Last week, I was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Engineering! This is a pretty big win since I was up against faculty of all ranks, many of whom have been teaching for a lot longer than I have been.
What I’ve learned is that teaching is hard! It really takes a village to deliver a quality learning experience, especially in a new area like neurotech where there are no textbooks or standardized lab equipment. This award is really a reflection of the village that makes my courses possible. This includes:
- Caleb Thomson, as the initial TA for my NeuroRobotics Class who did a TON of legwork to get all the labs started.
- Fredi Mino, who took as TA and continued to improve the labs in lots of exciting ways.
- Marshall Trout, who developed the hardware that makes the stimulation labs possible.
- Abby Harrison and Clay Stanley, who have taken up the mantle to continue supporting the stimulation hardware.
- Connor Olsen, who lead the development of my undergraduate Robotics class and served as an award-winning TA.
- Marta M. Iversen, who has been an excellent teaching mentor and sounding board for countless ideas and challenges.
- Abby Citterman and Connor Olsen, for writing letters of recommendation for my application to this award.
- Many others who volunteer their time each semester to help grade and/or serve as an extra hands-on deck to support the labs and final projects in both classes.
- And all of my students who have likely taken one of my classes at some point, supporting their enrollment and growth, and providing the critical feedback to improve the course. Oh, and the good course evaluations definitely help!
Thank you all for your contributions to this great achievement. It’s been a fun teaching journey, and I look forward to more exciting things to come with the new courses we’re developing next to support the new neurotech program.
-Dr. Jacob George