A student enrolled in one of Lorne Adams’ classes is immediately presented with a copy of his “human rights code for the classroom” and his “bill of rights for group work.” These documents signal two of the many ways that Lorne puts his principles of student empowerment and engaged pedagogy into practice in Brock’s Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology. A professor who runs marathons, competes in triathlons, and plays on several “old-timer” hockey teams, Lorne provides a model for his students of an active life, and his energy, compassion, and dedication to learning have earned him both the Brock and the OCUFA awards for teaching.

He is also a model for his colleagues: an educational leader both on campus and beyond, he has more than three dozen publications and presentations on teaching and learning, including work on coping with difficult students, on collaborative learning, and on technology. His name has become synonymous with T.A. mentoring at Brock, and through his dossier, one finds recurring words such as “rights”, “respect”, “feelings”, and “reflection”, which acknowledge and celebrate the person behind the registration number. Inspired by bell hooks and Paulo Friere, “Lorne has woven this rare thread of compassionate, wholly committed empowerment into his classroom teaching practice.”

Howard Armitage is the quintessential educational entrepreneur. He was a driving force in creating an intensive team project – called WATcase – in which fourth year accountancy classes are cancelled for three days and students work on a real-world problem for a real organization. Howard’s focus on integration, creativity, and problem-solving skills runs through his pedagogy and curriculum development. Recently, he championed the development of Waterloo ‘s new Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, a development designed to provide business skills to young entrepreneurs. Since 1993, he has led the Gordon H. Cowperthwaite Centre for Accounting Education.

Howard engages students in debates, simulations and even storyboarding to solve problems and to integrate real-world problems in the classroom. His courses require students to confront troubling issues in accounting and management, such as the Challenger disaster and the events that underlie recent accounting scandals. His educational initiatives and classroom skills have already earned him Waterloo ‘s Distinguished Teaching Award and the L.S. Rosen Outstanding Accounting Educator Award. His students praise his ability both to motivate them and to challenge them, and in the words of one, “his devotion to teaching his students to read, write, and think critically is the greatest gift a professor could give.”

Brenda Cameron is the model of teacher as a reflective practitioner, and through her engaging stories of practice, she instills a passion for nursing in her students and in all who hear her speak. She is an exceptional and innovative teacher. Under her guidance, students learn to be compassionate, critical thinking nurses. Her thoughtful mentoring has given her students the confidence to go on to graduate studies and to significant employment positions. As one student writes, “she was able to build on my strengths and believed in my abilities from the beginning.”

Her influence extends from the University to the community, exemplified by her work in organizing and implementing an inter-professional team placement on a First Nations reserve in central Alberta. Through this partnership, she showed students and colleagues a model of respectful collaboration with Aboriginal communities.

But her influence does not stop at the border; Dr. Cameron is also a pioneer in the internationalization of the curriculum at the Faculty of Nursing. She has facilitated both curriculum development and student placements in northern Canada, Hawaii, Guatemala, and West Africa. As a teacher and an educational leader, Brenda’s work has helped shape her university, her community, and nursing as a caring profession.

“Her passion begins with her love for the students and her determination that they have the best education possible-and have fun at the same time!…”

Student welfare is at the heart of Bertha Garcia’s teaching, and she works diligently to create a nurturing environment for the many students she teaches and counsels. Students across faculties consistently evaluate Bertha’s teaching at the highest level and have recognized this gifted, compassionate, and respectful educator by nominating her for nine of the numerous teaching awards she has received.

Bertha’s influence on student learning does not stop in the classroom; she also shares her insights on problem-based learning nationally and internationally. In her role as the Faculty’s Admissions Chair, she worked to develop a more equitable admissions process. She was her students’ unofficial and then official advisor for fifteen years, and she was one of the key innovators in the Faculty of Medicine’s recent curriculum renewal. Her peers comment that these positive changes would not have been possible without her savvy, wisdom, energy, and dedication. As one student writes, “Dr. Garcia’s excellence in teaching and administration is one of the reasons I pursued pathology as a career.”

Leo the lion-hearted teacher of jumbo calculus classes reflects that “love of subject, of its beauty and power, should be the primary motivation for all mathematics education, and the basis for all communication between teacher and student. At every level of education, our goal should be to help students share the fascination with the subject that first drew us to it. Give the students the time they need, the help they need, and the encouragement they need.” Love, time, help, and encouragement: these embody Dr. Leo Jonker’s teaching and have led to his receiving an astounding twelve teaching awards.

Of Dr. Jonker’s first year calculus course, one of his engineering students enthused that “it is like painting an entire picture for us rather than just drawing one object in the middle of the canvas. It helps us understand the concepts behind the method we are using and the very nature of the problem itself. I walk out of his lectures thinking to myself – Wow! I understand this!” Not only do students love the course but they develop a global vision and understanding: skills that will be useful in all their careers. Leo’s activities in research and training graduate students and in serving his community have been equally impressive.

