Instructor Pedagogy
Awarded to an instructor, graduate student instructor, or undergraduate student who actively works to improve the DTC mission, curriculum, and student experience through teaching and pedagogical practice.
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Landon Roper, 2020 award recipient |
Landon Roper is from New Mexico and eats Hatch green chili as often as possible. He’s always wanted to be a teacher, and is loving life in the DTC department where he has amazing colleagues and students. At school, he is most interested in critiquing social inequalities; at home, he is most interested in hanging with his family — human and animal.
“My courses make many students uncomfortable because I want students to lead their learning. I’m always critiqued for having too little guidance or direction initially, and almost always told that it is worthwhile afterward. My courses aren’t rigorous in a conventional way, but they are more difficult than most other courses in that students examine the ways that they think as much as what they think. This is accomplished through iterative practices during semester-length projects, frequent large-and-small group discussions, and promoting a challenging and safe sharing environment.”
From the Nominations
“It is without a doubt Landon is more than deserving of this award and if not is one of the best instructors at this University. He goes out of his way to make sure his students not only are pushing themselves beyond the surface level academically, but cares about their emotional well-being as well. Landon cares deeply about the DTC department and its impact on the lives of students here at WSU.
“Most importantly, as a student whose original intent to only pursue DTC as a UCORE, I am now minoring in DTC as his passion and enthusiasm for the subject inspired me beyond words. Landon is a professor that can teach any student, at any level.”