Michigan Professor Of The Year Sets High Standards
Michigan's Professor of the Year Andrew Gerhart likes to talk to students about their interests outside the classroom because he believes the rapport he establishes makes him a more effective teacher.
The engineering subjects Gerhart teaches, such as thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and aeronautics, can be hard to learn. As he sees it, a big part of his job as a professor is to convince students that they can meet his high expectations.
"It is important to gain the trust of the student, because I set expectations high, but reachable. I have found that if students trust that the expectations are reachable, they will rise to the challenge that they are given," he said.
That approach caught the attention of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which have named Gerhart the 2010 Michigan Professor of the Year. This is the only national program to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring.
Gerhart believes a professor should be approachable, personable and accessible. He makes a point of speaking to students before and after class about things they are interested in besides engineering.
The conversation with students continues in the classroom where Gerhart encourages every student to contribute. He uses open-ended design projects where students work in teams to discover solutions to everyday issues. He also incorporates problem-based learning, which is team-based and student-driven.
"Just throwing things up on a chalkboard and having them take a test doesn't teach them anything," Gerhart said. "That's something Lawrence Tech is big in trying to push -- experiential and engaging learning as opposed to the old traditional format of chalkboard, lecture and notes."
He believes that college professors have to develop new ways to interact with students who are accustomed to getting information from the Internet.
"Our students have changed over the years. There's been a shift in culture and society. People are much more visual learners. You've got to keep them engaged," he said.
Beyond that, his teaching philosophy remains pretty simple – be fair and expect greatness.
"You want to set the bar high, and because of that rapport and trust, they're willing to try to reach that bar," he said.
An associate professor in the A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gerhart has taught at Lawrence Tech since 2002. A remarkably active teacher and researcher, he has been nationally recognized for papers and presentations about improving the educational process, and has written undergraduate textbook problems and web-based tutorials for national publishers.
He holds three degrees, all in mechanical engineering, including a BS from the University of Evansville, an MS from the University of Wyoming, and PhD from the University of New Mexico. He studied fluid dynamics for four years at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M.
Gerhart coordinates 12 courses in the College of Engineering and has developed eight new courses. He established a new minor in Aeronautical Engineering and two certificate programs in Energy and Environmental Management and Aeronautical Engineering.
He is the faculty advisor for the SAE Aero Design team and chairs Lawrence Tech's Leadership Curriculum and Implementation Committee.
Matthew Greer, a former student now with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics who wrote to support Gerhart's nomination, said, "Dr. Gerhart's class was not about getting the correct answer, but rather, comprehending why you were using a certain formula or model to come to a conclusion. In industry, this is an invaluable skill to have already mastered, because one must be able to understand and apply the tools at hand to solve problems effectively and efficiently."
Lawrence Technological University offers more than 100 undergraduate, master's and doctoral degree programs in the Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Management. Founded in 1932, the 4,500-student, private university pioneered evening classes and today has a growing number of weekend and online programs. Lawrence Tech's 102-acre campus is in Southfield, and programs are also offered in Detroit, Lansing, Petoskey, Traverse City and Toronto. Lawrence Tech also offers programs with partner universities in Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Lawrence Tech Associate Professor Andrew Gerhart engages his students in a discussion about the attributes of different gate valves during a thermo science lab.
