SNU has offered Excellence in Teaching Award since 2005 to honor the professors who provided students with best education and to encourage all the faculty members to put sincere efforts in teaching as well as research.
Ten professors were awarded in this year: Professors LEE Kangjae (Department of Chinese Language and Literature), Heeseung CHOI (Department of Nursing), RYU Keunhwan (Department of Economics), LEE Ilha (Department of Biological Sciences), KIM Taewhan (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering), LEE Sang-goo (Department of Computer Science and Engineering), KIM Jae Geun (Department of Biology Education), LEE Inhyung (Department of Veterinary Medicine), LIM Jae Won (Department of Korean Music), and JUNG Woon-Oh (Department of Business Administration)
Professor LEE Kangjae (Department of Chinese Language and Literature)
Professor LEE Kangje
Professor Lee has opened several new classes including general courses such as “Classics of the Orient,” “Chinese Characters and Oriental Culture,” and major courses such as “Chinese Language and Characters” and “Chinese Characters and Grammar.” He also headed the reediting of the Chinese language and literature textbooks including “Learning College-Level Chinese Characters” and “Path to Chinese (1,2) and published lecture supplements such as “Chinese Culture and Scripture” and “Classical Chinese.” For many years, Professor Lee planned and led student programs such as “Regional Language Experience” and “SNU in Beijing.” Through these activities, Professor Lee has shown that he always puts his students first in his efforts to contribute to and improve existing curriculums and programs.
Professor RYU Keunkwan (Department of Economics)
Professor RYU Keunkwan
For the past 26 years, Professor Ryu has taught econometrics/economics statistics at UCLA, Stanford, and SNU, and in his career, developed innovative and effective ways to teach his students. His accomplishments include publishing a textbook (Statistics, Ryu Keunkwan, 2013) that goes beyond theory and integrates real-life examples aimed at changing the classroom dynamics, such as, introducing the ‘flipped learning’ technique in his lectures, and giving 100% open-book exams, thus shifting the classroom dynamic. Outside of the classroom, Professor Ryu participated in the filming of the SNUON lecture series, became a member of K-MOOC, and published casebooks of econometrics and economics statistics for the public, becoming an important teacher not just to students at SNU, but also to the general public.
Professor LEE Ilha (Department of Biological Sciences)
Professor LEE Ilha
Professor Lee has devoted his time to spread scientific knowledges to students. He opened the general course “Biology for Liberal Arts Students” and rewrote the curriculum for the class based on an actual survey of the students’ interests. Since 2010, he has also participated in the production of many lectures on SNUON. He opened his own “A Walk through Biology with Professor Lee Ilha” lecture series, where he educates young adults and citizens of all ages about the field of Biological sciences.
Professor Heeseung CHOI (Department of Nursing)
Professor CHOI Heeseung
Professor Choi has focused on teaching her students to be knowledgeable of both nursing and socio-cultural diversity. Driven by her personal philosophy that “motivation” and “education that corresponds with culture” should be the fundamentals of teaching, she sets up numerous projects and debates for active participation. By creating various opportunities for students to interact and cooperate with each other, she encourages them to respect diversity and to hone their communication skills. And as an international faculty member, she has worked hard to improve the content delivery of her English lectures and has received positive feedback from students.
Professor KIM Taewhan (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Professor KIM Taewhan
Professor Kim has devoted himself to lessening the intimidation students face when they first dive into the field of electrical and computer engineering at a university level. In order to help students battle with the difficulties of the major, he has broken down dense material and created new labs, assignments, and curriculums to make the content more approachable, applicable, and practical. He has also opened “Computer Concepts and Practices” to non-engineering majors to encourage the development of students well-versed in both engineering and the humanities.
Professor LEE Sang-goo (Department of Computer Science and Engineering)
Professor LEE Sang-goo
Professor Lee has focused on improving pedagogy in the fields of science and engineering. To tackle the issue of extensive workload and programming assignments in computer science classes, he has created four types of software that use clickers and has also integrated ‘flipped learning’; he collected feedback from the students and made interactive revisions to his curriculum. Through these methods, he not only increased the effectiveness of and satisfaction with his lectures, but also received recognition from science and engineering educators, who believe that he effectively made use of blended learning techniques.
Professor KIM Jae Geun (Department of Biology Education)
Professor KIM Jae Geun
As an educator, Professor Kim places great importance on being a role model for students, communicating with them and building trust. He educates students on taxonomy and ecology and encourages them to be critical thinkers in the field. By exercising various teaching methods including lectures, presentations, debates, outside data collection, lecture feedback, labs, and research papers, he introduces the students the proper attitudes and habits for becoming future teachers and scholars in the field of biology and even statistics. Professor Kim also reminds students of the similarities and differences between the content of biology and human society, passing on various life-advices along with his academic lectures, cultivating relationships as along with educating.
Professor LEE Inhyung (Department of Veterinary Medicine)
Professor LEE Inhyung
Professor Lee has worked to improve the education of veterinary anesthesiology by utilizing his background in American and Japanese education and research. He has regularly contributed to the improvement of textbooks and teaching methods. By opening his “Veterinary Anesthesiology Practice” and “Ground Rounds” classes, he has created inclusive educational opportunities to undergraduates, graduates, clinic veterinarians, professors, and international students. Furthermore, he has improved and translated practice textbooks and electronic practice records for effective teaching through clinical rotation.
Professor LIM Jae Won (Department of Korean Music)
LIM Jae Won
Over the years, Professor Jung has regularly taught “Korean Orchestral Music” to future musicians of the Department of Korean Music. In this course, students learn ten new songs and study the basic components of traditional Korean music. To help students improve their skills as performers, Professor Jung also holds auditions and regular concerts both in and outside of class. She has received favorable reviews for his efforts in contributing to the progress of his students’ performance skills.
Professor JUNG Woon-Oh (Department of Business Administration)
Professor JUNG Woon-oh
For the past 30 years, Professor Jung has devoted himself to providing undergraduate students with opportunities to have real-life experience and develop a comprehensive understanding of business administration. He is a two-time receiver of the SNU Business Administration’s Excellence in Teaching award. As an invited head professor and a part of the steering committee, he has played a significant role in the establishment of the SNU Graduate School of Business by developing new curriculums, designing MBA programs, and recruiting visiting professors and students.
Written by Ho Jung Annie Hwang, SNU English Editor, annieohan@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr