{"id":310,"date":"2011-09-30T11:51:24","date_gmt":"2011-09-30T16:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shermanfinch.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=310"},"modified":"2026-08-09T23:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T04:22:45","slug":"teaching","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/shermanfinch.com\/wordpress\/teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Creativity and critical thinking are core values that are central to my teaching practice. Technology is constantly evolving and students need to adapt to current trends in order to adjust to the changing artistic, cultural, and social climates. While my creative research revolves around merging contemporary art with interactive design, I’ve also been teaching for more than 20 years in the areas of UX\/UI, web, graphics, motion, and <\/g>XR experience Design. Teaching everything from basic to advanced skills and techniques, while drawing upon historical and theoretical examples, provides students with a strong foundation for developing their own ideas. As an educator, the main challenge for me is to teach technical mastery while encouraging and nurturing a creative and critical mind. Empowering students to not only produce, but apply their original ideas in real-world settings. This page help showcase this dedication and highlights the breadth of my academic career, by reflecting both teaching and the recognition my students have received through outstanding projects and Awards. It serves as a testament to the impact of hands-on learning and real-world application in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courses taught   2004 – 2024<\/h4>\n(Dev) refers to course I have developed
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ARTS3324 Corporate Brand Identity<\/span>
ARTS104 Intro To Graphic Design<\/span>
ARTS303 Graphic Design I<\/span>
ARTS304 Graphic Design II<\/span>
ARTS403 Graphic Design III<\/span>
(Dev)VIST305 Vertical Studio II – UX\/UI<\/span>
ARTS4333 Interactive Design<\/span>\n
VIST374 Multimedia Design and Dev<\/span>
(Dev)VIST405 Vertical Studio III – UX\/UI<\/span>
(Dev) VIST 235 Professional Practice<\/span>
ARTS4343 Advanced Interactive<\/span>\n
<\/td>		 \nARTS212 Life Drawing<\/span>\n
VIST485 Directed Studies<\/span>
VIST494 Internship Away<\/span>
(Dev)VIZA625 Graduate Multimedia Web Design<\/span>
ARTS3375 Web Development<\/span>\n
(Dev)ARTS3353 Motion Design<\/span>\n
VIZA684 Professional Internship<\/span>
VIZA691 Graduate Research <\/span>
VIZA693 Graduate Professional Study<\/span>
VIST484 Summer Internship<\/span>
(Dev) ARTS3364 Sound Development<\/span>\n
<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
General Student Portfolio<\/a>
UX Focused Portfolio<\/a><\/td>		Teaching Philosophy<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

Research & Thesis
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\u201cCreative XR Lab focused in Life Science, Health &   Humanities\u201d<\/br>– Co-Founder, Principle Investigator <\/em> – Sherman Finch – (2020 – 2024)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>Created in 2020 this lab has had over 15 students developing Immersive XR Experiences using Unreal and Oculus 2. Research was presented IDMAa 2024 Conference as well as AECT International Conference in 2023. The Lab has recieved over 400k in Grants. Students include Jacobi Green, Cris Rocha, Cassandra Tudwell, Sarah Mace, Sam Devora, Kaylee Dodds.\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cGame Based Learning and Teaching Children  Mindfulness\u201d<\/br>– MS Thesis Chair<\/em> – Lexi Mitchel – (2019 Fall)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>This excellent Thesis help to land this student a lead position as a UX Researcher & Design Thinking Expert at Hewlett-Packard.\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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“Use of Non-Speech Audio to Enhance Online Learning”<\/a><\/br> – co-author – Edu Psych PhD Co-Chair – <\/em>Yun  Li – (2019 Spring) <\/em><\/strong><\/p>This project included 2 undergraduate teams as part of a Vertical Studio involving development in Audio Web API. The research was presented AREA Conference April 2019 and published with Journal for Allied Instructional Design.\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Awards, Student Awards, & Publications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

2025 Bloomberg Philathropies – Public Art Challenge<\/strong>
As part Midtown Managment HueMan : Shelter for Houston Texas

2024 National Student Show Conference 19th<\/strong>
Parker Marley wins a National Award for best Use of Technology for a project as part of the Motion Design Studio illustrating Design of an Augmented Reality Artist Gallery App.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024 AIGA Flux <\/strong>– <\/strong>UI\/UX Finalist, AIGA Flux 2024 <\/strong>– <\/strong>Identity Finalist, Quan Chung<\/em> wins two National Awards for a project as part of the Motion Design Studio illustrating Language Learning App.

