Early Teaching Awards

'Immense energy and passion': Innovative U of T faculty recognized with Early Career Teaching Awards

geoff.vendeville — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 13:19:32 +0000

'Immense energy and passion': Innovative U of T faculty recognized with Early Career Teaching Awards

geoff.vendeville Thu, 10/11/2018 - 09:19

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Three of the four U of T faculty members who won Early Teaching Awards hold their plaques at a ceremony this week for all recipients of internal and external teaching awards (all photos by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Computer Science

Early Teaching Awards

Faculty of Arts & Science

Humanities

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

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Ceremony at Massey College celebrates university and external teaching award winners

No textbook is a substitute for an attentive and enthusiastic teacher.

Each year, the University of Toronto recognizes faculty members in the early stages of their careers who go above the call of duty to help their students learn. The four winners this year – Jayne Baker, Sohee Kang, Jamie Kellar and David Liu – have all found inventive ways to encourage their students to engage with classwork.

Along with the recipients of other teaching awards, both internal and external, the four winners were celebrated at a ceremony at Massey College on Wednesday afternoon. Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr commended the award-winning faculty for their “immense energy and passion.”

U of T’s performance in university rankings, as one of the top public institutions of higher learning in the world, isn’t just due to its research output, but to the high calibre of its teaching, she said.

Each of the Early Career Award winners described how they get students interested in the course material.

Kang, a statistician in the department of computer and mathematical sciences at U of T Scarborough, says she tries to get to know her students each year, both during class and through surveys. She has developed apps to foster participation. One app asks students to answer multiple-choice questions online, giving them instant feedback and an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

She also holds “online office hours” using another app, which she designed with an eCampusOntario grant, that allows students to ask questions anonymously. Research by Kang and her colleagues shows that online office hours have increased engagement by female students and international students.

Kellar, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, teaches a variety of courses, predominantly in mental health and addiction. Also a pharmacist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, she introduces her students to real patients in the classroom so that her class learns to overcome stigma and biases.

“Students can read a whole bunch of things about diseases and medications in a book, but what they can’t get is what it feels like to live with the diseases,” she says. The invited patients tell students about their illnesses and the pros and cons of their experience receiving care. In recent years, the guests were around the same age as Kellar’s students. “When they see these individuals, there’s an immediate connection,” she says.

Outside of class, Kellar organizes mental health movie nights, followed by discussions on how diseases are portrayed by Hollywood. They have screened Christiane F., which is set in 1970s Berlin and touches on drug addiction, and Silver Linings Playbook, which stars Bradley Cooper in the role of someone with bipolar disorder.

“I'm really excited about what I teach every day,” Kellar says.

So is Liu, an assistant professor, teaching stream in the department of computer science. After a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Liu was drawn to computer science because of its practical applications. “What I like to tell my students is: Computer science is really the study of how you go from being just the user of technology to creators of technology,” he says.

He teaches a range of courses, from a first-year introduction to programming to upper-year theoretical classes. No matter the course, he shows his enthusiasm by being animated during lectures and by preparing detailed speaking notes that anticipate his students’ questions.

He has also written more than 100 pages of course notes for his classes, which he makes available to students through the U of T Bookstore.

“I always try to convey why we’re learning certain things, why I personally find it interesting and why I hope they do, too,” he says.

Baker, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in U of T Mississauga’s department of sociology, couldn’t attend the ceremony, but she has said that she wants her students to be as enthusiastic about sociology as she is.

“I never want them to think that they’re just a number,” she said.

Her research interests include how to maximize student learning and engagement, particularly in sociology. She uses her findings to tweak her own courses and contribute to curriculum development on a wider scale. She involved students in a review of her own second-year sociology of education course, looking for ways to include more gender and sexual diversity.

She’s now working with her colleague Nathan Innocente on a sociology textbook, which she describes as the first of its kind with a “digital-first” focus on interactive exercises and video.

This was the fourth year that U of T has recognized outstanding early-career teachers with the award, each worth $3,000. The award is meant for faculty members who are within the first five years of their academic appointment and have completed two years of teaching at U of T.

U of T News asks: What’s one thing you hope your students take away from your course?

Jamie Kellar: “That folks who have mental health disorders are people as well and deserve the same kind of care and treatment that any other patient with a chronic disease deserves.”

Sohee Kang: “I want students to really enjoy statistics. It’s not a boring subject – it’s fantastic. It allows you to connect your theory to the real world.”

