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Most
educational researchers agree that teaching excellence reflects
a combination of factors that affect student learning.
A recent national report sponsored by the Pew Charitable
Trusts* focused attention on “aspects of college quality that
really matter to student learning.” Students were surveyed regarding the
“extent of their engagement in five areas of effective
practice,” and one of these areas was student interaction with
their professors. “In
general, the more contact students have with their teachers the
better....Through such interactions teachers become role models,
mentors, and guides for continuous lifelong learning,”
according to the Pew report.
The report asked students about their interactions with
faculty members in the following areas:
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Discussing grades or assignments |
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Talking about career plans |
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Discussing
ideas from readings or classes outside of class |
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Getting
prompt feedback on academic performance |
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Working
on a research project |
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Working
on activities other than coursework |
All
of the University of Pittsburgh Teaching Award recipients
exhibit a strong commitment to students—as learners and as
individuals. Their
interest in students is evident in every component of their
teaching and research, and they share an awareness of the
importance of the student’s whole learning experience, not
just their own course objectives.
Donald Egolf, Communication,
creates thought provoking questions to challenge students.
His efforts to make content interesting and meaningful
lead him to introduce new topics and ways of learning such as
“website construction as pedagogy.”
Bruce Goldstein, Psychology,
said his perspective underwent a transformation from faculty to
student as he sat in on a colleague’s course.
He looks at students’ whole experience at the
University, not just what happens in the classroom, and looks
for ways to assess students’ affective, as opposed to
cognitive, experiences.
James Johnston, School of Medicine,
places a high priority on introducing humor and humanity into
his teaching, and his office bustles with the constant traffic
of student visitors. His
interactions with students reflect his philosophy of the career
to which they aspire: “I
show by my own actions and words
the compassion we (doctors) should have and that should carry
over into all interactions at a hospital.”
 Gordon Mitchell,
Communication, espouses a dialogic pedagogy, by which
education becomes a conversation between students and teacher.
He finds ways for students to learn from interacting with
people in the community through public debates and outreach
projects.
Lu-in Wang, School of
Law, strives to help her students develop a sense of
confidence as she models ways to approach legal issues.
Much of the feedback she receives from students comes
during her frequent office hours when students stop in to
discuss changing concerns that develop various stages of their
education. She
welcomes these conversations as signs that students are
developing personally, as well as intellectually.
*
“The NSSE 2000 Report: National Benchmarks of Effective
Educational Practice,” the National Survey of Student
Engagement, the College Student Report, supported by a grant
from the Pew Charitable Trusts, cosponsored by The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and The Pew Forum on
Undergraduate Learning.
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