Arts, Culture & Humanities What constitutes "distinguished teaching"? Can we only rely on something similar to Justice Potter Stewart's comment on pornography, that it's hard to define, but "I know it when I see it"? (April 22, 2010) Read full discussion >
Stephen Tollefson, Lecturer, College Writing Programs | 4/22/10 | |
 How can we possibly compare a small humanities seminar with a large physics lecture, or an architecture studio? The methods seem to be just too different, the way the content must be conveyed seems too dissimilar. For twenty five years, I’ve watched the Berkeley Academic Senate Committee on Teaching ask these questions as they begin looking at dossiers of those nominated for the Distinguished Teaching Award. And to my mind, there is actually an answer that’s not so very deep or complicated.
First, let’s bust a myth. Great teachers don’t get there by simply being entertainers. They may incidentally be entertaining, … More >
Dan Klein, associate professor of computer science | 4/22/10 | |
 When I teach, I think a lot about the student perspective. What is the course experience like for them? How are they connecting to the material? Why are they excited about it in the first place?
Thinking through the student point of view helps me to teach in more effective ways. Instructors must have expert command of their material. However, experts can also easily forget what it is like to be a beginner, to see material for the first time. I ask myself what misconceptions students might have, what aspects of the material they could find more dissonant than I expect. Teaching well requires connecting … More >
Juan Pestana-Nascimento, professor of civil and environmental engineering | 4/22/10 | |
 Shortly after the start of high school, I found myself helping my closest friends with many difficult classes and homework assignments. My “study group” quickly grew and my mother decided to get me a big blackboard and my first box of white chalk. As a 12 year old, I became very popular (although only before exams) and I started to lecture on all sorts of topics, ranging from geography to history, from mathematics to chemistry. What I did not know, I would make up, sometimes with surprising accuracy. Teaching was, and continues to be, an intense personal experience.
My teaching philosophy … More >
Line Mikkelsen, assistant professor of linguistics | 4/22/10 | |
 My teaching philosophy has emerged as an outcome of managing tensions that present themselves in teaching in general and teaching linguistics in particular.
The first tension is between teaching students how to do linguistics (data gathering, problem solving, and theory building) and teaching them about the field of linguistics through its literature, development, and major results. My own undergraduate studies left me with a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the field of linguistics but almost no ability to do linguistic analysis. In other words, I was a rather pompous wanna-be linguist who could talk the talk, but would stumble when confronted with … More >
Teck-Hua Ho, professor of marketing | 4/22/10 | |
 My pricing class at the Haas School of Business is an elective for MBA students — it’s a subject I find intellectually fascinating and within which I conduct research. It is a joy to be able to teach my own research to bright Berkeley students whose questions often probe me to think deeper about the subject and provide new research ideas. My vision is to have students leave the class with the ability to think strategically about pricing and with the practical tools they need for their future careers. I also want to make learning fun so that students love the subject and see its relevance … More >
Rosemary Joyce, anthropology prof | 4/21/10 | |
 but I believe it always shares a few features:
great teachers are concerned with whether students are learning, and less with how well they themselves are teaching.
great teachers understand that it is better to help students master a well-selected set of concepts than to let them flounder in a sea of content.
great teachers accept that some of what works will not make them popular with students, and that some students won’t realize how much they have learned until long after the course is over.
Taking each of these in turn:
learning vs. teaching: teaching is not a performance, no matter how much I … More >
David Patterson, professor of computer science | 4/21/10 | |
 The lore at some research universities is that teaching is held in such low regard that getting a teaching award is like getting a kiss from Don Corleone in The Godfather; both lead to short, unsuccessful careers.*
The winners of Berkeley’s Distinguished Teaching Award disprove that myth.
For example, Berkeley lists a score of national and international research awards on its web site. One is election to the National Academy of Engineering. The College of Engineering is home to 32 DTA winners, and so far 13– more than 40% –have been elected to NAE**. (To put this into perspective, Yale has just … More >
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