Kai-Yu Wang always ends each of his academic terms the same way.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter the subject, whether it\u2019s a graduate or undergraduate class, or the Fall or Winter Term.<\/p>\n
At the end of his last lecture, Wang lets his students know they can always reach out to him for advice.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, they connect soon afterward. Other times, it\u2019s years later. There\u2019s no time limit on his offer because Wang lives by a Chinese saying that means \u2018once a teacher, always a teacher.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat it means is that a teacher is a lifelong position,\u201d said Wang, Professor and Chair of the Marketing, International Business and Strategy Department. \u201cEven when (students) finish their degree, there are so many puzzles in their life, they don\u2019t know what to do. I try to make a bridge for them so they can transition from university to industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That level of care that Wang demonstrates hasn\u2019t gone unrecognized. He\u2019s this year\u2019s recipient of Goodman Faculty Teaching Excellence Award because of it, and was honoured during Brock\u2019s Virtual Spring Convocation<\/a> on Friday, June 18. <\/span><\/p>\n The accolades follow Wang earning the Brock University Award for Distinguished Teaching<\/a> in fall 2020.<\/p>\n The recognition is an honour, Wang said, but it\u2019s not the reason he chose a career at the head of the class, including 14 years at Brock.<\/p>\n \u201cI just love teaching and interacting with students, and seeing how students gain knowledge and how they grow during the semester,\u201d he said. \u201cThe joy for me is seeing students get interested in a certain subject and wanting to do this for their career.\u201d<\/p>\n Thinking back to his years as a student, Wang recalled several instructors whose work and impact extended beyond the lectern, inspiring him to do the same in his career as a professor.<\/p>\n He counts his PhD supervisor, Laura Peracchio, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee among them. She didn\u2019t just coach him through his doctoral thesis, Wang recalled. She took time to practise job interview questions with him, even advising him on his suit and tie choices to make the best impression.<\/p>\n \u201cI just felt blessed to have a supervisor who looked at so many details,\u201d Wang said. \u201cThere are many teachers in my life that really inspired me. They not only cared about the intellectual part of my life but also about my career, my life. I just felt really grateful and thought maybe I could do something similar for my students.\u201d<\/p>\n Service learning is among the most impactful teaching tools Wang uses in his courses.<\/p>\n The reason: It gives students the opportunity to work on real-world projects that help a business or organization grow and succeed.<\/p>\n Wang started using service learning as a teaching tool 10 years ago in his introduction to marketing class. He extended it to his marketing research, consumer behaviour and internet and social media marketing courses soon after.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t easy, but the benefits outweighed the hard work required to incorporate such hands-on lessons, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be committed to spend the time to see the curriculum design work,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you design the curriculum well, you can see the students benefit immediately, not just to connect them to the business world but to help them in their career.\u201d<\/p>\n This work was recognized this week by LearnSpace, a learning innovation hub in Paris, France, as one of the 10 most innovative pedagogical innovations<\/a> in the Business Education Innovations Contest.<\/p>\n The effort students put into their service-learning projects often lead to other opportunities once their assignments are complete. That\u2019s confirmation enough for Wang that service learning is an essential teaching tool.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you see students\u2019 smiling faces saying \u2018I got a job offer\u2019\u2026 you know you\u2019re doing the right thing incorporating service learning.\u201d<\/p>\n