Laurier professor receives 2016 OUSA Award

A professor at Wilfrid Laurier University has received provincial recognition for excellence in teaching.

Political Science Professor Chris Anderson was named the recipient of the 2016 Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance Award for Teaching Excellence at Laurier.

Joseph Beer with the University’s Centre for Teaching Innovation and Excellence tells us about the award.

“The recipient of the award is chosen by the student population, so the students within an institution get together and create nominations from inside different faculties, and then chose one instructor from Laurier to be awarded the OUSA teaching award.”

Beer says recognizing quality teaching is always fundamentally important for the University, especially through the OUSA  Awards.

“I think because this award is student-driven, it takes on even more importance. Normally within the teaching award process there’s a lot of infrastructure that goes into an application– with this one, it comes more naturally with students themselves getting together and considering who is deserving of the award.”

Beer says they’ve found that generally the recipient of this award goes on to win others for teaching, because it is a good indicator that they are doing something special in their classes and are really engaging the student population.

“I think what Professor Chris Anderson is doing that makes this award so worthwhile is that he’s teaching in very large class environments where it’s difficult in many cases to really capture the students’ imagination– and a lot of Chris’s teaching is in these large introductory classes. He’s somehow managed to create a way to teach within that environment that doesn’t just educate students but also engages them in the learning process.”

Beer adds that Anderson particularly understands how to make the learning experience enjoyable for his students.

“A lot of the work that goes into being an academic or instructor is lonely– you’re working very hard on your syllabus, program and teaching generally by yourself. So being able to validate that effort and extra energy that so many instructors put in to make sure that a student’s learning is the focal point and making sure that those outcomes are real and meaningful and translate to students is vital. It’s so important that we isolate those professors that are taking that extra step to really try and engage students.”

Beer adds that Anderson is the 8th Wilfrid Laurier University faculty member to be honoured with the award.