Category Archives: teaching assistants

UF Graduate Student Teaching Award Winners for 2024-2025

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UF Graduate Student Teacher Award winners 2025

Congratulations to the winners of the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Teaching Awards for 2024-2025.

The 20 award winners were recognized at the Graduate School Awards and Recognition Ceremony, hosted by the Graduate School and held as part of the annual Graduate Student Appreciation Week.

Josie Bryan – Family, Youth & Community Sciences
Marcus Davis – Philosophy
James Everett – Anthropology
Joshua Higdon – Spanish and Portuguese Studies
Bomi Jin – Sociology and Criminology & Law
Taylor Johnson – Creative Writing
Jooyeon “Alice” Kim – Criminology, Law, and Society
Kate Medla  – Chemistry
Breanna McGrath – Architecture
Eleni Papadopoulou – Classics
Andrei Potapenko – Chemistry
Divya  Radhakrishnan – Chemistry
Davis Simmons – Psychology
Anthony Smith – Classical Studies
Alexander Stant – Chemistry
Emily Swanson – Sociology and Criminology & Law
Jade Young – Theatre and Dance

Calvin A. VanderWerf Award Winners
Two of the winners were selected to receive the top recognition:
Alan Toney – Theatre and Dance
Ben Vollmer – Media Production, Management, and Technology

The members of the Graduate Student Awards Selection Committee are: Lynn Sollenberger (Chair), Valeria Burke DeLeon, Sharon DiFino, Julie Dodd, Luke Flory, Ifigeneia Giannadaki, Paula Golombek, Valeria Kleiman, Sujata Krishna, Linda Lombardino, Jon Reiskind, Grady Roberts and Bradley Walters.

Dean Nicole Stedman is Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. Lorna Dishman, executive assistant in the Graduate School, provides administrative support for the committee.

UF Graduate Student Teaching Award winners 2023-2024

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University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Awards winners for 2023-2024. Photo by Brianne Lehan

Congratulations to the University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners for 2023-2024.

Graduate student teachers were nominated during fall and spring semesters by their departments or colleges. The nominees’ teaching and their teaching portfolios were evaluated by the Graduate Student Teaching Awards Committee.

The top 20 students were selected for the award and were recognized at the Graduate Student Awards Ceremony.

  • Faith Baringer (Art and Art History)
  • James Boothroyd (Entomology and Nematology)
  • Nader Dagher (Public Relations)
  • Matthew Dallas (Mathematics)
  • Sam Dillon (Physics)
  • Garrett Ellward (Microbiology and Cell Science)
  • Mohammad Hasan (Microbiology and Cell Science)
  • Christos Litos (Physics)
  • Lillian Martinez (English)
  • Shelby Mikkelson (Sociology and Criminology & Law)
  • Claudia Mitchell (English)
  • Tiffany Pennamon (English)
  • Loida Rosado Del Rio (Physics)
  • Bhavna Sharma (Sociology and Criminology & Law)
  • William Sims (Computer and Information Science and Engineering)
  • Frank Solis (Classics)
  • Alina Sunoo (Theatre and Dance)
  • Shanna Thompson (Music)
  • Hannah Treadway (Spanish and Portuguese Studies)
  • Ivonne Zelaya (Languages, Literatures, and Cultures)
Calvin A. VanderWerf Award Winners
  • Joseph Angelillo (History)
  • María Mecías (Spanish and Portuguese Studies)

The members of the Graduate Student Awards Selection Committee for 2023-2024 are: Lynn Sollenberger (Chair), Sharon DiFino, Julie Dodd, Ifigeneia Giannadaki, Paula Golombek, Valeria Kleiman, Sujata Krishna, Linda Lombardino, Jon Reiskind, Henri Van Rinsvelt, Grady Roberts and Bradley Walters. Lorna Dishman, executive assistant in the Graduate School, provides administrative support for the committee.

I’m honored to serve on the committee and have the opportunity to recognize outstanding graduate student teachers. In our committee meetings, we discuss the best teaching practices and innovative class design that we’ve observed.