2023<\/strong> National Student Show Conference 18<\/strong>th
Eliot Castanon wins a National Award Motion Design for a project as part of the Motion Design Studio featuring an independent record label<\/em> and Best overall portfolio during his Senior Capstone,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023<\/strong> Creative Quarterly 73 <\/strong>– <\/strong>Quan Chung<\/em> , Graphic Design, wins a National Award for a project as part of the Motion Design Studio illustrating Language Learning App.

2023 Creative XR LAB <\/strong> <\/strong>– <\/strong>Interdisciplinary Collab<\/em> Grant (17k) for Forensic XR project, ORSP, SHSU, TX<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022<\/strong> Creative XR LAB <\/strong>& Nemours Children’s Health – Sickle Cell XR Research <\/strong>project<\/strong> along with Nemour’s Children’s Health team receives funding 300k from the Donaghue Foundation. Virtual Reality Sickle Cell patient’s experience focuses on 3 more treatments including Voxelotor and Crizanlizumab.
2022 Creative XR LAB <\/strong> <\/strong>– <\/strong>Interdisciplinary Collab<\/em> Grant (16k) for Sickle Cell XR project, ORSP, SHSU, TX<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021<\/strong> Using Sound to Enhance Interactions in an Online Learning Environment<\/em><\/strong> I co-authored a chapter in the book with Yun Li, a PhD in online Education Technologies Titled \u201cLearning Technologies and User Interaction\u201d <\/em>which is coming out on Routledge. Edited by Kay K. Seo<\/strong> and Scott Gibbons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021<\/strong> VR \/ UX Research Sickle cell anemia <\/strong>with Nemours Children’s Health.
Continued Preliminary research with a dedicated Team and 2nd prototype design for a Virtual Reality Sickle Cell experience help patients focused on Hydroxyurea treatment for ages 12-21. These efforts have helped the project move to clinical trials and as a result, received further funding from Nemours.
2021 Academic Community Engagement <\/strong>– Center for Community Engagement (CCE), SHSU, TX
Class is considered for ACE award for community engagement with Local and National Companies.

2020    Vertical Studio, UX \/ UI Research Sickle cell anemia project<\/strong> with Jefferson University Hospital.
Students worked on preliminary research for 1st prototype design for a Virtual Reality Sickle Cell experience focused on Hydroxyurea treatment for patients 12-21. These efforts helped contribute to the project later receiving a grant for further investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019    Vertical Studio, UX \/ UI Research project with the Texas Central Bullet Train featured online. <\/strong>
Students\u2019 studio project was selected to be included in an online article by Launch DFW, a forward-thinking media company with a focus on tech innovation, Industry, and connectivity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017    Transformative Teaching Award<\/strong>, Sherman Finch, Texas A&M University, TX
Recognizing Transformational Learning Award, a student-nominated honor with $1,500 stipend for each of only six recipients. Click link here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017    Vertical Studio, Texas Bullet Train Short Film Competition<\/strong>
<\/b>Three student teams were finalists<\/a> out of 50 submissions and two teams won awards in the area of Live Action and Creativity, amounting to $14000.00 in awards. The work was judged on adherence to the topic and technical use of video design and creativity. See videos here<\/a>

2017     Senior Interactive Design Project, featured in campus news<\/strong>
<\/b>As part of a collaborative project with Lee Taekyeom and Appalachian State University, student\u2019s work in Vertical Studio featured on the College of Architecture\u2019s news feed. See Images of installation her<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016    Eman Al-Zubeidi & Amy Self, Diversity Award, College of Architecture<\/strong>, Texas A&M University
<\/b>The Diversity Council for the College of Architecture awarded a film that was developed in my first graphic focused Vertical Studio course. The contest recognizes excellence in diversity across campus. This project was also a finalist for a mural in the 2018 SXSW outstanding thought, leadership, research, and innovations exhibition. See animated short here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2013     Gerard McGarity, Philadelphia Magazine<\/i> featured videos, Philadelphia University
<\/strong>Kinetic Type Diversity project which features Harvey Bernard Milk, an American politician who became the first openly gay person elected to public office. This class project was selected to be featured in an online magazine<\/a> which has received over 77,410 views.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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