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Columns::April 21, 2003
UGA’s top students and teachers recognized at Honors Day ceremony
University hosts state championship for future problem solvers
The greening of South Campus
Flower(ing) power: UGA scientists plot key events in plant evolution
Office of Research Services appoints a new director
Education dean receives diversity award from housing residents
On-the-job training: Engineers team up with businesses for new designs
Lifelong interest in animals leads prof to career as wildlife biologist
Retirees
Kudos
Forum essay: International education
Making a scene
Across the board
Campus News
Meigs Award
Five of UGA’s outstanding teachers will receive the 2003 Josiah Meigs Awards for Excellence in Teaching at the Faculty Recognition Banquet in the Georgia Center the evening of April 24. Meigs winners receive a permanent salary increase of $6,000 and a fund of $1,000 for departmental use. The award is named for Josiah Meigs, who in 1801 succeeded Abraham Baldwin as president--and sole professor--of Georgia’s fledgling state university.
Marshall Darley
Associate Professor of Plant Biology
At nights or on weekends, one can usually see lights on in UGA labs where scientists or students are working late on an
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Marshall Darley
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experiment. In the plant sciences building, the person working late is often Marshall Darley, putting in his standard long hours preparing to teach.
During his more than 30 years as a faculty member at UGA, Darley has developed a reputation as a highly sought-after teacher and lecturer. Early in his career, he was assigned the daunting task of teaching a large elementary botany class. By constantly observing what worked and didn’t work, he became--quite rapidly--a teacher who made a genuine difference in the education of his students.
“I can honestly say that I have never met a faculty member at UGA or anywhere else who is as dedicated to teaching and as willing to work hard to improve his teaching as Marshall,” says Gary Kochert, retired professor and former department head. “He has inspired thousands of our students over the years, and he has made a real difference in their lives and in the intellectual life of the university.”
After finishing his doctoral degree at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California at San Diego in 1969, Darley spent a year as a postdoc at UGA before joining the faculty in 1970. In his years here, he has taught more than 13,000 students--and his influence has spread across the country with those who took and loved his courses.
Despite many years of teaching the same classes, Darley has constantly worked to improve both the courses and his teaching methods. After years of teaching, for example, he decided that some traditional methods needed major improvements, and he introducedinquiry-based lab activities in which students work in cooperative groups. He has worked with Carolyn Wallace and others in the College of Education to extend the use of inquiry learning and to improve the preparation of secondary science teachers.
Just as important as his new approaches to learning and his deep love of teaching has been his nurturing of students’ whole lives.
“He never served as my adviser,” writes one former student, “but we would often talk about my class schedules and my goals. He stressed to me the importance of maintaining a balance in my life and understanding that I can’t control everything that happens. His ability to communicate with students on a personal level while still remaining professional is impressive to me, and I know that many of his students have been thankful for the advice and encouragement that he gives outside of class.”
Darley has been a national leader in education, and his essay “The Essence of Plantness,” published in The American Biology Teacher, is a trenchant example of his philosophy.
Darley has always been aware that keeping students’ attention is paramount in class, and he cheerfully admits that part of his role is to “put on a show, to be an entertainer.” But the seriousness of his work, and its lasting influence, keeps coming back in the consistent comments from his students.
“Darley rocks!” wrote one of his students exuberantly. “Wow, what a great teacher. He reawakened in me an interest in science that had lain dormant for years. He really cares about his class and his students.”
Frances Teague
Professor of English
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Frances Teague
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When the goddess Athena disguised herself to teach Odysseus’s son Telemachus in The Odyssey, she borrowed the name Mentor. That word, which has a special meaning in the life of a university, describes as well as any the contributions of Frances Teague. And yet it barely encompasses the range of her contributions to teaching for the department of English.
A noted scholar in Renaissance drama, she has also been one of the most noted teachers in the department of English for more than 25 years. Her role in curricular innovations has served as a model to a generation of new teachers, and she has been at the heart of the department’s writing programs--from remedial to advanced composition.
“She teaches superlatively at every level of our curriculum and across a spectrum of courses,” says Nelson Hilton, head of the department of English, “ranging from her specialization in Shakespeare and Renaissance drama to basic composition, survey courses of English literature in large lecture format, women in literature, and modern drama.”
With seven published books and many other chapters and articles printed, Teague is one of the most productive and accomplished members of the department’s faculty. Still, her passion for teaching has led her to innovative approaches. As early as 1991, she published an article on “Teaching Shakespeare on Computers.”
She was also an early user of WebCT and has been, Hilton says, tireless in leading her colleagues to such methods, not because she worships technology but because she admires and embodies good teaching.