Thanks to Dean Nicole Stedman and the UF Graduate School for their support of excellence in teaching for graduate students. The award ceremony was part of UF’s Graduate Student Appreciation Week, held each year during the first week of April.

University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award Winners for 2022-2023

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UF Graduate Student Teaching Award winners with Dean Nicole Stedman
University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners with Dean Nicole Stedman at the Graduate School Awards Ceremony. Brianne Lehan Photography

Congratulations to the 2022-2023 University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners. The winners were recognized at the Graduate School Awards & Recognition Ceremony.

Rebecca Austin-Datta – Public Health and Health Professions
Hannah Brown – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Anusha Chadhary – Liberal Arts and sciences
Khari Clemmons – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Rayven Crisafulli – Health and Human Performance
Caleb Davis – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Alex Garcia – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Kenesma John Meenan – Agricultural and Life Sciences
Chelsea Moss – Journalism and Communications
Heather Nesbitt – Agricultural and Life Sciences
Jack Orces – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Joshua Pace – Arts
Michael Scofield – Education
Schuyler Strum – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Brendan Sweeney – Arts
Holly Tumblin – Arts

Calvin A. VanderWerf Awardees
Maria Munoz – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Thomas Vazquez – Arts

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Creating your teaching philosophy

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What is the value of writing a teaching philosophy? And why is a teaching philosophy required in most faculty job applications and teaching award nominations?

Even experienced teachers say that writing a teaching philosophy can be difficult. Writing a teaching philosophy would be more challenging for graduate students, most of whom have been teaching for only a year or two. So why are teaching philosophies a required part of one’s teaching career?

During my faculty career at the University of Florida, I was fortunate to teach a pedagogy course for graduate students in the College of Journalism and Communications. I really enjoyed working with the graduate students to help them develop and expand their teaching competencies and their outlook on teaching and learning.

As a major assignment for the course, the students developed a teaching portfolio to be used in applying for faculty positions. The portfolio included their created instructional materials, a syllabus, and a teaching philosophy.

As a current member of UF’s Graduate Student Teaching Awards Committee, I’m reading some very effective teaching philosophies that are part of their nomination portfolios.

Writing a teaching philosophy can help you look at the big picture

Developing a teaching philosophy can help determine how you view your students, structure your course, and present as a teacher.

Let me share a few examples from some of the candidates (and some winners) for the Graduate Student Teaching Award.

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University of Florida Graduate Student Teacher Award winners for 2021-2022

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UF Graduate Student Teaching award winners2021-2022
Graduate Student Teaching Award winners and members of the Selection Committee. Photo by Eric Zamora

Congratulations to the 19 graduate students who were selected as the University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners for 2021-2022.

Award Winners

Pearis Bellamy – Psychology
Recep Celebi – Mathematics
Savannah Gramze – Astronomy
Joseph Hoft – Sociology and Criminology
Haley Johnson – Theatre and Dance
Lindsay Lloveras – Psychology
Nicolas Macaluso – Chemical Engineering
Ioannis Michaloliakos – Physics
Cristovão Nwachukwu – English
Emily Pappo – Natural Resources and Environment
Anthony Smith – Classics
Ar’Darius Stewart – Theatre and Dance
Nathaniel Strauss – Physics
Nieves Villaseñor III – Music
Anita Walsh – Economics
Lauren Weisberg  – Teaching and Learning
LingQin Xue – Physics

Calvin A. VanderWerf Winners

Leandra Merz – Geography
Hank Samuels – Teaching and Learning

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Microphone use: Tips for instructors

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Raising hands in UF TA Orientation - Photo by Daniel Brotherton
Some teaching situations require the instructor to use a microphone, such as when I made a presentation at the University of Florida’s orientation for new teaching assistants. (That’s me at the front of the auditorium. Thank goodness I had a microphone.) Photo by Daniel Brotherton

An increase in microphone use by instructors is one of the results of the pandemic and the increase in online and hybrid teaching.

