CWU Professor Honored with Distinguished Teaching Award

Central Washington University Professor of Mathematics Jean Marie Linhart discovered that a fresh approach to testing and a deeper understanding of her students led to higher pass rates and better performance overall.

Her methods have earned her the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Pacific Northwest Section of the Mathematical Association of America (PNW-MAA).

In their award citation, the PNW-MAA noted Linhart’s efforts to make her courses as accessible as possible to students from all walks of life.

“One clear marker of her excellent teaching is her success with implementation of Mastery Based Testing in her discrete mathematics and other courses, which was inspired by her observation of student struggles, and now contributes to their enthusiasm and success,” the citation read. “Students frequently comment that her course structure helps them learn and motivates them to try harder.”

Mastery Based Testing is the practice of dividing assessment into smaller, more manageable chunks, and allowing students to retake tests, learning from their mistakes and improving their scores. Linhart has found that this approach shifts the focus away from a few high-stress grade-defining days and puts the focus on continued learning.

“With the option to retake tests, students display their ability to learn from mistakes,” she said. “This approach emphasizes the learning process and continual improvement.”

Linhart’s teaching philosophy extends beyond innovative teaching methods.  She prioritizes building open, collaborative relationships with her students, ensuring they know that she’s on their side.

“I try to think about where they’re coming from and what struggles they might be carrying with them into the classroom,” she said. “Making myself available to them helps us establish a collaboration around their college career and future goals.”

Over time, the impact this new approach has had on her classes has been positive, both for Linhart and her students.

“After I got all the bugs ironed out after a quarter or two, most students were passing my class,” she said. “Students were learning and retaining more, and earning the test scores to prove it.”

The PNW-MAA selects each year’s Distinguished Teaching Award winner from a pool of applicants. Linhart’s nomination was written by former Mathematics Department Chair Janet Shiver. She was presented with the award at the PNW-MAA meeting in June, held in Anchorage, Alaska.

Linhart regularly shares her methods with the broader teaching community by publishing articles in PRIMUS (Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies), an academic journal for professors teaching undergraduate math courses. She said one of the keys to her success in the classroom lies on the first page of the syllabus she gives students on their first day of class.

“The first word on every syllabus I write is ‘welcome,’” Linhart said. “We should always approach our students and our teaching with a sense of welcome. By showing students that I’m happy they’re here and I’m excited to teach them, we can quickly move past any apprehension and focus on learning.”