University of Florida Graduate Student Teacher Award winners for 2021-2022

Graduate Student Teaching Award winners and members of the Selection Committee. Photo by Eric Zamora

Congratulations to the 19 graduate students who were selected as the University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners for 2021-2022.

Award Winners

Pearis Bellamy – Psychology
Recep Celebi – Mathematics
Savannah Gramze – Astronomy
Joseph Hoft – Sociology and Criminology
Haley Johnson – Theatre and Dance
Lindsay Lloveras – Psychology
Nicolas Macaluso – Chemical Engineering
Ioannis Michaloliakos – Physics
Cristovão Nwachukwu – English
Emily Pappo – Natural Resources and Environment
Anthony Smith – Classics
Ar’Darius Stewart – Theatre and Dance
Nathaniel Strauss – Physics
Nieves Villaseñor III – Music
Anita Walsh – Economics
Lauren Weisberg  – Teaching and Learning
LingQin Xue – Physics

Calvin A. VanderWerf Winners

Leandra Merz – Geography
Hank Samuels – Teaching and Learning

Selection Committee

Connie Shehan, Chair
Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Sharon Difino
Clinical Assistant Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
College of Public Health and Health Professions

Julie E. Dodd
Professor Emerita of Journalism
College of Journalism and Communications

Ifigeneia Giannadaki
Assistant Professor of Classics
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Martin Gundersen, Jr.
Associate Professor Emeritus of Architecture
College of Design, Construction and Planning

Valeria Kleiman
Associate Professor of Chemistry
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Sujata Krishna
Lecturer & Learning Assistant Coordinator of Physics
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Gillian Lord
Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Jon Reiskind
Associate Professor Emeritus of Biology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Lynn E. Sollenberger
Distinguished Professor of Agronomy
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Bradley Walters
Associate Professor of Architecture
College of Design, Construction and Planning

Lorna Dishman
Executive Assistant I
Graduate School

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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.

I appreciate the University of Florida and Dr. Nicole Stedman, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, for making this award program possible.

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.