The art of teaching
Professors from across the university were invited to breakfast with Provost David Graham and Vice-Provost Teaching and Learning Ollivier Dyens to mark the annual President’s Excellence in Teaching Awards.
The April 11 occasion honoured the winners and the finalists for the awards, each nominated by their Faculty’s dean.
“What all these faculty members have in common is how dedicated they are to ensuring that students are learning and progressing,” Dyens says. “Each and every one of them spends countless hours helping students and mentoring them, above and beyond what is normally expected of instructors. They make us proud to be at Concordia.”
Each of this year’s winners offered their perspective on their role in the classroom:
Lyes Kadem (Engineering and Computer Science), President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, New Faculty
I can summarize my thoughts on teaching in one line: a piece of chalk, a blackboard, and make it simple, like my teachers taught me. I like blackboards and videos, not PowerPoint. It’s hard to follow the process of deriving equations with PowerPoint. That’s where the chalk and blackboard come in. I had such a good prof of thermodynamics, he managed to make us like the subject. That’s the most important thing: The professor has this responsibility to make the information interesting. In a typical hour, we’ll speak of a concept, derive an equation. We’re constantly switching between theory and practice.
Jordan LeBel (John Molson School of Business), President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, Full-Time Faculty
I like to run a class the way I like to be taught: Put the smorgasbord out there and hope they find something they like. I’m old school — I give quizzes, I believe in some memorization. People joke that marketing is all about dressing in black and throwing parties but I try to create an environment that motivates the students to rise to the challenge, an atmosphere that isn’t intimidating, that’s energetic and fun, but where we all know there’s still real work to be done.
Martin Pugh (Engineering and Computer Science), President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, Full-Time Faculty
The most important thing is that the students learn and understand, not just go through the motions of trying to get a good grade. I don’t fuss about what I do in pedagogical terms — I’m a seat of the pants kind of guy. Just show up and get to work, with enthusiasm. If I can help students understand what makes carbon fibre work, they can use that knowledge not just in engineering, but to buy a better tennis racket. I teach the property and failures of materials, so I like to show the students real examples: When I bring in gas turbine blades for a jet engine, the value of what we do is really driven home.
Mary Maly (Arts and Science), President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, Part-Time Faculty
Students respond best when they know you’re really paying attention to them. I make myself available, and I care that they learn. The three things that really matter: I like teaching, I like learning about new things, and I like to impart them, to teach them the joy of learning. Science is an ongoing process. Things we think of today as facts can change by tomorrow. I want them to get the basics, but I also want to help my students develop their critical thinking, to know how to propose and investigate hypotheses. To be ready for new things.
Fred Szabo (Arts and Science), President’s Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching
I don’t use textbooks, I use my own work. Every lecture is like a feast. To me, mathematics has to be accessible, relevant and fun. I try to identify what the students want out of a course. I ask them what three things they want to learn. Sometimes they’re a little stunned by this. I teach mathematics for non-math students. I want them to do what interests them, become self-motivated. One woman in theatre did a project on the mathematics of music. Another once told me, “I always wanted to know how radio works.” There’s this bond I develop with the students, I listen to them and try to figure out their talents. I know their names and find out as much as I can about them.
Related links:
• Office of the Provost
• Centre for Teaching and Learning Services