CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Faculty and staff members and graduate teaching assistants at the U. of I. will be honored for excellence in teaching, mentoring and advising at an April 12 reception at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
The Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching recognizes sustained excellence in and innovative approaches to undergraduate teaching and contributions beyond classroom instruction that have an overall positive impact on undergraduate student learning. Honorees are represented in three employee categories: faculty, specialized faculty and teaching assistants. Faculty and specialized faculty will receive a $5,000 award. Teaching assistants will receive a $3,500 award.
Faculty members honored with the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching:
Timothy Bretl, aerospace engineering, was cited for improving the delivery of the junior- and senior-level courses in dynamics and controls. “He has a very engaging teaching style, coming up with new demos and emphasizing project-based learning. Tim does not lecture for the entire class period; he leads the students in a discussion of the day’s material and asks the students for their input.” He was selected recently as a Rose Education Innovation Fellow.
Brendan Harley, chemical and biomolecular engineering, developed an innovative course on tissue engineering that introduces undergraduates to cutting-edge research in the biosciences. He supplements traditional lectures by selecting current journal articles that show students how to apply the knowledge from the lectures. He is committed to the active recruitment and retention of underrepresented students, specifically women, in STEM disciplines.
Robert Rushing, Italian and comparative and world literature, is a compelling lecturer who builds enthusiasm among students and peers. He’s also a master of theory who believes teaching is a matter of communication, calling upon students to convey to their peers what they have learned. He provides “a means of coming to terms with the world our undergraduates live in and giving them a chance to assume their role as citizens of that world.”
Renee Trilling, English, has had many occasions to teach a large required lecture class – one of the few within the major – rather effectively. “Her paramount qualities as an instructor – communicative clarity, superb organizational skills, and welcoming, enthusiastic demeanor – perfectly suit the needs of this course, which is at the core of the English major and minor curricula.” A specialist in Old English literature and culture, she is considered one of the department's finest instructors.
Craig Zilles, computer science, has taught a required class for undergraduates, computer architecture, for many of his 15 years here. “Craig has created an environment that feels exciting and intimate, despite the fact that course enrollment is regularly between 350-400 students.” In addition to updating the curriculum to bring new research developments to the classroom, he also teaches one of his own discussion sections to see firsthand how students are handling the course material.
Specialized faculty members honored:
Students of Iryce Baron, English, do oral reports on topics that interest them as a means of helping them relate to literary texts in more interactive ways. “Iryce's masterful instruction is a shot in the arm for the humanities at a time when we desperately need it, with the capacity to help change public perception of the role humanistic inquiry plays in our development as people and as citizens.” Some of her innovations in course development have produced enduringly popular offerings.
Susan Farner, kinesiology and community health, uses innovative group activities to create an atmosphere that lends itself to open discussion and critical thinking. “She identifies critical knowledge gaps in the curriculum, areas that are essential for students, and fills these holes. As such, she has singlehandedly developed an internship, an environmental course and a rural health course.” A world traveler, she provides an international perspective for undergraduate students.
David Zola, educational psychology, has been rated an excellent instructor by his introduction to educational psychology students for 30 consecutive semesters, an amazing accomplishment considering the size of his course. “Even with large enrollments, he keeps students engaged by his enthusiasm and his highly interactive teaching style.” He also plays a key role in preparing doctoral students to be future teachers and scholars.
Teaching assistants honored:
Bryan Abendschein, communication. “Not only does he have a wealth of classroom experience, but he shares his instructional skills outside the classroom as well.” He has mentored undergraduate and graduate students, mentored new teaching assistants as a peer leader, volunteered as a speech coach for engineering undergraduates enrolled in a senior design project lab, and served as the vice president of the department’s graduate student association.
Brynn Adamson, kinesiology and community health, helped allay the mathematics and physics apprehensions of students taking the biomechanics of human movement course, for which she served as a teaching assistant for six consecutive semesters. “Each semester, she worked one-on-one with several students each week to ensure that they understood course material.” She also worked with faculty members to purchase new equipment and update course lab activities.
Valerie O’Brien, English, has taught a wide variety of courses at both introductory and advanced undergraduate levels. “One of Valerie's most important contributions in teaching undergraduates is the impartation of transdisciplinary approaches. Valerie helps guide her students down this road by harnessing what, to undergraduates, may seem like disparate disciplinary foci and pulls them together via the lens of close reading in a variety of literary genres.”
Michael Perino, psychology, teaches an introductory class and child psychology labs. “His classes have a humorous quality, but he is very serious about teaching psychology. He keeps abreast of current developments in the field and considers their relevance to his teaching. Michael sees his role as going beyond covering learning objectives and preparing students for exams. He also focuses on engaging students intellectually by introducing them to big-picture issues and controversies in the field.”
