural identity
- Digital identities
- Gender studies
- Higher education
- Italian online identity
- Non-disposable assignments
- pedagogy
- Peer assessment
- Pop culture
- Renewable assignments
- Scholarship of teaching and learning
- Self assessment
- Student assessment
- Student mental health
- Technology and higher education
- Ungrading
- PhD University of Cambridge, England
- B.A. Wheaton College, Massachusetts
- Certificate in Higher Education Teaching Harvard University (Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning)
Lauricella, S. (2023, 2 June). Pasta, cannolis, espresso, and drama: Reckoning with Italian identity on Instagram and TikTok. Canadian Communication Association, at Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, York University, Toronto.
Lauricella, S. & Bennetch, R. (2023, May 27). An upgrade to ungrading: Alternative grading in higher education. OTESSA, at Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, York University, Toronto.
Lauricella, S. (2023, May 10). Hank Williams is not on your class roster: Making reading a social experience with Perusall. EdTech Tools Mini-Conference. Ontario Tech University Faculty of Education. Online.
Lauricella, S. (2023, December 9). When reading becomes social: A case study on Perusall. McMaster Innovations in Education Conference, MacPherson Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.
Lauricella, S. & Small, E. (2022, November 19). This is not a TikTok trend: Undergraduate student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. AWARD: Top Paper, Undergraduate College and University Section. National Communication Association annual convention, New Orleans, LA.
Lauricella, S. & Edmunds, T. (2022, May 26). Introducing fun, play, positivity, and playfulness into online learning: The ludic framework. Redefining Learning and Education in a Digital Age, Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University.
Lauricella, S. & Kay, R. (2022, May 25). Shifting reading to a social constructed activity: A case study on Perusall. Redefining Learning and Education in a Digital Age, Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University.
Kay, R. & Lauricella, S. (2022, May 25). Examining the benefits and challenges of using Discord in online higher education. Redefining Learning and Education in a Digital Age, Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University.
Craig, C., Jovanovic, P., Kay, R., & Lauricella, S. (2022, May 25). Exploring teaching strategies for virtual reality in higher ed. Redefining Learning and Education in a Digital Age, Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University.
Lauricella, S. (2022, 24 May). “You’re toxic, I’m slipping under”: Student connections via mental health on Twitter. Redefining Learning and Education in a Digital Age, Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University.
Kay, R. & Lauricella, S. (2022, 24 May). Exploring the use of audio feedback in online learning: A case study. Redefining Learning and Education in a Digital Age, Faculty of Education, Ontario Tech University.
Lauricella, S. (2022, May 24). Feminism is not a joke. But it can be funny. Feminist Pasts and Futures. York University Centre for Feminist Research.
Lauricella, S. (2022, May 20). “Mental health is so important! Good luck! 🍀 Don’t be sad! 🥲”: Student life via TikTok before, during, and… still during COVID-19. Canadian Communication Association (Federation for the Humanities and Social Science Congress).
Lauricella, S. (2022, May 17). “Students feel more dignified”: Alternative grading and self-assessment in Online Courses. OTESSA (Federation for the Humanities and Social Science Congress).
Lauricella, S. (2022, May 11). Keynote address: Ungrading 101: Five (feasible) ways to buck the grading grind. Duke University Pandemic Pedagogy Research Symposium.
Lauricella, S. & Edmunds, T. K. (2022, February 3). An introduction to Ludic Pedagogy: engagement, creativity, and fun in higher education. 4th Annual ISSOTL Conference: Lausanne, Switzerland.
Lauricella, S. (2021, 9 December). “This is a tough time for you, but we aren't gonna help at all”: Student TikTok videos 😳 during the COVID-19 🤧pandemic. Innovations in Education Conference, MacPherson Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Lauricella, S. (2021, October 22). Mote for personalized voice notes: Connection, feedback, and accessibility via edtech. OpenEd Conference. https://opened21.sched.com/event/moO9
Lauricella, S. (2021, August 24). “Notes and Motes: New edtech for student feedback.” SMASH Lab Teaching Workshop, Memorial University, Newfoundland.
Lauricella, S. & Edmunds. T. (2021, August 20). Are we having fun yet? How using edtech for fun facilitates increased student retention, learning, and engagement. Teaching and learning with technology: What’s next? Ontario Tech University Faculty of Education Conference.
Lauricella, S. (2021, August 17). Alternative assessments: No-stakes, low-stakes, and “ungrading” in higher education. Teaching and learning with technology: What’s next? Ontario Tech University Faculty of Education Conference.
Lauricella, S. & Edmunds, T. K. (2021, 15 July). Mountain Moot: EdTech and online engagement. Helena, MT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4Afs8OEtc&ab_channel=CarrollCite
Navara, G. S., Scharfe, E. & Lauricella, S. (2021, June 21). Constructing the mental health crisis: Narrative sources and media consumption by PSE Senior Administrators. [Snapshot]. 82nd Canadian Psychological Association Annual National Convention, Virtual event.
