Cook Receives Outstanding Teacher Award for 2023-2024
The award is given for demonstrating excellence and creativity in teaching, and making a positive impact on students.
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The UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) is pleased to announce that Elizabeth Cook, Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, is the winner of the school’s 2023-2024 College Outstanding Teacher Award (COTA).
The award is given annually to one SPHHS faculty member who demonstrates excellence and creativity in teaching, a positive impact on their students and a mastery of their subject. The College Outstanding Teaching Award program is co-administered by the UMass Amherst Center for Teaching and Learning.
One nominator said, “Dr. Cook’s teaching approaches exemplify her commitment to educational excellence and innovation in adopting new classroom strategies.” Her nominating materials consistently noted her exceptional talent, engagement, and compassion as an instructor.
Since joining UMass in 2005 as a part-time lecturer, Cook has taught more than 1600 graduate and undergraduate students in a variety of courses. However, this was the first academic year that Cook became eligible for the award.
“I was really thrilled to receive this award,” says Cook. “I’ve been teaching at UMass for a long time, but this year was challenging as 3 of the 4 courses I taught were either new or new to me. So, it was especially meaningful to be recognized this year!”
During the 2023-2024 academic year, Cook taught two undergraduate courses, PUBHLTH 224: Epidemiology in Public Health and SPHHS 150: Great Challenges in Public Health, and two new courses in the graduate MPH curriculum, SPHHS 615 and SPHHS 616.
She notes that her teaching philosophy is centered around the core values of connection, relevance, humility and trust.
“My efforts to establish connection start before the semester begins when I send students a welcome survey and video to introduce myself and share my philosophy for the course,” she says. In the early weeks of a semester, she invites each student to “welcome office hours” for a brief conversation where they can share a bit about themselves and their motivations for taking the class, as well as any concerns.
Throughout the semester, she seeks to make material relevant for each student by using current events to create real-world examples with topics that have been discussed in class or that will be tackled later in the semester.
“Everyone can participate in sharing a news item, either in advance or in class, and each student’s perspective adds to the class discussion,” she explains. “I also try to incorporate student choice in topics for assignments so that students can work on applying principles and methods to a situation that they are passionate about whether it’s cancer, reproductive rights, nutrition or particulate matter.”
She seeks to build humility and trust throughout the semester by consistently requesting and responding to student feedback in an effort to continually improve and refine her teaching.
"I also engage in a mid-course assessment (MAP) through CTL in most semesters, especially when teaching a new course (or one that is new to me),” she says. “I share what I’ve learned with students, which also builds their trust.”
Cook notes that most of the courses she has taught have been required for most, if not all, of the students enrolled. “This means that students come to the class from a variety of academic, professional and personal backgrounds – all with different goals,” she notes. For some, this may have been the course they’ve been looking forward to for years; for others, this required course may be viewed as a major speed bump on their path to a degree in another area of public health.
“My challenge is to find a way to inspire all of them,” adds Cook. “I just hope that my students learn that they are active partners in their learning and that I am invested in their success. I’d love for everyone to leave my classes thinking like an epidemiologist!”