Mustafa Koc

2009 | Department of Sociology - Ryerson University |

What the students say:
“Mustafa Koc is way ahead of his time with his research, his thought and his message. I registered for his course, Food and Foodways, without much thought since he was a ‘nice prof’. His ideas have profoundly changed my level of (over)consumption and brought to light for me the fact that our current way of doing business will be detrimental for us in the future and for our offspring.”

Guy Lacroix

2009 | Department of Psychology - Carleton University | Guy Lacroixis an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University. Guy obtained his Ph. D. in Psychology from the Université de Montréal in 2001 and his B.A from McGill University in 1995. His research focuses on fundamental and applied questions in cognitive psychology. More specifically, he was been working on theoretical and empirical aspects of learning, attention, and categorization; cognitive factors that are related to child and adult literacy skills; and pedagogical issues in literacy and mathematics.

Since he started teaching in 1998, Guy has presented his lectures in four different universities: Université de Montréal, Brock University, Concordia University and Carleton University. He has taught many classes including introductory, advanced and graduate courses on Cognitive Psychology, as well as Learning and Research Methods in Psychology. He recently received the Carleton Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Excellence Award.

What the students say:
“Professor Guy Lacroix is a fantastic, natural-born teacher. Not only does he deliver his lectures in an impeccably organized and lucid way, but somehow manages at the same time to make the topic (Cognitive Psychology) funny and entertaining. He’s also very interactive with students, encouraging questions from students throughout class and answering these questions in a patient, clear, and disarmingly humourous way. First rate!”

Professor Guy Lacroix’s submission lecture.

Shawn Lehman

2009 | Department of Anthropology - University of Toronto (St. George) |

What the students say:
“In a class full of arts/humanities students that never took biology in their lives, Shawn Lehman teaches about genetics/evolution/biological anthropology and a way that is funny, engaging and informative. Excellent sense of humour, excellent Powerpoint notes, and an all around amazing professor.”

Professor Shawn Lehman’s submission lecture.

Myriam Mongrain

2009 | Department of Psychology - York University |

What the students say:
“Dr. Myriam Mongrain has an exceptional ability to “make learning psychology fun” with her engaging and motivating teaching style, along with clear and informative lectures that integrate multimedia and real life examples.”

Patrick Parnaby

2009 | Department of Sociology and Anthropology - University of Guelph |

What the students say:
“Patrick Parnaby never ceases to amaze me. He makes his lectures very interesting and easy to understand. I never left a lecture without learning something new, and I could not wait until the next lecture I had with him.”

Professor Patrick Parnaby’s submission lecture.

ed Petit

2009 | Department of Psychology - University of Toronto (Scarborough) |

What the students say:
“Professor Ted Petit is very enthusiastic, passionate, and engaging. His lectures were interesting, informative, and funny. I really enjoy coming to his lectures.”

Susan Sajna-Hebert

2009 | Department of Psychology - Lakehead University | Susan Sajna Hebert is a Continuing Contract Lecturer of Psychology at Lakehead University. She received her B.A., (1985) HBA (1987) and M.A. in Clinical Psychology (1993) from Lakehead University. She was among the first instructors at Lakehead University to design, develop, and deliver courses through distance education in 1989.

In the early 1990’s her focus shifted primarily to face-to-face classroom lecturing. Courses taught include Personality Theory and Research, Social Psychology, Introductory Psychology, Child Psychology, Abnormal Psychology and Introductory Statistics. As these are usually large undergraduate courses, the number of students Susan has instructed so far is nearing the 8,000 mark. She has received Lakehead University’s Contribution to Teaching Award twice and was also nominated twice for the more prestigious Distinguished Instructor of the Year Award.

Her academic (and personal) interests include the effects of stress on health, meditation, the role of sleep in health and learning, anxiety and eating disorders, personality disorders, and all things related to mental illness and mental health.

For Susan, teaching is not a job. It is her life’s purpose and passion. She injects her lectures with the most recent findings on relevant topics, humour and real life examples to enhance the learning experience and memory retention in her students. She approaches teaching as an interactive collaboration between professor and student, always encouraging class participation and discussion.

What the students say:
“Susan Sajna-Hebert is an inspiration to all of her students. She makes the world of psychology more interesting and easy to learn! She’s always FULL of energy and is passionate about teaching and helping students learn.”

Professor Susan Sajna-Hebert set an example of humour, intellectual rigour, and vigorous curiosity that I believe has inspired me to be a better scholar and human being.”

Susan Hebert’s submission lecture.

John Stead

2009 | Department of Psychology - Carleton University | John Stead is an Associate Professor within the Institute of Neuroscience (Department of Psychology) at Carleton University.

Perhaps surprisingly, his academic training was originally in Genetics, with a Bachelor degree from the University of Cambridge (UK). He received his Ph.D. in human genetics in 2000 from the University of Leicester (UK), which was followed by a postdoctoral position investigating genetic correlates of psychological stressors, conducted at the University of Michigan. His research explores various aspects of stressor — and diabetes/obesity-associated pathology, with particular emphasis on molecular genetic/genomic changes associated with disease.

Since joining Carleton University in 2004, John has enjoyed teaching a range of topics, including neuroscience, graduate courses in human genetics, plus has had an unexpected amount of fun teaching those compulsory courses that are not traditionally classed as student favourites, such as research methods in psychology and statistics. For Dr. Stead, teaching is a truly enjoyable experience, which he attributes to the passion, receptiveness, and genuine interest of the students in the learning process.

What the students say:
“When you enter John Stead’s classroom, you are guaranteed to laugh, and enjoy your three hours a week with him. Who knew that a class entitled “Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology” could actually be interesting? This is only due to his creative and fun ways of teaching. He is very passionate, and it’s not hard to be engaged.”

