2016 Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer

All lecturers, senior lecturers and other associated faculty who have taught undergraduate or graduate/professional courses in the last three years are eligible for this award.
Image of Christopher Callam

Christopher Callam

College of Arts and Sciences

 


Christopher Callam teaches chemistry courses that students describe as “challenging” and “most feared.” These same students say Callam is the faculty member “I will always remember as making my experience at Ohio State extraordinary” and “by far the best professor I have ever had.” One nominator says, “If there were a ‘rock-star’ category for excellence among instructors, Chris would be in that category.”

His approach to teaching includes individualized attention, flexible office hours and innovative instruction. Callam adapts to students’ responses and level of understanding, and he creates a lively learning environment by encouraging students to interrupt with questions. Through a combination of videos that Callam has produced, online quizzes and problem sets, his students gain a mastery of the material as well as the ability to apply their knowledge to new situations.

Outside the lecture hall, Callam connects with builds relationships that foster trust. His students continue to seek his guidance even after they move on to new courses and new professors. To his colleagues, he is seen as a leader and a collaborator. He has worked with colleagues to convert the organic laboratory course to an all-digital format and to develop a training program for teaching associates.

Christopher Callam holds a PhD in organic chemistry from The Ohio State University and a BS in chemistry from John Carroll University. He has been an Ohio State faculty member since 2004.

Image of Barbara A. Heck

Barbara A. Heck

College of Arts and Sciences

 


Enthusiastic. Caring. Well organized. The best ever. This is just some of the effusive praise Barbara A. Heck’s students shared for her nomination. Known to her students as Frau Heck, her excellence in the classroom is reflected each semester in her outstanding student evaluations.

Heck’s courses are designed to advance student knowledge and understanding of the German language and to help students interpret cultural norms, beliefs and historical events as well as literary texts. To achieve this she sets high standards for her students and takes an integrative teaching approach in guiding them to success. She has developed her own course materials that enable her students to practice multiple dimensions of language use.

Heck has inspired a high level of classroom participation that only the most experienced and accomplished pedagogue can achieve. Her ability to accommodate a variety of learning styles creates a comfortable, high-energy atmosphere. One student says, “She always strives to integrate current events to make learning German feel more relevant and rewarding.”

Outside the classroom, Heck is highly involved in extracurricular German language activities and is a dedicated mentor to the department’s graduate students. She also volunteers her time to improve second-language acquisition at the elementary and intermediate level.

Her commitment to teaching excellence makes Barbara Heck one of the largest reasons that language training in German is regarded so highly at Ohio State.

Frau Heck holds an MA from The Ohio State University and a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

Image of Aimée Moore

Aimée Moore

College of Engineering

 


Aimée Moore’s ARCH 2300, “Outlines to Architecture and Landscape Architecture,” is many students’ first classroom experience with the Knowlton School of Architecture. The course is a GE and serves as a primary recruitment vehicle for majors. Her students describe her as “approachable” and “clear.” Under her instruction, they say, the subject matter “came alive…as something I could understand in a deeper way.”

Moore also leads study broad trips that students describe as “eye-opening experiences.” In fact, 90 percent of her study abroad students travel later with another Knowlton study abroad program—a testament to the learning experience she provides. Moore’s teaching approach includes engaging discussions, integration of technology, support for students’ endeavors outside the classroom, close tracking of student success and emphasis on sketching to improve students’ recognition of spatial organization.

As a leader, Moore’s contributions to the school are substantial. She has served on numerous committees, developed coursework and programs that address university initiatives and has readily stepped in to support her colleagues when needed.  She has received an Honors and Scholars Pressey Grant and a Critical Difference for Women professional grant, and she was selected as a 2015-2015 STEP faculty mentor. One nominator writes that she is “a great gift to her students, to our school and to the university.”

Aimée Moore holds an MArch and a BS in architecture from The Ohio State University. She has been a member of the Ohio State faculty since 2010.

Nominations                    Previous Winners