David Liu: “It doesn’t have anything to do with a particular topic, but rather a cognitive skill about how to learn – how to learn independently without me being there. I like to tell students in all my classes that...at some point you’re going to go off into the real world, [where] you’re supposed to be learning stuff without having someone to hold your hand.”

Jayne Baker: “I hope [my students] walk away with the ability to use a sociological perspective in their day-to-day lives. I love when my current and former students contact me with their observations about an article they read or show they watched, or a conversation they had with a family member; invariably, they’re excited about the sociological dimension of those observations. And I find that to be incredibly rewarding.”

Early Career Teaching Award spotlight: Q&A with kinesiology and phys-ed expert and dog trainer Ashley Stirling

geoff.vendeville — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:24:52 +0000

Early Career Teaching Award spotlight: Q&A with kinesiology and phys-ed expert and dog trainer Ashley Stirling

geoff.vendeville Fri, 03/10/2017 - 09:24

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Assistant Professor Ashley Stirling of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education teaches theory to enrich students' professional placements. Off the clock, she teaches dogs to high jump, dance and do other tricks (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Geoffrey Vendeville

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Ashley Stirling wants all of her students to fulfill their potential – whether they walk on two legs or four.

The assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, who recently won an Early Career Teaching Award, mixes practice and theory so that students get the most out of professional placements. In these placements, undergrads in the faculty get 100 hours of experience alongside a mentor at organizations including Toronto FC, the central YMCA and Upper Canada College.

When she isn’t educating human students, she's teaching her pet dogs to reach new heights – sometimes literally. She and her three dogs, Teague, Cole and Nova, perform with the President’s Choice SuperDogs, a theatrical show in which dogs dance, high jump and do a variety of other tricks.

“In some ways student development can be thought of as quite similar,” she told U of T News. “It’s about learning the unique strengths and interests of the students and supporting them in developing those traits further.”

This is the second instalment in a series casting a spotlight on the 2017 Early Career Teaching Award winners. The awards, valued at $3,000 each, go to faculty who are effective teachers and demonstrate a commitment to student learning, engagement and innovation. The others winners are:

Sanja Hinić-Frlog, assistant professor, teaching stream, in biology at University of Toronto Mississauga
Dawn Kilkenny, assistant professor, teaching stream in the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
David Roberts, assistant professor, teaching stream, Innis College urban studies program, Faculty of Arts & Science

What do you enjoy most about teaching?

Students are inspiring. I’m continually learning from the graduate and undergraduate students with whom I have an opportunity to work. It’s exciting to see students’ potential and development over the tenure of a course or program of study.

How would you describe your teaching style?

The location of the University of Toronto in the heart of Canada’s largest city provides a breadth of opportunities for hands-on practice and engagement with the community. Recognizing this distinct opportunity, as much as possible, I like to embed opportunities for work-integrated learning and community engagement within the courses that I teach, whether it's placements, structured experiential learning opportunities or directed research projects.

I also describe myself as a student-centred teacher, meaning that I approach teaching as a collaborative process.

You drew up guidelines for universities and colleges offering internships. Why was this necessary, in your opinion?

The topic of work-integrated learning, including internships and co-ops, is on everyone’s radar. There seems to be increasing pressure on Ontario colleges and universities to offer more of these types of experiences for students, but it’s paramount that we keep educational quality as the top priority.

There’s a risk of simply labelling various activities as experiential learning or work-integrated learning, for the sake of labelling, and not actually achieving the intended student learning and development.

I’ve read that you train dogs in your spare time for the President’s Choice SuperDogs show. What does that entail?

The SuperDogs is a national performance team that I’ve been a member of for almost eight years. I’m a huge dog lover and initially got into the sport of agility with my first dog as an application of my research in sport psychology and athlete development. I now have three dogs, and they all have unique talents. I’ve travelled all over North America with my dogs and some great friends, performing for large audiences and promoting the use of positive reinforcement in canine training.

Ashley Stirling performs in a national family dog show with her three pet dogs, Teague (a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever), Cole (Dalmatian) and Nova (Working Cocker Spaniel).

Are there any parallels between canine and student development?

Well, while there are some clear differences in canine and student development, I guess there are some parallels that can be drawn. At the heart of it, what I enjoy most about dog training is recognizing the unique strengths and potential of a dog, and then turning it into something amazing. My puppy Nova is very light and agile. She has springs for legs and is quite bouncy so I’ve trained her to jump rope. In comparison, Cole naturally likes to stand on his hind legs so I taught him to dance. And my first dog Teague is super fast, runs low to the ground, and excels in speed races and long throw disc.