Teague alone, says Hilton, laid the groundwork for the department’s present technical writing program.
Her students are among her most vocal admirers.
“What can I say?” wrote one student in the spring of 2001. “This class has reinstalled my enthusiasm for learning. Not only does Teague inspire me to come to class, but I want to earn her respect by doing well--for her! The English department truly has a gem.”
Another student was equally enthusiastic.
“Dr. Teague is wonderful,” wrote a student from winter semester 1998. “This is the second class of hers that I have taken. . . . She is incredibly enthusiastic about Renaissance literature, and she breathes life into a genre that most people dismiss as being boring or dry. She also brings in technological aspects, and last, but not least, she is a very hard grader, especially of papers. She is awesome.”
While she remains one of the department’s most sought-after teachers, she’s found time to be a frequent instructor at the Georgia Shakespeare Festival’s Professional Seminar for Secondary School Teachers and is regularly asked to address such groups as Governor’s Teaching Fellows, UGA Foundation Fellows, and the English Graduate Organization.
She has been deeply involved with the Women’s Studies Program at UGA as a founder and affiliated faculty member since 1977.
One student speaks for many about the legendary rigor of Teague’s classes and her approach to teaching.
“I cannot get an A in the class,” the student wrote, “but it was well worth the blow to my GPA!”
James W. Porter
Professor of Ecology
Jim Porter dives into his teaching with the same enthusiasm he devotes to his coral reef research. An extraordinary teacher who
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James Porter
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receives a near perfect rating in every class he teaches, Porter attributes his high ratings to the fact that “I show students how their own ideas can fit into the future advancement of knowledge.”
“Jim had a profound effect on the recruitment and intellectual stimulation of many of the University of Georgia’s brightest and most involved undergraduates,” concurs Ron Carroll, director of the Institute of Ecology, Porter’s educational home base. Carroll cites some student comments.
“This is not just teaching, this is turbo teaching!” wrote one undergraduate.
“Porter is to teaching as Flamenco is to strumming!” wrote another.
Others added, “I tell everyone this class is like going to Epcot Center!” and “Dr. Porter is the best instructor I have ever had. He has literally changed my life.”
Words and phrases like “riveting” and “simply magical” are sprinkled throughout other assessments.
Porter’s students have gone on to be top-ranked scientists and teachers.
Colleen Cavanaugh, a former undergraduate student under Porter who is now professor of biology at Harvard University, says, “The reason I am here is because of Jim Porter. Jim made scientific research come alive for me. Of the roughly 60 students enrolled in his course, I estimate that roughly half went into marine sciences . . . due largely to Jim.”
Porter’s teaching career spans more than 30 years. He received the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Sandy Beaver Teaching Award in 1988 and in 1999 was named the Institute of Ecology’s first Outstanding Ecology Instructor.
“Jim has a rare gift of being able to teach brilliantly to both majors and non-majors,” says Carroll. “He starts with a basic principle and then builds it into an elegant presentation with the power and focus of a surgical laser.”
As a researcher, Porter has conducted extensive studies of Florida Keys coral reefs for more than 25 years, publishing his findings in first-tier scientific journals, including Science, Nature, Ecology and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1993, he was awarded the University of Georgia’s Creative Research Medal.
That creative research continues today, despite carrying a heavy teaching load. His student load averages from 150 to 250 students, and yet news of his relentless work on the causes of coral disease continues to be seen in newspapers and broadcast news reports around the nation.
Porter has testified before Congress several times and has shared his testimony, as well as the experience, with his students. “What students learn from this is that to save the world, you must teach the world,” Porter says. As U.S. Rep. Anibal Acevedo-Vila (Dem., P.R.) says, “It is obvious that Dr. Porter’s classroom extends well beyond the confines of his academic institution and includes the halls of Congress.”
Porter’s philosophy is simple: provide students with the tools to make intelligent decisions. This is as important as his research, he believes. “The future of the Earth is in the hands of the students I teach. To teach is to change lives.”
Cynthia Trim
Professor of Large Animal Medicine
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Cynthia Trim
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Cynthia Trim, the College of Veterinary Medicine’s first board-certified anesthesiologist, holds the life of a patient in her hands every day during surgery, while holding responsibility for teaching veterinary students at all levels--interns, residents, young faculty and practitioners in continuing education courses.
For the past 20 years, 70 to 80 percent of Trim’s time has been assigned to instruction--1,400 student contact hours per year. “The list of residents and interns she has trained is impressive,” says Susan White, professor of large animal medicine. “These people are today’s leaders and teachers.”
