2018: Or Gadish

Or Gadish receives his award

“At every juncture, the students clamored for more Or,” one faculty nominator wrote of Or Gadish’s teaching work. “He was essential to every aspect of the course from designing and preparing the quizzes; coordinating logistics with guest speakers; and running the weekly post-class recitation and being a critical leader in our two-day animal laboratory… The greatest impact was serial review sessions he held using his own material and own style, eschewing massive numbers of slides for Socratic and blackboard teaching. The students loved it and insisted that this become a regular part of the course.”

Or is praised for his ability to provide examples and analogies to help students ‘get’ the material, and to expresses criticisms in a way that is positive and constructive, so the student feels empowered to improve their work going forward.

Students related that Or had both a mastery of the complex material, and also an understanding of how to tailor the content to the level and background of each student. “Not only did Or do an outstanding job in teaching the class, I remember him as being approachable and having a good sense for how the individual students were doing and where more help was needed,” said one nominator. Said another, “in reviewing concepts, Or would not just reiterate the content as explained by the professor, but would offer new perspectives and ways to think about the material, resulting in a more comprehensive and sound understanding by the students.”

During hands-on lab sessions, Or asked pointed questions, “challenging us to think critically about what we were doing and why… Or pushed us to make the most of our valuable learning experience and kept us from falling into a routine of mindlessly following lab instructions and recording data.”