John Stead’s submission lecture

uzanne Stewart

2009 | Adult Education and Counselling Psychology - University of Toronto - St. George (OISE) |

What the students say:
“Dr. Suzanne Stewart values equanimity between students and professors, encourages open debate & discussion, values diversity in thought and learning style among her students, and teaches using a holistic framework, engaging students cognitively, emotionally, spiritually and kinaesthetically.”

“I nominate Dr. Suzanne Stewart because of her incredible ability at balancing a?professional, research driven class environment while maintaining an extremely relaxed style of teaching. She is not afraid to push research questions and boundaries and welcomes creative and personal insight from her students.”

Professor Suzanne Stewart’s submission lecture.

Dean Tripp

2009 | Department of Psychology - Queen’s University |

What the students say:
“Dr. Dean Tripp makes his 3 hour night class not only bearable, but also something that I look forward to going to every week. He is very excited about the material that he teaches and he explains it in a way that gets the students excited about it as well.”

Dean Tripp’s submission lecture.

Dax Urbszat

2009 | Department of Psychology - University of Toronto (Mississauga) | Dr. Dax Urbszat began his post-secondary education by attaining a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto with a Specialist in Psychology and a Major in Crime and Deviance. This undergraduate training led to a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School followed by a Master’s and Doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of Toronto. Dax’s research interests are in the areas of Personality, Social, and Forensic Psychology and he is also published in the area of Abnormal Psychology.

?Dax is currently a Lecturer at the University of Toronto and can be found teaching the Introduction to Psychology course at both the downtown and Mississauga campuses. Other courses taught include Social Psychology, Psychology and Law, and Forensic Psychology. Dax believes strongly in providing an interactive learning environment and is known to make deliberate efforts to facilitate students’ learning experience. As evidence, Dax was nominated to the Top 30 in the TVO’s Best Lecturer Competition in 2007 and was awarded the University of Toronto Student Union Award of Excellence for Teaching in 2008.

Away from campus Dax has been a longtime practitioner of the martial arts including meditation and Qigong. Also, an accomplished musician, singer, and songwriter, Dax lends his musical talents each year to help support local charities and the University’s undergraduate Psychology club. Dax’s other interests include golf, scuba diving, and lucid dreaming, and most of all his two sons Dylan (age 7), and Colton (age 4).

What the students say:
“Dr. Dax Urbszat touches not only the intellect, but the very heart and soul of his students. His exemplary character motivates students and instills confidence in them. Students describe him as patient, confident and supportive. He encourages interactive dialogue via innovative in-class experiments, ensuring information is processed at deeper levels. He rises above and beyond the call of duty by helping students learn, grow and evolve not only as students, but as people.”

Dax Urbszat’s submission lecture.

Njoki Wane

2009 | Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education - University of Toronto - St. George (OISE) |

What the students say:
“Dr. Njoki Wane has proven herself to be an outstanding professor who organizes her classes and lectures from a holistic perspective. Her lectures have empowered and inspired many students. She is passionate and immerses herself in her work. Prof Wane motivates students to critically engage with her lectures and to see how her lectures are directly related to our lives.”

“Njoke Wane is a passionate teacher who enjoys teaching, learning, sharing and collaborating with students. She is an inspiration and superb role model to students. Students gravitate to her like “bees to honey” because of her subtle style that challenges students’ analytical and critical thinking to understand the subject as a whole.”

Michael Wohl

2009 | Department of Psychology - Carleton University | Dr. Michael Wohl is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Carleton University. He was hired at Carleton University in 2003 after completing is PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Alberta. Wohl is the past Chair of the Personality and Social Psychology Division of the Canadian Psychological Association. In 2008, he was the recipient of a Teaching Excellence Award from the Carleton University Students’ Association as well as a Research Achievement Award for outstanding research activity at Carleton University.

While Wohl’s research career has been meritorious, he has enthusiastically contributed to the learning experience of students both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. For example, he established a weekly reading group for graduate and undergraduate students in Health and Social psychology in which he guides students through new research developments in the field (called Journal Club). He established Journal Club to facilitate an intellectual community where a research idea can be examined, allowed to grow, and eventually bare fruit.

Dr. Wohl’s main research focus is on the factors that promote forgiveness at both the interpersonal (one person forgiving another for committing a wrong) and intergroup level (members of a historically victimized group forgiving members of the historical perpetrator group). This research also examines the effects of granting and seeking forgiveness on psychological and physical health. Ultimately, Wohl’s work is oriented toward seeking means for reconciliation. Wohl’s research has also focused on, among other things, the factors that contribute to gambler’s refusal to seek treatment. Specifically, his work has focused on how luck, perceived as a personal possession, serves as a predictor of continued gambling behavior.

What the students say:
“There is never a sleepy eye even though the class is fairly early in the morning. When students are engaged, they perform better, and Professor Michael J. A. Wohl is the perfect example of educators ensuring students are educated.”

“Michael J. A. Wohl’s enthusiasm and determination make the class a very friendly and fun environment.”

Professor Michael Wohl’s submission lecture.

Konstantine Zakzanis

2009 | Department of Psychology - University of Toronto (Scarborough) |

What the students say:
“A lot of professors may be experts in their fields, but don’t know how to teach (poor speakers). Or they are great speakers, but don’t have enough research experience. Professor Konstantine Zakzanis has the right combination. He has outstanding research experience, and will often bring it into lectures. He is a phenomenal speaker; clear and captivating with good pace. But more importantly, we can tell how much he loves to teach.”

“Dr. Konstantine Zakzanis does a wonderful job of integrating the text book fundamentals with real life, and interesting examples, all while speaking in a slow and understandable tone. His lectures are flawless in that I have never seen him stumble, or look for words, or skip over slides.”

Professor Konstine Zakzanis’ submission lecture.