Towner Prize Winner

Emily Speakman

IOE 202

Emily was an exceptionally effective GSI for IOE 202, an introductory class to operations modeling. In her teaching, Emily used real-world problems, in which she helped students use both algebraic approaches and practical experiences. During her office hours, she sought creative ways to help students better grasp the concepts being taught. For example, when students felt as though they didn’t know how to begin a problem, Emily would often ask them to explain what the problem was about. She found that many times students knew much more than they were aware of. Passing this awareness on to her students allowed them to increase their confidence and make connections between concepts. In addition to her outstanding interaction with students, Emily developed lecture materials, assessment tools, and resources for office hours, which have since been passed on and used in other sections of IOE 202. As a testament to her effectiveness, instructors of the following class, IOE 310, said that Emily’s former students had an excellent understanding of the techniques taught in her class.