NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Lauds 5 for Effective Teaching

They come from places as disparate as Michigan, Iran and Japan, and their fields range from chaos theory to reptiles.

But the five winners of the Distinguished Teaching Award at Cal State Northridge have one thing in common: They like to think they are tough.

“I’m a slave driver,” laughed Akiko Hirota, head of the Japanese section in the Asian studies department, one of those honored at commencement ceremonies Friday.

“I don’t think you can accomplish anything without hard work. . . . The students love it,” added Hirota, who was born in Japan and teaches Asian literature, culture and Japanese-language classes.

“They say I’m very difficult,” said Carrie Saetermoe, assistant psychology professor and an award winner. “I push the students as hard as I can. But they have fun.”

Each year, a committee of the CSUN Faculty Senate accepts nominations from students and faculty members for the awards, which include a $500 prize. This year, the committee examined course materials and student evaluations of 20 teachers nominated.

The winners were Hirota, Saetermoe, associate mathematics professor Ali Zakeri, biology professor Anthony J. Gaudin and education professor Susan Wasserman.

A love for teaching and a desire to make even the most reluctant students enjoy their subject were cited by several winners as key to their success.

Zakeri, who hails from Iran, teaches a wide range of math classes, including a required class for non-majors. Some enroll with little enthusiasm, he said.

“They’ll come to me at the beginning of the semester and they say they hate mathematics,” Zakeri said. “I say, ‘OK, I am going to teach you how to love it.’ It’s all in how you teach, if you fall into the hands of the wrong teacher you will hate any subject.”

The award, said faculty President Louise Lewis, is based on how teachers “make students think on their own and intuitively, how they make students think on a broad scope, how they act as role models, and their caring for students.”