At UQAM, he’s known as “Mr. PBL.” A pioneer in the adaptation of problem-based learning to a field of the basic sciences, Yves Mauffette transformed the whole UQAM bachelor of biology program in 1996. “Achieving a seamless transfer from traditional courses to problem-based learning required a visionary able to consider a totally different pedagogical approach,” confided one of his colleagues. The success of this approach has been greatly, and it has proved to be so productive that Yves Mauffette has been invited to Belgium , France , the United Kingdom and Australia , to assist in implementing PBL programs in a variety of fields.

“Seeing how students in this new program are motivated and curious, how their autonomy and confidence increase, that’s what I really like!” Yves Mauffette is also a founding member of CEFRES, the Centre de formation et de recherche en enseignement supérieur , which specializes in training and research for teaching at advanced levels, and Vice President of the Centre d’innovation pédagogique en sciences au collegial , which seeks innovation in teaching science at the CEGEP level. An undisputed leader in the field of educational innovation, Yves Mauffette is also a teacher without equal. In 2002 he was awarded the Université du Québec prize for excellence in teaching.

John Mitterer is known across Canada for his exceptional achievements and tireless efforts to integrate technology into instruction. John has not only worked with cutting edge technology but is on the cutting edge of leveraging technology for effective pedagogical interventions. One of the reasons John has been so successful is his persistent reliance on grounding his practices on sound educational theory.

Dr. Mitterer’s impressive array of academic conference presentations, workshops and consultations continue to attract colleagues who are immeasurably enriched by his expertise. While many have been infected by his energy and enthusiasm, his colleagues especially remember the conversations that have followed his presentations. In this regard, John has also given his time generously to his university and to learned societies inside and outside his discipline.

Dr. Mitterer has developed pedagogical materials in a variety of formats including videodiscs, CD-ROMs, websites, and textbooks. He has also published articles in the field of educational technology, even though his primary discipline is Psychology. His emphasis on scholarly teaching has had a tremendous impact on student learning. He has taken on the challenge of successfully teaching very large classes in introductory psychology, which in his own words is his “favorite pedagogical laboratory”. This success has encouraged many colleagues and countless students to change their views on issues in teaching and learning.

“What stays with you from Diane’s courses is that she has given you an exceptional experience that challenged what you thought you knew and it still affects you today, because she has opened a door that defies time.”

“Her teaching and her presence are at the top of my list of ‘keepers.’” When I think of Diane and the impact she had on my life, a famous phrase of Henry Adams comes to mind: ‘a teacher affects infinity – one can never know where her effect will stop.’”

These few quotes attest to the outstanding qualities of Diane Pacom as a teacher, as does the Capital Educators Award, which she received in 2002. A true leader in teaching, Diane Pacom, an outstanding researcher in sociology, decided to create a precedent and was named full professor on the basis of her excellence in teaching. Appearing regularly in the media, Diane Pacom is a matchless teacher and speaker for audiences of all kinds. That was why in 2003 she was the recipient of the first annual Rector’s Award for Service to the University through Media and Community Relations.

«Le passage aux nouvelles méthodologies d’enseignement en ligne et l’abandon de la salle de classe vont-ils mener au rejet de l’humanisme chez les enseignants? Pour Dana Paramskas, l’humanisme est au cour du nouvel enseignement de l’ère électronique.» Dr. Dana Paramskas is truly an extraordinary teacher and scholar. In 1973 she was one of the first to receive an OCUFA Award. She has been a pioneer internationally in the development of on-line language education and computer-assisted second language pedagogy. Twenty-five years ago, she created one of the first computerized French grammar exercises, exercises that are still used on many campuses. In 2002, Dana won an award from the US Continuing Education Association for the best on-line course.

Dana regards second language acquisition as a tool for learning about culture. Her students report that her courses change the way they perceive and act in the world. One student writes that in Dana’s course, she learned how dialect could predispose people to prejudice, which has had a life-long impact on her work as a police officer.

Dana is a visionary leader who has presented scores of papers, seminars, and workshops on pedagogy. At Guelph , she is active in numerous committees on teaching and learning.

For Dr. Andrea Rose, music education is both her work and her life. Her passion for everything musical permeates her speech when she talks about music, and when she expresses it as a violinist with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia, as the chair of the NSO’s Education Committee, as an artistic director of the Festival 500 International Choral Festival, a music festival adjudicator, as co-author of provincial school music program curricula, and as a singularly gifted post-secondary classroom teacher and a pedagogical scholar.

Andrea’s strength as a distinguished teacher is the result of an unusual fusion of teaching, scholarship, musicianship, and leadership in her teaching practice. She has an extraordinary ability to facilitate her students’ learning through questioning, reflection, and critical inquiry. Andrea is a valued advisor to both students and colleagues and is gifted in her ability to synthesize issues, suggest multiple solutions and generously share both her time and her wisdom.

Andrea is justifiably proud of her role in promoting music and music education in Newfoundland and Labrador : “It is a means to help us understand ourselves and produce our cultural identity.” In multiple ways, both cultural and educational, she has touched the lives of many, many people.