UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With an extensive background in mineralogy, geochemistry and the geosciences, Penn State Professor of Geosciences Peter Heaney can teach to a range of knowledge and experience levels. He strives to maintain accessibility in all lessons by demonstrating contextual value while keeping instruction fun and engaging.
For Heaney, this approach “takes more time but it contextualizes complex ideas for students, and it humanizes the scientific process.”
His incorporation of hands-on exercises and visualizations, class debates and encouragement of questions in a variety of courses earned him the 2023 George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching earlier this year for his work in the Department of Geosciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Heaney was one of six Penn State faculty members selected for the 2023 Atherton Award, which is named after Penn State’s seventh president and honors excellence in teaching at the undergraduate level.
Heaney said that the award “reflects a recognition from both my colleagues and my wonderful students for my efforts to develop effective teaching strategies over the past 30 years.”
He noted his role in “the first introduction of ‘clickers’ in large-enrollment classes” as his proudest contribution to the Penn State community. The wireless electronic instruction technique helped students in their understanding of class materials, promoted a sense of equity and belonging in class engagement, and “improved the course attendance rates from 30-40% to 80-85%,” said Heaney.
A focus on the student experience is evident in Heaney’s teaching style, and several of his students have expressed their appreciation in written nominations for the Atherton Award.
“The differentiator for Professor Heaney,” said one student, “is his awareness and ability to teach to each of his students’ knowledge bases, catering to both novices and solid-state chemists.”
For another student, Heaney was representative of “the upper echelon of professors at Penn State, and clearly exhibited his love for education through his innovative teaching strategies and collaborative work.” The same student expressed how Heaney’s passion for ocean conservation and education inspired her to focus on sustainability in her personal life by reducing her plastic consumption.
Heaney thanked his students and colleagues for their nominations and “for allowing me to convey my excitement for the Earth sciences to the next generation.”
About the George W. Atherton Award and how to nominate
The George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching is awarded each year to six tenure-line, teaching or clinical instructors from across the University who have demonstrated excellence in undergraduate teaching. The award comes with a $2,500 cash prize.
Anyone in the Penn State community or beyond can nominate an instructor for one of the undergraduate teaching awards by completing a form on the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence website, which also lists eligibility criteria. Nominees who are chosen to advance in the selection process are then asked to provide supporting documents such as recommendation letters and a teaching philosophy.
The 2024 awards will be announced in April 2024 based on nominations submitted prior to June 30, 2023. Nominations are accepted year-round, and those submitted before June 30, 2024, will be considered for the 2025 awards.