The award, established by former UWaterloo VP Academic and Provost Amit Chakma and his wife, recognizes excellence in teaching of all kinds by registered students (e.g., teaching assistant, laboratory demonstrator, sessional lecturer). Selection criteria include communication skills in the interpretation and presentation of subject matter as well as concern for students’ academic needs.
Dania and Amy were nominated by Dr. Ben Thompson and Dr. Viv Choh.
In his letter nominating Amy, Dr. Thompson noted that she has received several teaching awards within the School which reflect her “dedication to teaching and her ability to advance students’ understanding.”
“In addition,” he wrote, “Amy has shown a real aptitude for supervision and teaching within the laboratory. She has routinely provided instruction in computer coding for new students and has mentored over 10 undergraduate research students during her time in my laboratory. Her day to day teaching and support have enabled the research students to integrate fully into the laboratory and conduct successfully and intellectually fulfilling experiments.”
Dr. Choh noted that “Amy's ability to take on and lecture new material well is exceptional. [Amy presented] lecture material [for Optom 104], which was well-received based on student testimonials. Her impact was long-lasting, as the students were very engaged during the term.”
Speaking of Dania’s achievements, Dr. Choh wrote that “First year optometry courses can be very dense in material; Dania has helped students in lectures by providing them with memory aids to remember basic concepts such as distinguishing between brainstem cross sections. Dania is an exceptional teacher; she is enthusiastic, approachable and goes the extra mile to better both herself as a teacher and the learning experiences of her students.”
Dr. Thompson added that Dania has gone to great lengths to develop her teaching skills, completing UWaterloo’s Certificate of University Teaching program on her own initiative.
“Furthermore, Dania has been instrumental in improving the quality of teaching within the School of Optometry and Vision Science through her role as president of the Graduates in Vision Science Society. Dania led the implementation of a TA award within the School to inspire and reward outstanding TA teaching. She also implemented a formal TA teaching feedback process from course instructors to enable TAs to continuously improve their teaching and evaluate their teaching success.”
Dania and Amy will each receive $1,000 and will be recognized at Convocation.