Brock University professors have won two of this year\u2019s 3M National Teaching Fellowships. Considered Canada\u2019s most prestigious prize for teaching excellence at the university level, only 10 are given out nation-wide each year.<\/p>\n
Tim O\u2019Connell is a Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies, and Nicola Simmons is an Assistant Professor of Education.<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019Connell was humbled by the honour, but quickly acknowledged the work of his students, colleagues and Brock\u2019s administration for their contributions to his classroom success.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt really is a group effort,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can be a good educator without having great people to work with. There are a lot of people behind this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019Connell, who joined Brock in 2006, has received significant praise for co-founding the BaseCamp leadership program, where novice students with little experience in outdoor recreation are teamed with senior students for five days of hiking, canoeing and rock climbing that help foster student success and confidence. It\u2019s a model that has been adopted as a best practice by other Canadian universities.<\/span><\/p>\n Simmons, in the Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education, has also made her mark on the country\u2019s educational landscape. She established Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Canada, chaired the Educational Developers\u2019 Caucus, and served as vice-president for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. <\/span><\/p>\n Simmons, who began her post-secondary teaching career in 1986, continues to use innovative methods to engage students. Her approach may lead students to rewrite a course reading as a free verse poem, build with Lego in order to consider the connection between theory and practice, or examine the learner experience by participating in a martial arts class.<\/span><\/p>\n While both winners like to take unconventional approaches in the classroom, they said it\u2019s their campus support systems that allow those innovative methods to succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t teach or lead if there aren\u2019t people willing to come along with you,\u201d Simmons said. She feels the 3M Award also celebrates the trust shown to educators in the classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n Anna Lathrop, Brock\u2019s Vice-Provost, Teaching, Learning & Student Success praised Simmons and O\u2019Connell for their outstanding contributions to the University.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clearly a reflection of not only their dedication within the classroom, but also how they have enriched the culture of teaching across the Brock campus, thereby contributed to the scholarship of teaching and learning both provincially and nationally,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t think of two more eminently deserving faculty members.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The selection of two of Brock\u2019s faculty to win this award in a single year clearly demonstrates Brock\u2019s emphasis on teaching excellence and student-centred learning, Lathrop said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEnsuring a fantastic student experience is a key goal at Brock and great teaching is central to that end,\u201d said Tom Dunk, Interim Provost and Vice-President, Academic.<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019Connell and Simmons are \u201ckeeping Brock\u2019s tradition of pedagogical excellence alive and well,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are all extremely proud of them and grateful for their dedication and commitment to their craft.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Since 1989, Brock faculty members have won 11 of the 3M Awards, ranking in the top 5 among all Ontario universities.<\/span><\/p>\n The 3M National Teaching Fellowship awards will be presented at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education\u00a0conference in Halifax in June.<\/span><\/p>\n The recipients will gather again for five days in Quebec in November to discuss teaching strategies and to potentially champion a project together.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is just such a gift,\u201d Simmons said, excited to work with her fellow recipients. \u201cIt\u2019s a gift rather than an award.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Brock University 3M Fellows<\/strong><\/p>\n 2017: Tim O\u2019Connell, Recreation; Nicola Simmons, Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education<\/span><\/p>\n 2010: Zopito Marini, Child and Youth Studies<\/span><\/p>\n 2007: David DiBattista, Psychology<\/span><\/p>\n 2004: Lorne Adams, Physical Education and Kinesiology; John Mitterer, Psychology<\/span><\/p>\n 2003: Maureen Connolly, Sport Management<\/span><\/p>\n 2001: Anna Lathrop, Physical Education<\/span><\/p>\n 2000: Barry Joe, Communications, Popular Culture and Film; Germanic and Slavic Studies.<\/span><\/p>\n 1991: Donald Ursino, Biological Studies<\/span><\/p>\n 1989: Clarke Thomson, Geography<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Brock University professors have won two of this year\u2019s 3M National Teaching Fellowships. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":43575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,40,7,3319,4052,1,4,4665],"tags":[4921,312,1243,83,1891],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43574"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43579,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43574\/revisions\/43579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}