2007 FCSM EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING
The recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award earned a Ph.D. in 2001, and then really started producing results. This is the teaching award; but as we know, good research and good teaching go hand-in-hand. In the first two years here, our recipient was awarded three Towson University grants. After getting warmed up, our recipient was awarded two external multi year grants totaling over a quarter million dollars. Our recipient has published two refereed journal articles and five refereed articles in the proceedings of major conferences. Our recipient has given 19 conference presentations and invited talks; and has participated in the planning and presentation of 20 professional development workshops for teachers in elementary, middle and high school as well as at the university level. In his spare time he has written four course texts and resource materials for use in courses in his department. As one nominator stated, “He has been able to implement what he has learned from his own and others’ research to construct productive learning environments.”
Our recipient is described a master teacher of both students and teachers at all levels from kindergarten through university. His student evaluations are among the highest in his department, and in several courses he received the maximum evaluation possible. Some of the written comments include:
- What an amazing professor!
Truly engages his students.
Best teacher ever.
This is the best course I have ever taken.
One of his former students who is now teaching in an elementary school wrote: “I needed only to think to about ten minutes ago in a parent teacher conference to when I last thought about him and the impact he has had on me as an educator.” and “It was in his class, more than any other, that I felt great teaching was modeled as well as taught.”
Several of his colleagues wrote about how much he has influenced and mentored them. One wrote “To watch him teach is to see a true genius at work.” Another wrote “He is an active, thoughtful and inspiring teacher. He’s a great resource for this new faculty member.” Still another wrote “He is a dynamic and gifted teacher who is a seemingly all knowing resource for those working to improve as teachers.” The one comment that says it all was “He is the embodiment of the Teacher-Scholar model we aspire to here at Towson.”
For anyone who needs to know the absolute best path between Smith Hall and the Administration Building, just ask our recipient of the 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award, Cody Sandifer of the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences.
(As presented at the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics Forum on November 30, 2007.)
The Jess and Mildred Fisher
College of Science and Mathematics
Smith Hall, Room 312 (campus map)
Phone: 410-704-2121
Fax: 410-704-2604
E-mail: fcsm@towson.edu
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