In some ways, student development can be thought of as quite similar. It’s about learning the unique strengths and interests of the students, and supporting them in developing those traits further. You can’t force either a dog or a student to learn something they don’t want to learn about, so in both settings I’m challenged to find strategies that make the learning engaging and relevant.

What do you hope students take away from your classes?

I hope to provide students with a learning experience that sticks with them – one that can be drawn upon long after graduation from U of T.

Where does your passion for teaching and student learning come from?

As a former U of T student myself, I was fortunate to have learned from some great teachers in our faculty. I also had a great mentor and coach who helped me recognize my own strengths as a student and has provided me with the education and support I needed to get to where I am today. She inspired me to want to be a great teacher and a positive role model for future generations of students.

Early Career Teaching Awards spotlight: Q&A with U of T's David Roberts

geoff.vendeville — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 16:27:23 +0000

Early Career Teaching Awards spotlight: Q&A with U of T's David Roberts

geoff.vendeville Mon, 03/06/2017 - 11:27

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David Roberts, an assistant professor of urban studies (teaching stream), is one of the winners of the Early Career Teaching Award (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Geoffrey Vendeville

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Early Teaching Awards

David Roberts didn’t plan on a career in academics until he was in graduate school.

His first job out of university was as a social worker in a youth homeless shelter where he worked as a front-line youth counsellor and then manager. But eventually he realized he was in “over his head” and needed to understand the systemic problems underlying urban poverty and youth homelessness.

He ended up completing both his master's and PhD at U of T, focusing his dissertation on urban planning surrounding mega events such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Now an assistant professor of urban studies, teaching stream in the Faculty of Arts & Science, he hopes his students learn to think critically and ask questions both in his classroom and after graduation.

He spoke to U of T News for the first in a series casting a spotlight on the winners of the 2017 Early Career Teaching Awards. The awards, valued at $3,000 each, go to faculty who are effective teachers and demonstrate a commitment to student learning, engagement and innovation. The others are:

Sanja Hinić-Frlog, assistant professor, teaching stream, in biology at University of Toronto Mississauga
Dawn Kilkenny, assistant professor, teaching stream in the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Ashley Stirling, assistant professor, teaching stream in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

What made you want to become a teacher?

After undergrad, I was a social worker at an emergency shelter for homeless youth. I came back to grad school for a couple of reasons. One, because I was in way over my head in the work I was doing and really needed a graduate degree. Two, because I didn't understand what was happening in the city to create this situation where we needed an emergency homeless shelter for kids.

As a grad student, teaching assistant and eventually an instructor, I found that I really enjoyed engaging with students around contemporary – mundane in some ways – but important questions that were impacting our lives in the city. I find it is immensly engaging and rewarding, and it pushes me to think about how we can work toward imagining a more just and inclusive city.

How would you describe your teaching method?

It's grounded in the stories that are in the news and our lived experience. In the classroom, even a large classroom, I try to be as enthusiastic and engaged as possible. It's always a bit difficult to get people to talk in a 200-person class, but in the end, if you have enough encouragement and you create a place that welcomes dialogue and debate, then you have pretty lively conversations.

What do you hope students take away from your classes?

I hope they build their own voice around what's happening in Toronto and the world, and I hope they develop critical-thinking skills so that they can keep pursuing the questions we pose in class. Classes are so short. I only have them for a matter of maybe 24 hours, and then they're off. I want to give them seeds that will potentially grow into much broader methods of thinking through the questions that we asked in class.

The greatest thing that we can teach is literacy – being able not just to read and comprehend but being more literate about what it is that we read, where it's coming from, and why certain statements are being put out.

David Roberts' student Josh Estrella, in architecture studies and urban studies, helps kids at Art City, a youth organization in St. Jamestown, build a buddy bench. Students in Roberts' course, “A Multidisciplinary Introduction to Urban Studies II,” partnered with community groups to work on projects (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

How has teaching changed since you were a student?

I think technology has really changed. I remember I was talking to a student the other day about how when I was in lecture halls, we had PowerPoint. But it was only in the classroom so I had to copy everything down and memorize it.

I think we've gotten a lot savvier in terms of our ability to not have students do that because we can make the material available outside class. We can have a more engaged classroom and augment the things that are on slides with links and media. It creates a richer environment that's truer to life.

How were you as a student?

As an undergraduate, I was mostly – I was an activist. I was engaged in a lot of university politics and other campaigns. I was a decent student, not amazing. I'm more of a lead-by-what-I-say, rather than by-example sort of guy.