The University of Ottawa’s Excellence in Education prizes recognize educators of exceptional quality, who provide outstanding teaching while maintaining a solid research program. Profiles of each of the nine prize winners in 2007 appear in the Gazette.
Chantal Meda
Three years of teaching at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, gave Professor Mark Salter a new outlook on teaching. “My students in Cairo came from varied upbringings and different cultural, social and linguistic backgrounds. It was because of this that I was forced to really think about teaching in different ways.”
This new outlook has paid off for Professor Salter and his students, because he is one of this year’s recipients of the University of Ottawa Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Professor Salter is very much aware of the importance of engaging his students. All of his courses adopt a “learning by discovery” approach, where students are encouraged to think critically and define their role as global citizens through an examination of contemporary politics.
A specialist in international relations in the School of Political Studies, Professor Salter is a strong proponent of what he calls “actionable knowledge.” He explains: “I believe that students learn best when they learn themselves. This is the reverse of the so-called “chalk and talk” method of the past, where instructors lecture and students simply take notes and repeat what is taught to them.”
He tries to instill critical thinking skills in his students. “With the advent of technologies such as Web 2.0, students have access to a wide variety of knowledge. With this, it becomes important for educators to provide students with an environment where they can decipher and evaluate information to create knowledge.”
Professor Salter is currently working on a “wiki,” an open source website, and is using technology such as podcasting to record lectures and interview colleagues in his field. This is all to help his students actively engage with the material for his course on the politics of globalization, and to introduce students to international policy issues. Both of these projects have been supported by the University’s Centre for e-Learning.
“I like to take advantage of the tools that we have. I find that by using these forms of technology, students become active producers of information. This in turn makes learning a collaborative effort,” he says.
In addition to the Award for Excellence in Teaching, Professor Salter received a National Capital Educator’s Award in 2007, as well as a nomination by his students for TVO’s Best Lecturer Competition. “These awards are extraordinarily flattering,” he explains. “I put a lot of work and thought into my courses and it’s wonderful to be recognized.”
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