UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Learning has announced the recipients of the Outstanding Guided Study Group Leader Award for the spring 2025 academic semester. The recipients are Colin Byrne and Neela Pifer. Each received a certificate of recognition and a stipend of $500.
The annual award recognizes study group leaders’ commitment to creating and sustaining a welcoming and academically supportive learning community for their assigned course. Working closely with course instructors and routinely attending class sessions, study group leaders’ efforts include hosting drop-in study sessions in which they review course materials, help students hone their problem-solving skills and stimulate a challenging and collaborative learning environment. Both of this semester’s recipients exemplify the award criteria, and their dedication is supported by comments from their nominators.
Sean Inoue, teaching professor of Economics and instructor for ECON 102, nominated Byrne for his willingness to continually go above and beyond while supporting his course for the last four semesters. Byrne, a senior studying economics and minoring in mathematics, prepares his own materials and provides students with multiple resources as part of his supplemental instruction. Inoue described Byrne as a super-friendly GSG Leader who is responsive to student’s concerns and needs. Inoue also noted that Byrne has been a solid fixture that he could rely on by being responsible for his knowledge of the course material and exceptional at breaking concepts down to make them clear to students.
Inoue shared how Byrne uses many specific examples to guide students through problem solving while highlighting the best ways to prepare for the exams. Every semester, multiple students cited Colin as being a positive influence on their experience in ECON 102. They shared how Byrne puts things into simpler terms and makes it easier to understand while also going into depth, and his sessions and exam reviews really helped many master the course material. Inoue said it is crystal-clear from student feedback that Colin does an incredible job.
Byrne said he was truly honored to receive this award. He said that being a GSG leader has been one of the most meaningful parts of his time at Penn State. It gave him the chance to grow as a leader by supporting and mentoring so many in ECON 102 that it will be invaluable to his transition to the workforce. Byrne shared that he will be starting his career at Nasdaq, an opportunity that he believes was made possible through his GSG experience.
Neela Pifer, GSG leader for PHYS 250, received a glowing nomination from her first-semester instructor, Christopher Wheatley, teaching professor of physics. Wheatley stated how Pifer distinguished herself through her commitment to Introductory Physics 1 by striving for student academic excellence through genuine care for student learning and success. Wheatley added that Pifer was an exemplary leader both in and out of the classroom and students looked to her as a guide through difficult material and as a role model in problem-solving strategies.
Pifer also established and maintained positive relationships with all members of the PHYS 250 community, including the faculty member in charge of demonstrations who commented on how impressed he was with the way Pifer communicated with students during group work. Wheatley noted her passion for student learning early on when Pifer came to talk to incoming undergraduate physics majors before she was the GSG Leader for his course. Pifer was always prepared with questions about how to better explain certain concepts and how to address specific difficulties with students learning. During her sessions, Pifer excelled at communicating how to practice solving physics problems and getting the students to work collaboratively to help each other learn before slowly going through solutions herself. Wheatley summarized the nomination for Pifer by stating that her academic integrity, leadership, mentorship and collaborative spirit have made a profound impact on the physics community here at Penn State.
Pifer said she was genuinely honored to receive this award and was very thankful to the donor who established it. She said that Guided Study Group has truly been her favorite thing she has done at Penn State. She recalled how when she began that she couldn’t picture herself standing in front of a room of students as she considered herself quite shy; but pushing herself out of her comfort zone enabled her to grow to love making students feel comfortable and led to her guiding them through problems, helping them understand and feel less intimidated by the course material. She said her love for teaching has grown to the point that she now wants to become a physics professor, and she is confident that her GSG Leader experience will help in grad school and beyond.
Additional information about the award is available at pennstatelearning.psu.edu. In addition to providing no-charge Guided Study Groups supporting a wide range of courses, Penn State Learning also provides tutoring in mathematics, world languages, public speaking and writing.