Nima Rasekh, mathematics, has employed multiple instructional styles in teaching all of the calculus sequence courses. “Many students struggle with the formal language of mathematics – especially when first trying to learn new concepts – and many instructors struggle to express ideas informally. Nima does an excellent job showing his students the intuition behind mathematics using language and descriptions they can understand.”
Gregory Girolami, chemistry, and Rizwan Uddin, nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching. Recipients of this award are honored for sustained excellence and innovation in graduate or professional teaching and their contributions to graduate or professional learning beyond classroom instruction. Each will receive a $5,000 cash award.
Girolami has made a huge difference in the lives of many graduate students since 1983. Shortly after his arrival, he proposed a new graduate-level course in inorganic chemistry that introduced topics not previously included in the curriculum, such as group theory and electronic correlation methods. The new course soon became a requirement for all inorganic graduate students, and Girolami returned to teach it last fall after his second stint as department head.
Uddin “has sustained a high level of teaching excellence across a broad range of courses at all levels.” He has earned national and international awards for nuclear engineering education, and also has developed international educational partnerships. He was among the first faculty members to implement a “flipped” classroom model, making video lectures available to be watched in advance, with class time reserved for Q/A, discussions, problem solving and interactive learning.
Liora Bresler, Education, and S. Lance Cooper, physics, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring. This award recognizes faculty for their sustained excellence in graduate student mentoring, innovative approaches to graduate advising, and their impact on graduate student scholarship and professional development. The award is co-sponsored by the Graduate College. Each will receive a $2,000 cash award; a $10,000 fellowship from the Graduate College; and $1,000 to their academic unit to support graduate student travel.
“One of the most spectacular attributes about Dr. Bresler is that she remains both a scholarly teacher and a learner simultaneously. She is serious about imparting information and wisdom concerning sometimes complicated and theoretical aspects of qualitative research. She also participates in the class conversations in ways that demonstrate that she is intellectually engaged as a learner. Her love of learning is genuine and infectious.”
Cooper “exemplifies the best that Illinois has to offer to ensure our graduate students’ success, through his individual mentoring, through his thoughtful development of supportive programs and activities, through the personal interest he shows to each of our students, to the superb faculty role model that he represents.” As the associate head for graduate programs, he has initiated innovative practices and programs to substantially enhance the mentoring of physics graduate students.
Scott White, aerospace engineering, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Research, which rewards faculty for their excellence in involving and guiding undergraduate students in scholarly research, having a positive impact on student scholarship or intellectual development, and for their innovative approaches to guiding undergraduate research. He will receive a $2,000 cash award.
White has led the Autonomic Materials Systems group for more than 20 years, involving faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students from multiple departments. He developed a very successful program to engage undergraduate students in many of the key research activities taking place in AMS; the active participation of undergraduates has been a key component of the many successes of the research project.
Kate McDowell, Information Sciences, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Online and Distance Teaching. This award honors excellence and innovation in online and/or distance teaching; contributions to student learning through innovative uses of technology; creativity in course development and instruction; and for having had a positive influence on the quality, extent, and development of a department’s online/distance program. She will receive a $5,000 cash award.
McDowell has continually adapted her online instruction. She piloted a hybrid/dual-mode, with online students joining via a web collaboration tool and on-campus students participating from a campus classroom with the virtual classroom projected on a screen. This meets the desire of on-campus students to have a classroom-based experience while providing opportunities to create connections between on-campus and online students.
Laura Gerhold, aerospace engineering, and Pamela Greer, Liberal Arts and Sciences, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising. Recipients of this award are recognized for their excellence in and innovative approaches to undergraduate advising, and for having had a major impact on undergraduate students and their intellectual development through sustained academic advising relationships. Each will receive a $2,000 award.
Gerhold has made major strides in improving undergraduate advising. She meets with each of the more than 100 freshman aerospace engineering students during summer registration and during their first year on campus. She gives each student plenty of one-on-one meeting time to explain the various academic options in the program, particularly those related to internships, co-ops and study abroad, and she encourages them to get involved with student groups to make them well-rounded graduates.
Greer supports students in their academic explorations, both within their majors and in other areas. “Whether in her office, on the Quad, in the grocery store or city restaurants, Pam is always urging students to reflect on their learning experiences, holding students accountable for the impact of their choices while maintaining their rapport, respect, values and aspirations.” She also designed, coordinated and implemented the fall kickoff program, Freshmen Plenaries, as well as the Achievement Series.