Engaging and inspiring students: Simon Woodcock wins 2024 Cormack Teaching Award

Associate professor Simon Woodcock has been experimenting with new ways of engaging students, and his success has earned him a 2024 Cormack Teaching Award.

Woodcock noticed two challenges when he was teaching econometrics, a notoriously difficult and abstract subject, to undergraduate students. First, students seemed to be less interested in theory and more interested in acquiring practical skills. Second, student engagement in class was historically low, with many students feeling isolated from their instructors and their peers.

In response to these challenges, Woodcock redesigned two of his courses, ECON 334: Data Visualization and Economic Analysis and ECON 335: Cause and Effect in Economic Data. He shifted to focus on developing practical skills, looking at real-world applications of data analysis and decreasing lecture time in favour of in-class programming demonstrations. 

Woodcock also decided to hold his office hours in the lab. This gives students the opportunity to interact with him in an unstructured way and work alongside their peers to complete their assignments. 

The positive results were so striking that Woodcock decided to redesign ECON 480 and is now looking at how he can improve his graduate courses.

Connecting with and motivating students is one of Woodcock’s strengths. He holds the department-wide record for the most successful supervisor of graduate students to date, with many of his PhD students landing excellent placements. Former graduate students speak of the ways he fosters academic excellence, his deep commitment to student success and his engaged mentorship.

Woodcock’s courses are popular among students and he routinely receives higher than average course evaluations. He is “extremely available outside the classroom to guide the students through challenges without providing black and white answers, but by encouraging students to think critically and develop answers themselves,” says Aurora De Luca, undergraduate student and Economics Student Society (ESS) president.

This year Woodcock guided the ESS through their annual Case Competition, helping with the development of the competition and providing feedback on how they could improve. He also took part in the all-day event as a judge, listening to and grading five group presentations and networking with over 40 students.  

The Cormack Teaching Awards are awarded annually to faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to student learning, pedagogical engagement, and teaching innovation throughout their career in the Facutly of Arts and Social Sciences.

Congratulations Dr. Woodcock!