Scharfe, E., Navara, G. & Lauricella, S. (2021, June 22). Associations between views of relationships and perceptions of the student experience in the media [Poster]. 82nd Canadian Psychological Association Annual National Convention, Virtual event.
Lauricella, S. (2021, 1 June). Stan a professional: Teaching highkey professionalism for Communication students. International Communication Association. Online.
Lauricella, S. (2021, May). “It’s actually kind of fun”: Implementing Ludic Pedagogy and Perusall. Perusall Exchange. Harvard University.
Lauricella, S. (2021, May). Creating a culture of feedback with new edtech: Mote for personalized voice notes. We Connect and (Re)Collect: A symposium on remote practice-based learning. Ontario Tech University and OCADU.
Lauricella, S. (2021, May). Going gradeless: A pandemic-influenced, perpetual practice. Duke University Pandemic Pedagogy Research Symposium.
Lauricella, S. (2021, March). Joining the #OnlineTeaching community: How SoTL thrives online. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in COVID times and beyond. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Lauricella, S. & Edmunds, T. K. (2021, April). Implementing a ludic pedagogy: Making courses more fun than they sound. CICAN: College and Institutes Canada.
Lauricella, S. (2020, October). Multiple pathways for microcredentials. E-Campus Ontario TESS Conference.
Lauricella, S. (2019, November). The hero and the villain: A feminist autoethnography of online gender performance. National Women’s Studies Association Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Lauricella, S. & Scott, H. M. (2018, November). Playing dangerous games with identity: Xenophobia in the media. National Communication Association Convention, Salt Lake City, UT.
Lauricella, S. & Scott, H. M. (2018, November). Playing with performance: Examining gender performativity, feminism, and weddings in Grey’s Anatomy. National Communication Association Convention, Salt Lake City, UT.
Lauricella, S. (2018, November). Playing with prayer: Reality television and the interplay of asking and receiving via Answered Prayers. National Communication Association Convention, Salt Lake City, UT.
Lauricella, S., Scott. H. M. & Pegoraro, A. (2018, November). “After years of counseling, I stopped stabbing men”: The use of feminist humour on Twitter to dismantle rape culture. National Communication Association Convention, Salt Lake City, UT.
Books
Lauricella, S. & Edmunds, T. (2023). Ludic Pedagogy: A Seriously Fun Way to Teach and Learn. Rowman & Littlefield.
Refereed Articles and Chapters
Lauricella, S., Pegoraro, A., & Scott, H. (2023, in press). “After years of counseling, I stopped stabbing men”: The use of feminist humor on Twitter to dismantle rape culture. Feral Feminisms.
Lauricella, S. (2023, in press). “Students Feel More Dignified”: Alternative Grading and Self-Assessment in Online Courses. Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA) Journal.
Lauricella, S. & Small, E. (2023). “We’re here for you during this pandemic, just not financially or emotionally”: What TikTok reveals about student life 🤠 during the COVID-19 😷 pandemic. In V. Kannen & A. Langille (Eds.), We Live Online: Virtual Identities and Digital Culture. Routledge.
Lauricella, S. (2023). University is not for the weak: Student communication of mental health on Twitter. Journal of Digital Life and Learning, 2(2), 27-51.
Lauricella, S. & Edmunds, T. (2022). Ludic Pedagogy: Taking a serious look at fun in the COVID-19 classroom and beyond. Educational Considerations, 48(1). https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2324&context=edconsiderations
Lauricella, S., & Kay, R. H. (2022). Fair and formative feedback in online learning. In, R. H. Kay, & W. J. Hunter (Eds.), Thriving online: A guide for busy educators (pp. 236-247). Ontario Tech University. https://doi.org/10.51357/DLSC5521
Lauricella, S. (2022). Equitable assessment in online environments. In, R. H. Kay, & W. J. Hunter (Eds.), Thriving online: A guide for busy educators (pp. 248-256). Ontario Tech University. https://doi.org/10.51357/CEFD2689
Lauricella, S. (2022). Alternative grading in online learning. In, R. H. Kay, & W. J. Hunter (Eds.), Thriving online: A guide for busy educators (pp. 257-265). Ontario Tech University. https://doi.org/10.51357/VBAS3039
Lauricella, S., Banks, L., & Craig, C. D. (2022). Interactive online lectures. In, R. H. Kay, & W. J. Hunter (Eds.), Thriving online: A guide for busy educators (pp. 193-204). Ontario Tech University. https://doi.org/10.51357/PCPH7148
Lauricella, S., & Edmunds, T. K. (2022). Ludic pedagogy online: Fun, play, playfulness, and positivity. In, R. H. Kay, & W. J. Hunter (Eds.), Thriving online: A guide for busy educators (pp. 205-216). Ontario Tech University. https://doi.org/10.51357/HGJK8068
Lauricella, S. (2022). The not-interview: Social media’s role in student suitability for work. In L. Forbes & D. Thomas (Eds.), Professors at Play Playbook (pp. 145-147). ETC Press.
