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.
