Three faculty members and one doctoral student were honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Michigan State University College of Education at an awards dinner at the Kellogg Center on May 2.
Janet Alleman, Ann Austin and Mary Juzwik received the faculty award, and Michael Sherry received the teaching assistant award for outstanding and innovative approaches to teaching demonstrated at MSU.
Organized by the Center for the Scholarship of Teaching, the Excellence in Teaching Award serves as a public reminder of the college’s commitment to high quality teaching, and as a venue for the circulation of innovative teaching practices and materials. Winners will present their teaching approaches and materials at an annual exhibition during the 2007-2008 academic year to fulfill the award’s purpose.
Janet Alleman, a professor of teacher education and K-12 educational administration, received the award for her ability to develop and foster students’ interest in their own learning. She is specifically interested in undergraduate and graduate social studies education, as well as teacher/administrator collaborative initiatives. Alleman is known for her enthusiasm toward teaching, and her unique teaching practice involves creating a classroom community with rules, routines and roles. She is a member of the ASSIST (Advocating Strong Standards-based Induction Support for Teachers) project writing team and the Research Committee for the National Council for Social Studies.
As a professor in higher, adult and lifelong education, Ann Austin influenced a group of second-year doctoral students who took one of her courses to nominate her for this award. The students lauded her as a researcher who fully implements her knowledge and skills in the classroom. Austin emphasizes learning through experience, and students described her as hard working and critical, while simultaneously supportive and affirming. She is co-P.I. of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL), and her work focuses on preparing graduate students for the professoriate and higher education issues in developing countries.
Mary Juzwik is an assistant professor of language and literacy in the Department of Teacher Education, and designs her assignments to gradually immerse doctoral students in a professional conversation about the ideas of scholarly practice in writing and rhetoric. Juzwik’s approach is also unique in that she encourages critical feedback of her teaching from students. Currently, she is researching literacy teaching at the middle school level.
Using theater to help teacher candidates prepare for the classroom, Michael Sherry successfully implements complex instruction models that prepare students by allowing them to rehearse classroom situations, job interviews and other teaching issues that they are likely to face. A doctoral student in the Department of Teacher Education, Sherry has also used technology to inspire critical thinking among his students; he has used editable web pages that allow his students to collectively create ideas about teacher learning.