Lauricella, S. (2021, March 15). Using media to teach media: How the scholarship of teaching and learning slayed the online scene. Flow TV. https://www.flowjournal.org/2021/03/using-media-to-teach-media/
Lauricella, S. & McArthur, F. (2021). Taking a student-centred approach to alternative digital credentials: Multiple pathways toward the acquisition of microcredentials. In D. Piedra (Ed.), Handbook of research on innovations in the use of alternative digital credentials. IGI Global.
Lauricella, S. (2021). Ancient text, modern context: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the twenty-first century veg(etari)an. In C. Haganu-Bresch and K. Kondrlik (Eds.), Rhetorics of Vegetarianism. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. 119- 139. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53280-2_5
Lauricella, S. (2020). Dirty John [Television series]. Cunningham, A. & Goffard, C. (Writers). Women’s Studies in Communication, 43(3), 320-322, doi: 10.1080/07491409.2020.1803653
Lauricella, S. (2020). Pandemic prime time for the Cuomo brothers. Case study: Ethics, objectivity, and relationships in journalism. Media Ethics Initiative, University of Texas at Austin Centre for Media Engagement. https://mediaengagement.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/80-Brothers-in-News-Case-Study.pdf
Lauricella, S. (2020). A feminist autoethography of academic performance on Twitter: Community, creativity, and comedy. In S. Cote-Meek, T. Moeke-Pickering, & A. Pegoraro (Eds.), Critical Reflections and Politics on Advancing Women in the Academy. IGI Global.
Lauricella, S. (2019). The practice of nonviolence: Teaching an undergraduate course in nonviolent communication. Journal of Communication Pedagogy, 2, 103-110. doi: 10.31446/JCP.2019.19
Lauricella, S. (2019). Prime time for prayer: An analysis of prayers offered and answered in the reality series Answered Prayers. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 31 (3), 208-222. doi: 10.3138/jrpc.2017-0050
Lauricella, S. (2019). Darkness as the frenemy: Social media, student shaming, and building academic culture. Communication Education, 68(3), 396-393. doi: 10.1080/03634523.2019.1609055
Lauricella, S. (2018). Bam! Pow! Vanish? A feminist autoethnography of gender performance and covert influences on Twitter. Women & Language, 41(2), 62-78.
Lauricella, S. (2018). Does the photo fit the news? The ethics of powerful images in the immigration debate. Media Ethics 30(1). Retrieved from htttps://mediaethics intiativeorg.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/mem-2-immigration-photo-case-study.pdf
Lauricella, S. & Pankhurst, K. (2018). The safe tweet: Social media use by Ontario Fire Services. International Journal of Emergency Services. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJES-09-2017-0048
Lauricella, S. (2018). Praying for reality: The invisible hand in Downey and Burnett’s Answered Prayers. In M. Einstein, K. Madden & D. Winston (Eds.), Religion and Reality TV: Faith in Late Capitalism (165-185). Routledge.
Crichlow, W. & Lauricella, S. (2018). An analysis of anti-Black crime reporting in Toronto: Evidence from news frames and Critical Race Theory. Monish Bhatia, Waqas Tufail, & S. Poynting (Eds.), Media, Crime, and Racism (301-316). Palgrave MacMillan.
Lauricella, S. (2018). “You don’t know” you’re a misogynist: Sexism in One Direction’s lyrics. Misogyny in American Culture: Causes, Trends, Solutions. L. Guglielmo, Ed. ABC-CLIO publishers, 441-442.
Lauricella, S. (2018). No crying, no falling in love: Digital identity of female chemists on Twitter. C. Sorensen-Unruh, L. B. Jones, T. Gupta (Eds.), Communicating Chemistry through Social Media (103–119). ACS Publications, Routledge. doi: 10.1021/bk-2018-1274.ch006
Lauricella, S. & Scott, H. M. (2018). Anatomy of a wedding: Examining religiosity, feminism, and weddings in Grey’s Anatomy. Journal for Religion, Film, and Media, 4(2). doi: 10.25364/05.4:2018.2.3
Nominee, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Teaching Award, 2020
Top Paper Award
National Communication Association January 1, 2022Undergraduate College and University Section
Outstanding Published Paper Award
National Communication Association January 1, 2020article published in Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
Nominee, Student Choice Award
Ontario Tech January 1, 2021Recipient, Tim McTiernan Student Mentorship Award, Ontario Tech, 2020
Recipient, Ontario Tech Teaching Excellence Award, 2007, 2013
Recipient, Teaching Excellence Award, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, 2009, 2019
Nominee, Tim McTiernan Student Mentorship Award, 2018, 2019
Nominee, Ontario Tech Student Choice Award, 2018, 2019
Nominee, 3M National Teaching Fellowship, 2020
National Women's Studies Association
National Communication Association
Canadian Communication Association
Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA)
Communication Ethics: Making Media for the Social Good
Public Speaking and Multimedia Presentation for Web 3.0
Special Topics in Comunication and Digital Media Studis
The Struggle is Real: Transformation for Communication, Conflict, and Peace
Science Communication: Media for Creative, Fun, and Effective STEM Communication
Special Topics: Listening
Communication and Conflict