2011 Medal Winners | francais

PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The 2011 CAP Medal for Excellence in Teaching Undergraduate Physics

is awarded to

Joanne O'Meara

"It is truly a great honour to be the 2011 recipient of the CAP Medal for Excellence in Teaching. I would like to thank the Canadian Association of Physicists for this honour, as well as my colleagues at Guelph for fostering an environment in which excellence in teaching is so highly regarded. Most importantly, I thank my students for helping me to continue to grow as an educator." winner citation

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2011 CAP Medal for Excellence in Teaching Undergraduate Physics is awarded to Joanne O'Meara, University of Guelph, in recognition of for her outstanding and innovative work in the classroom, impressive range of engagement in physics education research, and her broad reaching impact beyond the walls of her own classes, from the primary school level on up to the development of a national university-level physics curriculum. announcement

Prof. Joanne O’Meara is an outstanding classroom educator who receives superlative ratings from her students, who appreciate her clarity in lectures and her willingness to provide out-of-class assistance, whether for course-related topics or for planning for future careers, graduate studies, or other personal issues. A typical student comment is “her passion is clearly communicated both in the enthusiasm of her lecturing and in the willingness to provide help outside of class hours.” She engages students actively in her lectures, and is continually refining her teaching methods and the teaching resources and laboratory activities in her courses. She has given many invited talks and written refereed papers about physics education topics. In the CAP she has been Chair of the Division of Physics Education, was Co-editor of a special issue of Physics in Canada on Physics Education, was one of two lead authors of the CAP Curriculum Revitalization documents, worked on the development of workshops for high school teachers, and was a member of the Teaching Medal Awards Committee. At the University of Guelph, she has served on several Departmental and University committees related to curriculum and education. She currently is Chair of both the Physics Undergraduate Curriculum and the Biological and Medical Physics Curriculum Subcommittee, and is a member of the B.Sc. Program Committee. Outside the university, she has developed science-teaching workshops and student worksheets for local elementary school teachers, has given physics demonstration shows to elementary school students, and presented physics demonstrations on the “Daily Planet” program on the Discovery Channel. nominator citation

The CAP Medal for Excellence in Teaching honours faculty members who have a comprehensive knowledge and deep understanding of their subject and who possess an exceptional ability to communicate their knowledge and understanding in such a way as to lead their students to high academic achievement in physics. This medal was introduced in 1996 and has been awarded annually since.

Dr. O'Meara will be presented with the 2011 CAP Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the 2011 CAP Congress (hosted by Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland, from June 13-17) at the end of her plenary talk and will be recognized during the Congress banquet to be held on Thursday, June 16th, 2011. Please refer to the Congress program for the schedule of plenary talks by CAP medal winners. medal description

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate, Institutional, and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics. cap description

joint description

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For more information, please contact: Canadian Association of Physicists Tel: (613) 562-5614 Fax: (613) 562-5615 E-mail: cap@uottawa.ca