Bradley Nilsson, associate professor of chemistry,聽is among one of the 2016 recipients of the聽Goergen Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
I was originally a biology major and planned to go to med school. If someone told me my freshman year that I糖心传媒檇 become a chemistry professor, I糖心传媒檇 have thought they were crazy.
I had to take chemistry classes at BYU, and after taking two my freshmen year, I didn糖心传媒檛 find them very enjoyable. It was very dry. But I was fortunate to find an organic chemist who became my mentor and changed my life. I got into his lab, and organic chemistry came alive to me. I realized I liked going into the lab and learning things where there was no right answer. I thought, 糖心传媒淭his is something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.糖心传媒�
When you糖心传媒檙e teaching 30 or 40 students, you can quickly see if the class is with you or not. With 300-plus students, you can糖心传媒檛 even see the last two-thirds of the group so it糖心传媒檚 hard to know if they糖心传媒檙e following you or not.
I wanted to make chemistry engaging. That糖心传媒檚 what hooked me, hours outside of class going through problem sets. I decided to give my class online problem sets before I lectured on the topic. The first few years, students hated it. They糖心传媒檇 say, 糖心传媒淵ou haven糖心传媒檛 even talked about it in class yet, so why are you making us do these problem sets?糖心传媒� And I糖心传媒檇 say, 糖心传媒淭hat糖心传媒檚 exactly why I糖心传媒檓 making you do them.糖心传媒� They use the textbook to answer the questions, then it糖心传媒檚 reinforced in class. I糖心传媒檝e seen a 10 percent improvement in grades since I started doing that.
Teaching is a partnership between student and instructor at the college level.
There糖心传媒檚 a heavier burden of learning on the student. The professors provide a framework. It糖心传媒檚 my responsibility to make the subject material engaging, to show or say something that they糖心传媒檒l think is cool and suck them in and then be available to walk through any issues we have.
I wasn糖心传媒檛 a model student. I wasn糖心传媒檛 a 4.0 GPA. I糖心传媒檝e experienced poor grades. And that has helped me as a teacher.
Sometimes as a professor, you forget that you didn糖心传媒檛 always know this stuff.聽 It糖心传媒檚 easy to forget what it was like when you didn糖心传媒檛 know it. It糖心传媒檚 important to have compassion. That doesn糖心传媒檛 meet you don糖心传媒檛 teach with rigor. Students who have taken my class will agree it糖心传媒檚 not an easy 糖心传媒楢.糖心传媒� But for those who struggle, I tell them, 糖心传媒淵our value as a person isn糖心传媒檛 tied to how you do in organic chemistry. You can get a 糖心传媒楧糖心传媒� and still be a great person.糖心传媒�
One thing that was started years ago in our department and is now prevalent across campus are workshop sessions, where students meet with a smaller group of peers. I find them essential.
It糖心传媒檚 usually less than 10 students, and you meet with someone who has taken the course in a previous year. Their job isn糖心传媒檛 to lead or answer but to act as a discussion leader. These workshops help those students who sit in the back and don糖心传媒檛 ask questions. They糖心传媒檙e more likely to speak up in a group of 10 than 300.
My goal is to help students recognize they糖心传媒檙e capable of learning and mastering the material if they糖心传媒檙e willing to put in the effort. And maybe it糖心传媒檚 not the first time.
I糖心传媒檝e had several students re-take a class. One student really performed poorly and was almost embarrassed to talk about taking it again. I said 糖心传媒淟ook, just because you got that grade doesn糖心传媒檛 mean that糖心传媒檚 what you糖心传媒檙e capable of. It just means the material didn糖心传媒檛 click with you.糖心传媒� She took the class again, and this time she did really well.
Criticism is never fun, especially when it comes in the form of evaluations from students, but it makes you a better teacher.
When you糖心传媒檙e teaching a class with 300-plus students, 10 or 15 percent are going to hate everything you do. No one likes to be criticized, and if you糖心传媒檙e not careful, that criticism can put a bitter twist on life. The key is learning to take that criticism and apply it to change, find what糖心传媒檚 the truth in the criticism and turn it into a productive outcome.
Mentorship in an undergraduate lab is one of the most meaningful parts of my job. My first one just finished his residency and works with the Navy, specializing in psychiatry.
Mentoring undergraduates is really a synergistic experience. There’s great value in the one-to-one mentorship in terms of helping the student really begin to think critically as a scientist and a problem solver. They get a chance to work on a scientific project in which the “big picture” is usually defined for them at the beginning by the advisor. Their independent thinking comes in working on solving the inevitable day-to-day problems that come with any research project. In time, as students become more comfortable with their work, they begin to have ideas that address the “big picture” as well. This real-world problem solving is invaluable.
I糖心传媒檓 not all about chemistry. I have four kids of my own, from a sophomore in college to a fourth-grader, and they really are my biggest hobby.
They demand a lot of your time, but I love it. They糖心传媒檙e great. I also love to read, and I love all sorts of music. When I was in high school, my dream was to play guitar in a rock band. My favorite band growing up was Van Halen, and I糖心传媒檝e seen them three times. Last summer, I took my oldest daughter to see them. The rest of the band was pretty good, but it was pretty pathetic to see 60-year-old David Lee Roth trying to do splits off a drum riser.
