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IU biologist wins 'Professor of the Year' award from the Carnegie Foundation
Nov. 14, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Teaching evolution can be a daunting assignment for a teacher at any level. The subject often arouses deep emotional reactions from students, parents and others, and disputes may erupt that have little to do with the normal standards of either science or teaching.
Far from being intimidated by this situation, Craig Nelson, professor of biology at Indiana University, regards teaching evolution as an opportunity to demonstrate how teaching in general can be improved, especially teaching critical thinking. His efforts to convey his insights about teaching to others have resulted in numerous publications and conference presentations.
In recognition of Nelson's contributions to the improvement of undergraduate teaching, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching honored him as its "U.S. Professor of the Year" at a ceremony today (Nov. 14) in Washington, D.C. The honor includes a $5,000 cash award from the foundation.
The award "salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country -- those who excel as teachers and influence the lives and careers of their students," according to a statement by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, which originated the award in 1981 and supervises the early stages of the selection process. The Carnegie Foundation chooses the four winners from the finalists designated by CASE.
Nelson won in the category of research and doctoral universities. The other categories are community colleges, bachelor's degree colleges and master's degree colleges.
"Many faculty fear that they will have to teach less content if they teach critical thinking, and I have argued that this trade-off is illusory -- as imaginary as the unicorn's horn," Nelson said. "If one asks how to maximize student learning, then covering as much as possible is a seriously flawed approach."
Studies of teaching methods have clearly shown that required, guided student-student interaction is much more productive than simply lecturing on content, he said. "Discussion usually is better than lecture for retention of information after the end of a course, transfer of knowledge to new situations, problem solving, thinking, attitude change and motivation for further study."
In a published article titled "Tools for Tampering with Teaching's Taboos," Nelson wrote that "Teaching is like other forms of loving in at least two important ways. First, different concerns emerge at different levels of mastery and maturity. And second, just as detailed knowledge of pair-wise love and love-making was more or less taboo when I was growing up, knowledge of teaching has been essentially taboo in many academic cultures. And I mean taboo in the strong sense -- not just failing to teach prospective faculty about teaching and teaching resources, but pretending that there is nothing to be known that can make a major difference in teaching. Beyond the mastery of content, great teachers are born and not made, in this view. Just like Don Juan, it would seem."
Nelson went on to explain that he was not a gifted teacher at the beginning of his career. He learned how to teach effectively, and he encourages teachers everywhere to learn as he did.
(Hal Kibbey, 812-855-0074, hkibbey@indiana.edu)