Award recognizes grad students for exceptional teaching

What do you value most in a teacher? If your answer is “someone who hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be a student,” you may consider nominating them for the 2014 Elizabeth Baranger Teaching Award.

Two graduate students who have either served as teaching assistants or instructed their own class in each of the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities majors will receive the $250 award, though the number of students has varied in the past. The award, which is named after the former dean and vice provost of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has recognized exceptional graduate-student teaching in the school since 2008.

According to Sylvia Grove, a second-year doctorate student in the Department of French and Italian and a member of this year’s Teaching Award Committee, any graduate student who has taught in the School of Arts and Sciences over the past year — spring, summer or fall semesters — is eligible for nomination. The Teaching Award Committee is one committee within the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Graduate Student Organization, a group that advocates the interests and concerns of graduate students in the School of Arts & Sciences. Various members within the organization may volunteer to sit on the committee.

Grove added that undergraduates, graduate students or faculty members submitting nominations on the Pitt Graduate Student Organization’s website should have had at least some experience with the nominee’s teaching within the past year.

The deadline for nominations is Feb. 7. Nominees can then apply for the award by March 7, and the Teaching Award Committee will notify winners in early April.

According to the Baranger award’s website, it aims to raise the standards of the graduate students’ teaching, contribute to or stimulate discussions about the quality of graduate students’ teaching and prepare graduate students for professional success in education.

Grove said she hopes the award will improve communication between undergraduates and graduate students about what makes a teacher engaging.

“In terms of an undergraduate being able to have a say in how their classroom is taught or honor something that has been done well, there are very few opportunities for that, in terms of teaching,” Grove said. “This is one place where undergraduate students can really have a voice and put in their two cents.”

Grove said the nominations will include a broad variety of graduate students from a number of different fields. The online submission requires the graduate student’s name, department, email address, course taught and reason for nomination. Submitters must also include their email address and relationship to the nominee.

“The one thing I like about the nominations is that it doesn’t define what a good teacher is, because that’s different for every student on some level,” Grove said. “Some student may want an incredibly crazy teacher who is hilarious and really fun. Another student may find that same person very disorganized.”

Nomination is only the first stage in the award process.

According to John Wenskovitch, a computer science graduate student and chair of the Teaching Awards Committee, once the nominations are complete, the committee will invite nominees to apply for the award about a week after the submission deadline.

Wenskovitch said the application allows nominees to demonstrate their teaching abilities through a portfolio describing their teaching philosophy, a challenge they have faced while teaching and how they overcame it, and a piece of their teaching material such as a worksheet or slideshow slides. Applicants must also select and submit two OMET scores about their performances and two letters of recommendation from professors or students.

The Teaching Awards Committee will select a few of the most noteworthy applications from each field of study — natural sciences, social sciences and humanities — and send them to a committee of faculty members for a final decision.

The teaching award committee is still in the process of inviting faculty members for the secondary committee. Wenskovitch said faculty members that reviewed nominees’ applications in previous years and the Arts and Sciences faculty advisors have first priority on the committee, and the rest are based on suggestions from the Teaching Awards Committee.

Different aspects of instruction will influence an applicant’s chances to receive the award.

Joel Brady, a confirmed member of this year’s faculty committee, said the committee looks for nominees that encourage students’ independent thinking.

“We look for candidates who make a real impact on their students — who not only demonstrate pedagogical best practices, but also connect with their students to help them develop their thinking and become self-directed learners,” Brady said.

While the award recognizes exceptional teaching, it might also motivate recipients to strive for further improvement.

Bobby Karimi, one of last year’s winners who teaches in the Department of Geology and Planetary Science, said the recognition compelled him to work even harder as an instructor.

“I don’t want to feel like I’ve plateaued, so I continuously explore new teaching methods and adapt my teaching style where needed,” Karimi said. “I think this type of award is not something that anyone would receive and then tell themselves, ‘I did it.’ You walk away from this award thinking, ‘My growth as a teacher was recognized and I should keep working at it.’”