Visitors from overseas come to observe and train as well. In addition, there’s emergency duty and regular lecture/lab teaching to add to the clinical teaching load.
Trim has 24-hour emergency duty for critically ill animals needing surgery every third night and weekends, and a daily 10- to 12-hour schedule which usually ends at 7 p.m.
“The sheer number of hours to physically do all these tasks 12 months a year is difficult for people who don’t work in clinical medicine to comprehend,” adds White.
Academically at the top of her profession, particularly in equine anesthesiology, Trim is recognized worldwide as a superb veterinary anesthesiologist and educator, according to Andrew Parks, professor and head of large animal medicine.
A faculty member since 1981, Trim also is a steady contributor to anesthesiology literature, has co-authored the standard textbook, and has contributed chapters to just about every other text on anesthesia of all species. She has made presentations at almost 100 regional, national and international meetings, and received more than $100,000 in grants as a primary investigator.
Trim, who was the only anesthesiologist at the veterinary college for eight years, developed the college’s anesthesiology curriculum. She converted a course taught by a part-time faculty member into a full-blown anesthesiology program, eventually including almost all species of large and small animals.
One of the first to use technology in the classroom, she has always developed innovative ways of presenting material. Most notably she worked with the university’s artificial intelligence program to develop a system for teaching students how to select anesthetics for dogs.
The program simulates a virtual anesthetized patient that responds to a student’s decisions. It provides feedback by reacting as a real patient would, enabling students to make choices and learn from their decisions.
Students and former students comment on Trim’s technique of teaching by asking questions--“verbal quizzing,” one student calls it. “My brain freezes when she asks questions,” another says. “It’s scary--but good scary.”
A former student adds, “It takes a person who obviously enjoys and values her career to often be found anesthetizing a horse at two o’clock in the morning, still asking questions of her students.”
Her traditional lectures also win praise. When she speaks at continuing education programs, “it is virtually impossible to find a seat anywhere in the lecture hall. People line the walls and corridors,” says White. A former student, now practicing in Australia, adds, “I still refer to some of the notes provided in Dr. Trim’s lectures. They are very much like her--straightforward and reliable.”
Scott Brown
Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology
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Scott Brown
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According to student evaluations, Scott Brown’s courses in the department of physiology and pharmacology are consistently ranked as best in the department.
“Students in Dr. Brown’s classes feel informed and challenged, and many regard him as the best teacher in the College of Veterinary Medicine, the best teacher in the university or the best teacher they have ever encountered,” says Thomas Murray, professor and head of the department.
Over the past 10 years, Murray points out, Brown has had one of the largest teaching commitments in the department. He is admired by students and colleagues alike for his combination of interpersonal skills, his innovative teaching methods, his ability to communicate almost anything to almost anyone and his preeminence in nephrology research. Most people who have associated with Brown add one simple fact: he’s just a nice guy.
Teaching students how to think, not what to think is a frequent comment about his pedagogical style. A student says, “He pushes students beyond just learning the material to generating their own thoughts and questions.”
“He never gave out information,” says an alumnus, “but used the Socratic method.” A colleague at another university puts it this way: “His goal is to train others to learn how to learn.”
Brown mentors, teaches and reaches students from high school to Ph.D. candidates. He has made more than 100 presentations to national and international audiences. One student says he commends Brown “not because he is brilliant, which he certainly is, but because he is able to communicate with students at their level of understanding.” Another student adds, “He made physiology seem easy to understand, which is certainly not an ability everyone possesses.”
Innovation is another hallmark of his teaching style. Brown helped develop a new curriculum for the college, as well as developing two new courses which use novel instructional methods.
A former student says, “By utilizing creative teaching methods, making student interaction a top priority during lectures, and integrating real-life clinical scenarios with lectures, Dr. Brown excels in maintaining high levels of student interest and in emphasizing long-term recall of his subject matter.”
Students as well as colleagues also appreciate the fact that Brown is a caring person, “always willing to help students, even with classes that he does not teach.”
Although he carries a heavy teaching load, he has made time to co-author 30 book chapters and to be what one colleague calls “the world leader on hypertension and renal disease.”
With articles in 60 refereed publications and $3 million in research grants, “he has contributed more to veterinary urology and nephrology in the past 10 years than many people contribute in a lifetime,” according to a colleague.
Brown has already been honored with national and college awards for teaching excellence, in addition to the David Tyler Award for innovations in teaching. Clearly, says Harry Dickerson, associate dean for graduate studies and research, Brown “effectively conveys the spirit of creativity to those around him.”
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