Prior to the pandemic, most instructors taught in classrooms that didn’t require microphone use. Many instructors had never used microphones in their classrooms and, perhaps, had only used a microphone for making a conference presentations.

Even auditorium teaching doesn’t always require a microphone, depending on the design of the auditorium and the instructor’s voice projection.

With the pandemic, most instructors moved to teaching with microphones. Teaching via Zoom, using their laptops. Teaching in an in-person setting and wearing a mask. Teaching in a hybrid environment, with some students in the classroom and others participating online. Recording classes – or entire courses – for asynchronous learning.

Kevin Hull in his home teaching studio
Kevin Hull converted a portion of a room at home into a studio for his online teaching, complete with a Blue Yeti microphone.

I asked University of South Carolina faculty member and former sportscaster Dr. Kevin Hull to join me to discuss microphone use for instructors.

Hull is associate professor of journalism and Sport Media Lead in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He was named a “Breakthrough Star” by the University of South Carolina and named “Promising Professor” by the Association for Education in Journalism and Communication’s Mass Communication and Society Division.

Julie Dodd: Let’s talk about the microphones instructors might use for in-person teaching, online teaching or conference presentations.

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University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award winners 2020-2021

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Congratulations to the 20 University of Florida graduate students who received Graduate Student Teaching Awards for 2020-2021.

Here is the list of the award winners, including the top two who received the Calvin A. VanderWerf Award.

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Improve class discussions with Bloom’s Taxonomy

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So many class discussions could become an improved learning experience for students with a little more guidance from the instructor.

That assessment is based on observing classes as a member of the University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Awards Committee.

I’ve been listening to class discussions in a wide range of disciplines – psychology, educational technology, acting, kinesiology, history and microbiology to name just some.

Some instructors have led probing insightful discussions, but many discussions remained at a superficial level.

The instructor posed a good opening question that often results with a student providing a very concise “correct answer.” The instructor validates the student’s response but often moves on rather than digging deeper into that correct answer.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a good reference for designing questions to guide small-group or full-class discussions. The taxonomy originally was published in 1956 by a team of University of Chicago cognitive psychologists and named after Benjamin Bloom who was the committee’s chair.

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Teach with Zoom breakout rooms

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Zoom breakout rooms are a teaching tool being used more frequently as universities invest in the application and as instructors become more familiar in setting up and using the breakout rooms.

Zoom image

Having students work in breakout rooms can provide a change of pace in class and enable more students to engage actively in class.

As a member of the University of Florida’s Graduate Student Teaching Awards Committee, I have observed graduate students utilizing Zoom breakout rooms in a wide range of subject areas. Whereas instructors typically only make brief visits to breakout rooms during class, I have been able to observe the full time students are in a breakout room.

Based on my observations, I’m offering a few suggestions for using Zoom breakout rooms.

Develop an effective breakout room assignment.

Creating a good breakout room assignment is like creating a good small group discussion activity for face-to-face classes. Consider what a small group discussion will accomplish in a more productive way than a full-class discussion.

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Covid-19 and teaching advice

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I’ve been part of the University of Florida’s orientation for new teaching assistants for a number of years. My topic has been advice for having a successful start to the school year.

Dr. Julie Dodd speaks at UF TA orientation 2019

This was what my presentation looked like at the 2019 orientation for new teaching assistants. Photo by Daniel Brotherton

Prior to this year, the 400 new teaching assistants would meet in a large auditorium for the orientation.

Due to Covid-19, this year’s orientation went online.

Over four days, part of the orientation was held live via Zoom, with about 100 different TAs attending each day.

Dr. Julie Dodd presents at UF TA orientation 2020

This is what my presentation looked like for the 2020 TA orientation. Click on the link at the end of the post to watch the video.

The other portion of the orientation, which included my presentation, were recorded videos. (At the end of this post you can click on a link to watch the video.)

In creating my presentation, I considered what would be helpful advice for starting a school year in a pandemic.

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