We are pleased to announce that the winners of this year’s Faculty of Science Excellence in Science Teaching Awards are Professor Keith Delaney from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Professor Stefan Idziak from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Keith Delaney, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Keith is highly involved in all areas of teaching and learning in the department, from supervising undergraduate thesis and coop students to participating in recruitment events and outreach activities. He has more than a decade of experience developing and teaching courses at all levels, from first year introductory labs and lectures to graduate level courses. Keith has made an impact on everyone in the department, from the Chair to the students he teaches.
“Keith is widely regarded as the ‘gold standard’ that we measure our best teaching against,” describes Mario Coniglio, Chair of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
“He has an incredible capability of instilling a sense of wonder and curiosity within the students he teaches,” describes Professor Dave Rudolph.
Kirsten Cadera, an undergraduate student says “Over the five years I have been in this program, Keith has always been one of the most engaging and effective instructors I’ve known.”
Stefan Idziak, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Professor Idziak was an early adopter of innovative, pedagogically-sound teaching techniques. He frequently uses clickers to encourage students to ask questions and interact among themselves, and recently has introduced a project component to the SCI 206 course where student groups produce an explanation of how something works, using any medium other than a written report. The resulting collection of videos, songs, poems and other interesting formats produced over the years demonstrate that students really do have an interest in exploring the world from a physics perspective.
“Professor Idziak has created a wonderful, inclusive learning environment that makes me as a student feel welcome,” says one of his students. Another student says “During our very first lecture, Professor Idziak told us that his secondary goal (to teaching us the material) was to make all of us enjoy physics a little bit more.”
We are very pleased to present the Excellence in Science Teaching Awards to two well-deserving, accomplished and passionate faculty members here in Science.
Congratulations Keith and Stefan!
About ESTA
The Excellence is Science Teaching Award (ESTA) was established to recognize and reward excellence in teaching and outstanding instructors within the Faculty of Science. This award was initiated by Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Mario Coniglio in 2011 when he was the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the Faculty of Science. Each year, the ESTA award is awarded to a maximum of two candidates from the Faculty of Science who have demonstrated sustained, high quality teaching.