University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners 2020-2021

Congratulations to the 20 University of Florida graduate students who received Graduate Student Teaching Awards for 2020-2021.

Here is the list of the award winners, including the top two who received the Calvin A. VanderWerf Award.

This was an especially challenging year for all teachers — K-12 and higher ed — due to Covid-19. The teaching assistants we observed, especially those selected as award winners, did an excellent job dealing with variables of online teaching or teaching in a hybrid or face-to-face setting.

I am honored to serve on the Graduate Student Teaching Awards Committee to promote the importance of teaching excellence. Every semester, I am inspired by the hardworking, creative and caring graduate student instructors I observe.

Thanks to Dr. Connie Shehan for chairing the committee and to Lorna Dishman, Executive Assistant in the Graduate School, who coordinates the application process and assists with our meetings.

University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners

Congratulations to the 20 graduate students selected as the University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winnners for 2019-2020.

The graduate students were nominated by their departments and were evaluated by the Graduate Student Teaching Awards Committee.

Each student submitted a teaching portfolio, including teaching philosophy and teaching evaluations, and was observed by two members of the committee.

2019-2020 Winners

• Akieba Allen – Theatre and Dance
• Richard Brust – History
• Tara Mercurio Counts – Family, Youth and Community Sciences
• Lisa Emerson – Microbiology and Cell Science
• Kaitlyn Erhardt – Psychology
• Melissa Fenton – Family, Youth and Community Sciences
• Scarlett Godinez – Chemistry
• Ethan Kutlu – Linguistics
• Joana Guerrero-Rodriguez – Spanish & Portuguese Studies
• Keifer MacDonald – Theatre and Dance
• Alicia McGrew – Natural Resources and Environment
• Victoria McNeil – Psychology
• Caroline Parks – Geography
• Anthony Pastore – Chemistry
• Moinul Rahat – Physics
• Gerald Robinson – Applied Physiology and Kinesiology
• John Streese – Mathematics
• Ashley Watts – Mathematics

The top two graduate students received the Calvin A. VanderWerf Award:

• Dina Benbrahim – Art and Art History
• Kendall Craig – Chemistry

Effective teaching strategies demonstrated by top graduate student teachers

by Julie Dodd

Falcon Restrepo-Ramos receives the Calvin A. VanderWerf Award from Dean of the Graduate School Henry Frierson and Dr. Constance Shehan, chair of the selection committee. The VanderWerf Award is given to the top of the teaching award winners. Morgan Yacoe also received the VanderWerf Award. Photo by Julie Dodd

Promoting student involvement.

Connecting learning to important issues.

Assigning meaningful projects.

Establishing a supportive learning climate.

These were some of the effective teaching strategies employed by the graduate students who were selected to receive the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Teacher Awards for 2019.

As a member of the faculty committee that observes the graduate students nominated for this award, I could feel the energy of those really engaging instructors when I visited their classes. I admired the graduate students’ course design and class planning to create such good learning experiences for their students.

Structuring class activities to get students involved

In the classes I observed that were taught by award-winning graduate students, their students were actively involved. Here are three examples I observed.

The winners of the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Teaching Awards for 2019 and members of the selection committee. Photo by Eric Zamora

In a physiology lab, the students worked in teams to review the results of the physiology lab they had conducted independently online.

Talking with classmates in a small group helped them answer some of their own questions about the lab and prepared them to share their experiences and the questions they still had with the class. In addition, after talking in small groups, the students were more confident in speaking in class.