Profile of an Admirable Individual

Definition

This activity prompts you to remember a professor who had a positive influence on you as a learner. It is intended to help you identify that professor’s qualities and approach to teaching, thereby deepening your knowledge of engaged and effective teaching.

Purpose and Goal

There is a popular adage that “teachers teach as they were taught.” An alternative way to think about it is that teachers teach the way they learned. Either way, those who taught us influenced our views of engaged and effective teaching. Yet we rarely have the time required to intentionally think through what we learned from our teachers and what lessons we might take from them into our courses.

This activity asks you to revisit your experiences with a professor who positively influenced your education. It is intended to help you identify how that professor approached and implemented their own teaching style. Describing your professor may help you refine your ideas and views of what excellent teaching is and how one achieves it.