MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award

The Midwestern Association of Graduate School annually solicits for the Excellence in Teaching Award in recognition of graduate students who exemplify excellence in the teaching/learning mission of the member universities. Michigan Tech may nominate two students; one each at the master's and doctoral level.

The details below are for the 2025 competition.  Details are subject to change for future competitions.

View Past Nominees

Eligibility

Eligible students

• will have been enrolled at Michigan Tech during the 2024 calendar year and have a teaching appointment
• will have earned the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
• will have an excellent teaching portfolio and student evaluations

Nomination

Each department (or college) may nominate one MS and one PhD student by submitting:

1. A letter of support from the department head (please include a description of any departmental and institutional honors awarded to this masters/doctoral student for excellence in teaching)
2. A current curriculum vitae for the nominee
3. The nominee's Teaching Portfolio.  Please use the following Headings and limit to six double spaced pages (total) using 12 point font and one-inch margins. The point values indicate the weighting placed on each item by the MAGS review panel.
   1. Teaching Philosophy and Practice [25 points]
      • Share your teaching philosophy by describing your understanding of how people learn, and how that understanding, in turn, informs what you value most as an instructor and the way you approach teaching. This explanation could include your fundamental understanding of the purpose of education, the nature of learning, and/or your role as a teacher in facilitating that learning. Please describe the instructional strategies and evidence-based practices that you utilize to support your teaching philosophy.
   2. Course Design [25 points]
      • Connecting course design to your teaching philosophy and practices, describe how you have approached instructional design in one of your courses. Focus on the main elements of instructional design (e.g. objectives, course organization, content and format, learning activities, interaction, assessments) and provide examples from your course along with your rationale for adopting them.
   3. Video clip of “Teaching in Action” (10-minute maximum/electronic link provided) [25 points]
      • YouTube video with embedded link. See instructions from MAGS.
      • The Center for Teaching and Learning is available to consult on video development. They can help identify tools and approaches, but are not available to do the recording.

      • Provide a link to a 10-minute video clip from a collegiate-level course that demonstrates your teaching in action along with a one-paragraph description explaining how this video is representative of your teaching philosophy and practices. A variety of teaching settings may be used for the video including but not limited to lecture, facilitated discussion, lab, etc. as appropriate to the course. The focus should be on activities that demonstrate exceptional or innovative instruction or student learning, such as student engagement, personalized learning, project-based learning, etc. For asynchronous online courses, a video presentation by the instructor of key engaged learning activities, or learning environments, would be an example of good evidence.

      • Please note that instructors need to adhere to all campus FERPA policies, including those for sharing class lectures. If your campus does not have a policy in place, instructors should pass around a sheet where all present students give their permission, via signature, for the specific video(s) to be shared. 

   4. Evidence of Effective Student/Colleague Mentoring [10 points]
      • Describe your experience with mentoring students outside of the classroom, whether that be related to the courses you teach or in other settings. Additionally, discuss any experience you have with mentoring your peers or colleagues in the context of teaching.
   5. Evidence of Professional Development [15 points]
      • Explain how you have used professional development opportunities to improve your teaching skills. If appropriate, how have you aligned professional development in the feedback you have received on your teaching?

Nomination packets are due 4pm, December 11, 2024 to the Graduate School's submission form. Please submit as a single PDF file. Eligible students with a complete nomination packet will be evaluated by a panel of faculty from the University.

Award

Recipients of the MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award will receive:

• A $750 honorarium.
• A citation given at the Annual Meeting.
• Travel expenses to the Annual Meeting.