Six faculty members recognized with George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

Each year, six faculty members are recognized for their outstanding skill in the classroom by Rice alumni who graduated two and five years earlier. This year the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching has been bestowed upon Marcia Brennan, associate professor of art history; Mark Embree, the John and Ann Doerr Endowed Professorship for the Center for Engineering; Robert Englebretson, associate professor of linguistics; Eugenia Georges, professor and chair of anthropology; Bridget Gorman, associate professor of sociology; and Matthias Henze, the Watt and Lily Jackson Chair in Biblical Studies and associate professor of religious studies.

	MARCIA BRENNAN
	MARK EMBREE
	ROBERT ENGLEBRETSON
	EUGENIA GEORGES
	BRIDGET GORMAN
	MATTHIAS HENZE

The recipients shared some of their thoughts about teaching in response the questions below. (Editor’s note: Some questions were not answered by all six awardees.)

What were some of the distinguishing features of this year’s students?

Brennan: It is my experience that this year’s students were typical Rice students, that is, very bright, poised, curious and hard-working.

Embree: Rice students are consistently a joy to teach. This year we introduced a minor in computational and applied mathematics, which has encouraged a number of nonmajors to explore more upper-level CAAM courses. These students bring to class the instinct of practitioners and a particular appetite for applications. This enriches the learning experience for everyone.

Henze: The students I find most rewarding to teach set themselves apart from other students in three ways: They are driven by a natural curiosity that is increasingly rare among strictly career-oriented students; they are self-motivated and hence eager to learn beyond their chosen subject area; and they are smart and able to absorb and build on new material quickly.

Do students learn more from lectures, books or their own experience? Why?

Brennan: Students learn through an alchemical combination of the deep reading of texts, looking closely at images and listening openly to one another.

Embree: We seek to bring each student to an “aha” moment, where a mathematical concept suddenly clicks into place. In my experience that happens in concentrated isolation: Lectures and reading provide but a guide; mathematicians often point out that there is no substitute for time spent alone with a good pen and ample scrap paper. Students quickly discover that the resulting epiphanies richly reward the labor it takes to cultivate them.

Englebretson: This seems like a trick question. Students (just like everyone else) learn from a variety of sources, and I don’t think one source or style of learning should be privileged over any other source of learning. They’re all important.

Georges: A lot depends on the student, but in general I think that although students learn from all three, what they learn can be very different. For example, I think one important thing that students learn mainly from listening to a professor’s lecture is that a sustained enthusiasm for knowledge and ideas is possible and even pleasurable. Books give students more intimate and direct connection to knowledge. And experience, through their direct participation, provides students with yet a different way to learn.

Henze: The experience each student brings to the classroom is, of course, crucially important for the learning experience, but it can only work if the student has a basic level of knowledge. Lectures and books remain the backbone of fruitful learning. It may not be fashionable, but it is absolutely important, now more than ever, that we teach our students some basic facts in our various disciplines. We are fortunate at Rice that our students see the value of “old-fashioned” lectures and learning from books.

What is most important for successful teaching and why: fairness, knowledge, humor, charisma or determination?

Brennan: I have repeatedly seen that successful teaching is all about the love and gratitude for what we can create together.

Embree: From this list, knowledge must come first: Without it, we have no credibility with Rice students. Of course, the other items on this list buttress knowledge, earn the engagement and trust of our students and make teaching and learning so much fun.

Englebretson: If a comment on one of my recent student course evaluations is to be believed, it helps to be “sassy”! (I’m not sure which sense of the word the student had in mind, but that’s what the evaluation said. …)

Georges: I think the first three are the most important. I don’t think that to be successful teachers need to be charismatic. In my opinion, it’s very important that they treat students fairly and with respect; that teachers know their subject goes without saying, but I think it’s also important to use humor to decrease the distance between student and teacher and to bring the students closer to the material.

Gorman: All of the above, I suppose. I use a lot of humor, but fairness, knowledge and, in my mind, approachability also matter a lot.

Henze: In my experience, our students want to be challenged in the classroom, not entertained, and they want to grow intellectually. They have every right to get our full attention, in and outside of the classroom, to be treated with respect, to be told when they did poorly and to be praised when they did well.

Complete this sentence: The most important thing students learn from me is …

Brennan: The beauty of the structure of thought itself, which both reflects and expands the beauty of each of my students.

Embree: The great joy that comes from studying and applying mathematics.

Englebretson: Three things: The beauty and diversity of the 6,000 languages currently spoken around the world; the fascinating nature of grammar; the role of social interaction in shaping language structure.

Georges: That it’s possible and rewarding to care a lot about a subject.

Henze: How to form their own, informed opinion; how to articulate it, both orally and in writing; and how to defend it. I hope that some of the skills I teach in my classroom, such as critical thinking and good writing, are valuable beyond my own academic discipline and serve my students well after they have graduated from Rice.