Q&A with Teaching Award Winner Teresa Woods

Teresa Woods is the recipient of Michigan Technological University's 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award in the Associate Professor/Associate Teaching Professor/Professor/Teaching Professor/Professor of Practice category.

Woods, an associate teaching professor of mathematical sciences, also serves as the Department of Mathematical Sciences' academic coordinator. She holds three degrees from Michigan Tech, graduating with a bachelor's in chemical engineering in 1994, a bachelor's in mathematics in 2011 and a master's in mathematical sciences in 2017. She also earned her master's degree in education from Capella University.

Between earning degrees, Woods' career took her from a position as a process engineer in the semiconductor industry to Vermont Technical College, where she worked as a performance consultant with IBM Microelectronics. Supporting employee skill development indirectly by partnering with training vendors brought her to the realization that she'd rather be teaching.

When her husband's position with IBM ended in 2002, they moved to Houghton without a career plan in place. "A lot of hustle and a broad skill set earned us many short-term contracts," she said. Woods held short-term instructor positions in various departments at Michigan Tech, starting in 2002 until she was hired as a mathematical sciences instructor in 2013. She moved into a lecturer role in 2016. In 2021, she was promoted to her current position.

Prior to becoming the math department's academic coordinator, Woods served as director of Michigan Tech's Math Learning Center, one of the busiest learning centers on campus. A former MTU math coach herself, she was glad to provide administrative support to the knowledgeable undergraduate students who staff the center. Woods currently serves as faculty advisor for Huskies Curl, Tech's curling club, and said it has been thrilling to watch Huskies win national championship medals two years in a row (bronze in 2024 and silver in 2025).

In this Q&A, Woods reflects on her time as an educator and her approach to teaching.

Q: What does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
TW: What has been really heartwarming is when students and colleagues have told me how happy they are for me to receive this recognition. It means my career gamble, leaving engineering and ultimately becoming a teacher, paid off. I think the right career can be a source of great joy, and the wrong one can make you miserable.

Q: Can you share some insights into your approach to teaching and how it's changed over the years?
TW: I place a lot of emphasis on clear, timely communication and a well-organized Canvas course. I've also invested a lot of time making sure that pre-class assignments, in-class learning activities, homework and exams are well-aligned in terms of what concepts are being emphasized. During a typical class period I use an interactive lecture approach, helping students connect new ideas to what they already know and working through a series of examples together. I use questioning techniques to engage students and help them develop their understanding of the mathematics we are studying. The teaching experience I have gained over the years has helped me ask more productive questions and design better learning activities.

Q: What do you think makes for a successful learning experience?
TW: It's important to help students find a satisfying answer to the question "What will learning this help me do that I can't do with the tools I've already mastered?" That's the hook. Follow it with an engaging learning activity appropriate for the learning objectives. Finally, you must provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate what they have learned — the more authentic, the better. We are better able to recall experiences, good or bad, that stirred our emotions. Ideally, the learning experiences we design for students will stimulate a positive emotional response such as curiosity, satisfaction or confidence, and this will help them retain what they've learned.

Q: How do you strive to nurture your students' growth?
TW: This question makes me think of one of my favorite warm weather hobbies, which is tinkering with plants. To grow plants successfully from seed, you need to start with a good plan then pay close attention to how things develop and adjust light, water and nutrients as needed. Teaching is similar. Varied formative assessments give an instructor vital information to guide changes to the instructional plan. Carefully applied stress helps produce healthy, resilient plants. A certain level of stress can be beneficial for students as well — it can push them to rise to challenges and develop important coping skills.

Q: Are there any particular teaching methods or techniques that you find especially effective in helping students grasp complex concepts in your field?
TW: I tend to incorporate small group activities into lessons on complicated topics. The dialogue that occurs between students during these activities helps them make sense of things. Listening to these conversations gives me helpful feedback about how well a topic is understood.

Q: Is there a particular teaching memory from your time at Tech so far that stands out to you?
TW: As a Tech alum, I spent many hours as a student in Fisher 135. I was a nervous wreck the first time I was assigned to teach a large linear algebra class in that room. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

Q: Are there any accomplishments, initiatives, or acts of service you have been part of at Michigan Tech that you are particularly proud of?
TW: I remember attending an information session pertaining to the Essential Education program rollout over a year ago and being really impressed by how so many people from all across campus were pitching in to support that effort. I was also impressed by how smoothly such a complex undertaking was progressing. It was at that information session that I decided I wanted to get involved. My first role was as a member of the Course Lists Working Group in spring 2024, followed by membership in the e-Portfolio Working Group in summer 2024. This past academic year, I served as co-lead of the Essential Education Math + Science + STEM Course List Team.

I've also enjoyed helping Maria Bergstrom and Kelly Steelman facilitate course innovation workshops sponsored by IDEAhub in summer 2024 and again this summer. These workshops guide participants to apply design thinking principles to improve instruction. The fresh ideas, new relationships and optimistic outlooks that result from these workshops are inspiring.

In 2020, I took over scheduling in the mathematical sciences department. As academic coordinator, I work closely with staff from the Registrar's Office and academic advisors to make sure students are able to take the classes they need, when they need them. This is another example of the type of collaborative problem-solving that I find so satisfying, and that characterizes the service roles I'm drawn to time and time again.

Q: What opportunities does this award open up for you?
TW: It adds to my credibility as a teaching mentor to graduate students and new faculty. Mentoring has afforded opportunities for mutual learning and connection, and I'm hopeful for more of those experiences ahead.

Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan's flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.