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Associate Professor of Psychology Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell has won the Outstanding Baccalaureate Colleges Professor of the Year Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The CASE/Carnegie prize is the only national award for excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring.

Lewis & Clark President Tom Hochstettler says the award honors Detweiler-Bedell’s “extraordinary commitment to her students and to psychological research. It highlights the ways Lewis & Clark faculty are transforming undergraduate education with innovative methods.”

Hands-on teaching

Detweiler-Bedell, who joined the psychology faculty in 2001, immerses students in interactive and challenging lessons starting in their first psychology course. Students in her Introduction to Psychology class, for example, handle a human brain and imagine themselves as subjects in classic psychology experiments. More advanced students in her Clinical Psychology course assume the roles of therapist and patient as they learn to solve realistic problems.

“The class was designed to mimic a graduate school course,” says Melanie Cohen ’09, a senior psychology major. “I visited Jerusha’s office weekly to discuss my ‘patient.’”

Colleague Sheila Woody, professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, describes Detweiler-Bedell as “deeply committed to the intellectual growth of her students and the scholarly life of the university, putting herself wholeheartedly into her roles as teacher and mentor.”

Innovative mentorship

With her husband, Associate Professor of Psychology Brian Detweiler-Bedell, Jerusha runs the Behavioral Health and Social Psychology Lab. The laboratory offers undergraduates a chance to participate in real-world collaborations and help design original psychology research projects.

Student researchers in the lab work in teams of three with a senior psychology major as team leader, a sophomore or junior psychology major as associate researcher, and a student new to the field as research assistant. In this unique approach, senior members practice leadership skills while less advanced students learn research skills and assume increasing responsibility.

With the Detweiler-Bedells as collaborators, students carry out experiments, present findings at psychology conferences, and publish in scholarly journals. “Students are not just research assistants. They’re also involved in the creative process,” says Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell.

In June 2008, the lab received a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program. The grant will support ongoing projects and help the Detweiler-Bedells publish a book on their unique approach to undergraduate teaching.

“CASE and the Carnegie Foundation saw in Jerusha what we also see in her: an inspiring and very talented teacher whose pedagogical approach in the classroom and laboratory is informed by excellent scholarship,” says Julio de Paula, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, of the award.

Students acknowledge that Detweiler-Bedell is one of many Lewis & Clark professors dedicated to outstanding teaching. As Richie LeDonne ’11 puts it, “Jerusha embodies one of many great opportunities students have here. Professors at Lewis & Clark will take you as far as you want to go.”

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Related Material

• Awards Luncheon: Student Introduction by Former Student Shannon Brady B.A.’06
  
• Awards Luncheon: Video Snippett of Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell’s Acceptance Speech [full text of speech]
• Chronicle of Higher Education: 4 Faculty Members Are Honored as U.S. Professors of the Year
• The Oregonian: Lewis & Clark professor wins national education honor
• The Oregonian: Podcast: Lewis & Clark professor wins national award for giving students practical experience
• The Oregonian: Lewis & Clark prof among tops in nation
• U.S. Professors of the Year: CASE, Carnegie Name Top U.S. Professors of the Year

About the Award

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selects one Professor of the Year in each of four categories—baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral institutions, and community colleges. In addition, one professor from each state is eligible for a state award. Professors must be nominated by colleagues or administrators at their home institutions and submit several letters of support, including student recommendations. More information regarding the awards program can be found at www.usprofessorsoftheyear.org.