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Show page 12 lessons, Fan 2006 PHOTOGRAPH BY ELIZABETH TAYLOR is constantly to evaluate what is working (or not working) about your own teaching, to seek advice when needed and to try to recapture (even for material you have taught 100 times) what you originally found exciting or intriguing about the material, so you can communicate that to their students." Amanda Smith, associate instructor for health promotion and education, promotes "out of the box'" thinking and will sometimes give credit for a wrong answer on a test if the students can justify their reasoning. Smith also feels that on a university level, where the pressure to research and publish is huge, professors should "never lose sight of what is really important-our students. One can be an expert in any given field but that doesn't necessarily make them a good teacher. A good teacher makes it look easy but it never is. Good teaching requires hard work, a passion for the material shared, a desire to constantly upgrade teaching skills, and a love for the students. As technology constantly advances we have opportunities to teach in new ways but a love for teaching and the students can never be replaced, regardless of what the future offers. May we ever be life-long learners and may we always value and respect the wonderful students that cross our paths." Liz Borgwardt, recipient of a 2005 Student's Choice Professor of the Year Award and assistant professor in the history department, says that her teaching style "is defined by respect for the participants in my courses. I developed this approach to teaching in my early twenties, when I was working as an instructor in Harvard Law School's summer sessions for mid-career executives. I was still a law student myself and was serving as 'teacher' to participants who were often 20 and 30 years older than I was. It was imperative that I show respect for their experience while still communicating that I had information to share." Borgwardt also finds that informal interactions can be just as vital to the learning process as inside the classroom. "I always try to have at least one event per course where I invite students for a meal in my home. My sense is these informal events serve a legitimate and overlooked intellectual purpose. We have something of a commuter campus here at the U, and one of the aspects of a university education on which our undergraduates sometimes miss out |