Georgia Tech's Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), founded in 1986, provides “development, assessment, and support” to “enhance the teaching and learning environment.” Throughout the year, CETL offers workshops, learning communities, brown-bag luncheons, individual consultations, learning technology support, and more, serving not only faculty but also graduate students, teaching assistants, and postdoctoral fellows.
Every spring, CETL hosts Celebrating Teaching Day, and the unit also play a key role in the faculty awards selection process. At this year’s Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon, held April 17, CETL honored 18 faculty members specifically for their teaching effectiveness. All of these awards include a monetary prize, funded by various endowments and grants.
One of the biggest awards processed through CETL is the Geoffrey G. Eichholz Faculty Teaching Award, which is presented annually to two faculty members who teach core undergraduate courses that serve all majors. The award comes with a $5,000 prize, per recipient per year, for three years.
Woodruff School professor, Raghu Pucha, who also won a CETL Undergraduate Educator Award in 2012, is one of this year's winners. Pucha teaches computer-aided engineering and design. His research interests include analysis of composite materials for structural and electronics applications, manufacturing process mechanics, and design-for-reliability.
Raghu Pucha, who came to Georgia Tech as a postdoctoral fellow in January 2000 and started teaching in 2005, said he did not give much thought to a “teaching philosophy” during his early days in the classroom.
He remembers trying to motivate students with “pep talks.”
“I would say ‘Guys, come on, this is a great subject, learn it!’ But I soon realized that motivation is a byproduct. When you’re engaged, that’s what gives you the motivation to go farther.”
So Pucha abandoned his top-down, lecture-centered approach in favor of an open-ended, problem-based approach.
For example, in his ME 4041 Interactive Graphics and CAD course, students are given a product to develop using the visualization tools they are learning.
“We need to make them realize learning is their responsibility,” he said. “I’m here to give you the various fundamental concepts, but you need to explore and learn beyond that.”
Pucha establishes a “minimum expectation platform” and uses ongoing assessment to determine individual needs and ensure that no student exits the course without meeting these expectations, though many exceed them.
“They understand that I’m more interested in their learning than in their grade. I don’t judge them,” he said.
“For them to be able to take the feedback, understand the mistake, and be able to fix it, that gives them confidence and the platform to go on to the next step.”
At the end of every semester, Pucha makes notes about what really worked and what might need improvement. “I also talk to many students when they come to my office,” he said. “I say, ‘Hey, I implemented this, what do you think about it?’”
One wall in Pucha’s office is filled with “Thank-a-Teacher” certificates, and he consistently earns high scores and positive comments on the Course Instructor Opinion Survey (COIS).
One such student comment reads, in part:
“Dr. Pucha, you are an incredible professor! A quote of yours … will stick with me forever: ‘Due dates are not important. What is important is that you have learned the material.’
I believe education should be more like this instead of forcing everyone to be on the same page at the same time.”
Watch as Raghu Pucha and other Georgia Tech faculty members share their teaching strategies.
Writer: Margaret Tate
Video: Micah Eavenson
Photos: Rob Felt
Read full article here: http://www.news.gatech.edu/features/teaching-tech