Five professors honoured for teaching excellence

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Day_Richard.jpg” caption=”Richard Day, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, is a LIFT Award recipient. File photo.”]Five McMaster professors have received a boost of recognition for excellence in teaching from the Ontario government's Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Richard Day, Deborah Cook, Marshall Beier, Miroslav Lovric and Mandeep Malik are recipients of the Leadership in Faculty Teaching (LIFT) Award. This is the first year the awards have been given.

“McMaster has been at the forefront of teaching excellence since it established the Centre for Leadership in Learning more than 25 years ago,” says Ilene Busch-Vishniac, provost and vice-president, academic, at McMaster University. “We are delighted to see that the Province feels strongly enough about high-quality teaching to single out professors for such an award.”

Teaching is a vocation that requires continuous reflection, adds Busch-Vishniac, an observation echoed by Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough- Aldershot.

“Teaching excellence is important throughout the entire education continuum, but once students reach the post-secondary level the need for more dynamic means of communicating lessons is crucial,” says McMeekin. “The LIFT Awards honour those who push past the norm, but they also raise the standard of teaching.”

Last January, Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, announced the establishment of the LIFT Awards to recognize and encourage teaching excellence at colleges and universities in Ontario. LIFT Awards are presented to faculty who influence, motivate and inspire students as well as demonstrate leadership in teaching methods.

Although these professors come from various academic backgrounds ranging from medicine to business, each shares a love for teaching and innovative practices.

Deborah Cook: Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics

“I am thrilled to hear McMaster has done so well,” says Cook. “”I'm humbled to receive this award. I always find teaching energizing, challenging and inspiring. For me, it is about reciprocity in the exchange of ideas.”

Cook is praised by her colleagues for engaging learners and enabling them to succeed on their own, providing careful direction and focus, while at the same time promoting participation and fostering independence. Cook is an influential leader of the evidence-based medicine movement, and a leading scholar and innovator in the methodology and practice of systematic reviews of the medical literature.

Richard Day: Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour

“This is an admirable step by the government because excellence in teaching has not been recognized to the same degree as accomplishments in research,” says Day.

After 32 years of teaching at McMaster, Day is legendary on campus for teaching more students than any other McMaster professor. Based upon his success with students, Day was invited to become the first academic director of McMaster's Centre for Leadership in Learning.

He was the driving force behind establishing the Learning Technologies Resource Centre, was part of the team involved in the creation of TA Day, an orientation program for TAs in early September, and was instrumental in the creation of the President's Award for Teaching.

Miroslav Lovric: Mathematics and Statistics

“It feels really good to be a recipient of this award,” says Lovric. “I am very happy that research in mathematics education is being recognized.”

Lovric has consistently high student ratings, even when teaching calculus to first-year students, some of whom are taking this course reluctantly. The transition for students from high school to university math courses leaves many good students feeling frustrated and turned off math, says Lovric. Much of his research concerns finding solutions to why students are not doing well in university math classes.

Mandeep Malik: Strategic Market Leadership and Health Services Management

“The real pay off in teaching is making a difference in your students' careers and lives,” says Malik. “The recognition from awards like this is a great motivator and a tangible reinforcement of one's teaching approach. It is important that students experience hands-on learning that immerses them in the field they are pursing, and I am achieving this through a multitude of industry partnerships.”

Malik is known at the DeGroote School of Business for his commitment to extra educational opportunities for students. He has spearheaded the School's MARS Apprentice competition, Canada's Next Top Ad Exec, Synergy Business Camp and a variety of other programs that give students real-world experience.

Marshall Beier: Political Science

“I am grateful to the students and colleagues who nominated people for this award,” says Beier. “It is gratifying when your teaching efforts are recognized.”

This award will help fund Beier's ongoing research project, the Innovation in Arms Control Project for which he recruits senior undergraduates to research and write academic papers. These papers are then peer-reviewed and published.

Beier finds that he learns the most from interacting with students and the questions they pose.

“Students bring things to class that make me pause to think,” he says. “Much of my research material comes to me in the lecture theatre.”