University of Northern British Columbia international studies professor Heather Smith has earned an award from the Canadian Political Science Association.
Smith was bestowed the prize for teaching excellence this summer during the CPSA's annual conference in Edmonton.
In selecting Smith for the award, which is given every two years, the CPSA adjudication committee noted her use of alternative methods of teaching.
"Heather Smith demonstrates a profound familiarity with research on pedagogy [the holistic science of education], and a real effort to integrate this into not only her teaching practices, but also into her teaching development activities," the committee said.
Her teaching methods range from traditional essays and test-writing, to holding student art galleries in her classrooms and designing courses that provide students with a wide variety of ways to express themselves.
Smith is a founding UNBC faculty member and the acting director of UNBC's Centre for Teaching and Learning. She also co-authored the first-ever book on Canadian foreign policy that included a component on methods of teaching.
"Just because we're academics doesn't mean all we do is research," Smith said. "At UNBC, we also have an equally strong commitment to teaching; it's the other side of the same coin.
"In fact, a high percentage of our faculty members are working with their students on their own research projects both as a form of research and scholarship and a method of teaching, which is why UNBC students have such a high success rate and often move on to graduate studies."
More recently, Smith was lead author in an article published in a prestigious peer-reviewed journal on international studies. Six recent UNBC graduates - her former students - were listed as co-authors.
