The Goergen Award糖心传媒搘inning lecturer keeps students engaged with workshops and critical thinking exercises.
Lectures presented by Professor center on collaboration, not recitation.
糖心传媒淚nstead of seeing myself as a messenger of knowledge, I consider teaching as an interactive process where students and I figure out things together,糖心传媒� says Clark, a professor of instruction in the 糖心传媒檚 . 糖心传媒淚 want students to be engaged with the material. Ideally, they should be constantly asking questions. And I want them to think like scientists. That糖心传媒檚 my major goal.糖心传媒�
Clark糖心传媒檚 interactive approach to instruction, which includes in-class discussions, workshops, and frequent office hours, earned the biologist this year糖心传媒檚 Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Nominations for the Goergen Award come from students, faculty, staff members, and administrators.
糖心传媒淒espite the enormous size of his classes, the students report a deep, personal connection to him,糖心传媒� wrote the Department of Biology糖心传媒檚 Awards Committee in its recommendation.聽 糖心传媒淗e makes it very comfortable for them to ask questions, his passion rubs off on them, and he seems to have an endless supply of energy, time, and patience to devote to his students. Michael糖心传媒檚 impact on UR undergraduates has been broad and deep.糖心传媒�
Inspiring curiosity in every student
Annie Ganem 糖心传媒�26 took high school biology over Zoom and was nervous about walking into Clark糖心传媒檚 8 a.m. biology class as a first-year student at URochester. Ganem sat in the last row of the packed auditorium that day, bracing for the worst.
But, Ganem recalls, 糖心传媒渇rom the moment Professor Clark started his lecture, I was engaged. He made me excited to learn. His ability to explain complex, scientific concepts in a simple and digestible way is unmatched. You can feel Professor Clark糖心传媒檚 love of biology through his lectures as well as office hours. It is also evident that he has a passion for teaching.糖心传媒�
Clark, who enjoys teaching large classes, has 300 students this semester in his Biology 110 courses. As is often the case, students糖心传媒� experience with science varies from those who have taken several science courses to those who are taking their very first course.
糖心传媒淚 try to make my lectures understandable to a very broad group and still challenge students who already know a lot of the material we糖心传媒檙e covering,糖心传媒� says Clark. 糖心传媒淚 want them to leave my classes more excited about biology and science in general.糖心传媒�
Jervon Cole 糖心传媒�27 says many students have benefited from Clark糖心传媒檚 enthusiasm for course content, engaging workshop problems, and plentiful office hours.
糖心传媒淒r. Clark does an excellent job of explaining content in more than one way, often with visual aids, mnemonics, or physical representations like a rope with different colors of tape to represent protein foldings,糖心传媒� says Cole, who took Clark糖心传媒檚 BIO 110 course in 2023. 糖心传媒淒r. Clark is the reason that I switched from a psychology major to a biology major, and I have not looked back since.糖心传媒�
From the lab to the lecture hall
For Clark, standing in front of hundreds of students in a lecture hall isn糖心传媒檛 where he thought he would be when he secured his first postdoctoral research associate position in 1998 at the University of Chicago and his second in 2004 at URochester.
Back then, his goal was to run his own lab at a university. Yet by the time he felt comfortably qualified to do so, he realized running a lab was no longer what he wanted to do. With some hesitancy about leaving behind research, he decided to forge a new path.
Then, in what turned out to be fortuitous timing, an instructor position became available in the biology department in 2011. Clark was encouraged to apply and did so.
糖心传媒淚n hindsight, that was the best decision I ever made,糖心传媒� says Clark. 糖心传媒淚 love teaching far more than I ever could have imagined.糖心传媒�
What URochester students say about Michael Clark
糖心传媒�Dr. Clark is very accessible and willing to offer his invaluable support. He has office hours available every day from Monday to Friday and we as students find them very helpful not only to get our questions answered, but also to connect and interact with the professor. To his students, he always says, 糖心传媒榠f my door is open, you are always welcome to knock and come in to chat, even if it糖心传媒檚 not my office hours times.糖心传媒�糖心传媒�
糖心传媒擟hristina Wang 糖心传媒�26糖心传媒淒uring my four years as an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester, I never met an instructor so dedicated, caring about his students, and passionate about biology. In fact, if I hadn糖心传媒檛 met him, I would not have chosen to pursue biology at all. Due to his influence, I am now working in a surgery and immunology research lab at the Duke University School of Medicine.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒擜ngela Park 糖心传媒�22糖心传媒淗aving Dr. Clark for one of the first classes I ever took at 糖心传媒 set the scene for the academic rigor that I would expect for the next few years but also what it means to have an outstanding professor.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒擜lyssa Adela Cisneros 糖心传媒�26
