{"id":495862,"date":"2021-10-14T14:23:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T18:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=495862"},"modified":"2021-11-08T14:55:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T19:55:01","slug":"curtis-award-spotlights-phd-teaching-assistants-amazing-efforts-during-the-pandemic-495862","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/curtis-award-spotlights-phd-teaching-assistants-amazing-efforts-during-the-pandemic-495862\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtis Award spotlights PhD teaching assistants\u2019 \u2018amazing\u2019 efforts during the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual award honors the contributions of graduate students in classrooms and laboratories across the University.<\/h2>\n

The four Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a> recipients of this year\u2019s Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student come from different disciplines. But they have several things in common.<\/p>\n

Ashley Clark, Kendall DeBoer, Michael Ormsbee, and Alice Wynd are invariably described by students and faculty alike with terms like \u201cstands out among peers\u201d or \u201cthe best teaching assistant I have ever worked with.\u201d And all are credited with playing a critical role in helping their respective departments pivot to online learning because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nomination letters really outline how our graduate students were amazing in the face of a really different time in terms of teaching,\u201d says Melissa Sturge-Apple, vice provost and University dean of graduate education.<\/p>\n

The teaching award, which is administered by the Office of the Provost<\/a>, honors full-time graduate students with a significant role assisting in undergraduate education at Rochester.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at each recipient based on comments by nominators.<\/p>\n

Ashley Clark<\/strong>, PhD candidate in brain and cognitive sciences<\/em><\/h3>\n

Students studying brain and cognitive sciences normally take statistics courses in other departments. However, Clark\u2019s desire to learn statistics more applicable to her own research evolved into a departmental statistics course that all students can now benefit from.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was historically the weakest aspect of our graduate education, suddenly became a course that everybody talks about,\u201d writes Duje Tadin, professor in and chair of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. A joint statement from undergraduates who took the course states, \u201cDrawing from her own experiences as a current graduate student, she could relate to us better . . . and thus understood exactly the right balance between providing us assistance and letting us figure out the material on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendall DeBoer<\/strong>, PhD candidate in visual and cultural studies<\/em><\/h3>\n

DeBoer\u2019s infectious enthusiasm and energy, knowledge, and technical skills helped make Janet Berlo\u2019s final semester of teaching a memorable one. Berlo, a professor of art history and visual and cultural studies who recently retired, writes that she found herself \u201cas excited as the undergraduates\u201d when DeBoer taught something new in Berlo\u2019s Writing and Art course. \u201cI wanted to raise my hand, too\u2014I who have been in the classroom for 43 years as a professor!\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n

Students in the class, many of them international students unable to travel because of \u00a0\u00a0COVID-19, also praised DeBoer. One noted how she \u201clet her love and passion for art shine through the boring and blue Zoom screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Ormsbee<\/strong>, PhD candidate in English<\/em><\/h3>\n

Ormsbee has demonstrated a flair for modifying the course trajectory of the Writing 105 introductory writing classes he teaches in response to student input. With the shift to online learning, he quickly mastered the use of the Zoom chat feature to elicit student comments. His inventive lesson plans mix both popular and high culture. For example, he uses the song \u201cShould I Stay or Should I Go\u201d by the Clash to help frame Jane Eyre\u2019s debate about whether to remain with Mr. Rochester.<\/p>\n

His teaching materials invariably \u201cwork in concert to create an intellectually alive and effective learning experience for each of his students,\u201d writes Deborah Rossen-Knill, director of the College\u2019s Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alice Wynd<\/strong>, PhD candidate in history<\/em><\/h3>\n

Whether teaching archaeological techniques on a small island in Bermuda or pivoting courses to Zoom amidst the pandemic, Wynd has consistently \u201cgone the extra mile\u201d in establishing empathetic connections with her students, writes Laura Ackerman Smoller, chair of and professor in the Department of History. Students appreciate the way Wynd extends the same empathy toward people who lived in the past, and challenges her students, as one of them explained, \u201cto try get into the minds of the people whose worlds were torn asunder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wynd has succeeded in her efforts \u201cto make sure far-flung students are not just silent or faceless squares on a Zoom screen, but rather are engaged, active participants in a meaningful conversation,\u201d Smoller writes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual award honors the contributions of graduate students in classrooms and laboratories across the University. This year\u2019s recipients come from different disciplines, but share many things in common. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":495892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18672,20542,21422,21522,48,16072],"class_list":["post-495862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-news","tag-department-of-brain-and-cognitive-sciences","tag-department-of-english","tag-department-of-history","tag-graduate-program-in-visual-and-cultural-studies","tag-graduate-students","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCurtis Award spotlights PhD teaching assistants\u2019 \u2018amazing\u2019 efforts during the pandemic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/curtis-award-spotlights-phd-teaching-assistants-amazing-efforts-during-the-pandemic-495862\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Curtis Award spotlights PhD teaching assistants\u2019 \u2018amazing\u2019 efforts during the pandemic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The annual award honors the contributions of graduate students in classrooms and laboratories across the University. 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