It is my great pleasure to let you know that the 2015-2016 Siegel Teaching Prize winner is Lan Li, who graduated from the HASTS program in June. This honor was established in 2006 by STS, with generous support from the Siegel Family, to recognize graduate students in the HASTS Program who excel in their work as teaching assistants. The prize committee, Rosalind Williams and Robin Scheffler, prepared the following prize citation:
"Lan Li was nominated for her work in STS.049 (“The Long War Against Cancer”), her second position as a teaching assistant as a HASTS student. Her service was notable for the extraordinary energy and creativity she brought to the classroom. In her weekly recitation sessions, she stimulated student engagement in learning through a wide variety of media, including games, timelines, images, and films. For example, for a discussion of cigarette regulation, she covered the room with reprints of tobacco advertisements. Both her numerical ratings and student comments were exceptionally strong. One student wrote that Lan Li was the greatest recitation teacher she had had at MIT: “Her enthusiasm, knowledge, and care for the subject material and for our understanding of it were second to none.” Another wrote simply, “I love recitation!” Lan Li brought similar energy and creativity when she presented a guest lecture in the course. For this she wove together movies, still images, and words to convey the experiences of cancer patients. A student commented that it was “one of the best lectures [I had] heard at MIT.” Most notably, throughout the term Lan Li demonstrated teaching excellence in the detailed, time-consuming attention she gave to individual students in improving their work for the class, especially their written work. When students struggle to communicate, especially in writing, it takes time, effort, and tact for a teacher to help them develop both the self-confidence and the skills to do better. Lan Li did this with her students, many of whom commented on her helpful and thorough reviews of their work. Several students who entered the class as struggling writers emerged from it with outstanding final essays (and also with the declared intentions of minoring in STS!). We commend Lan Li for demonstrating that undergraduate teaching can be not just informative but transformative. We commend her and the other outstanding nominees for this year’s Siegel Teaching Prize for helping make STS subjects such an effective and valued part of the MIT undergraduate teaching program.” Please join me in congratulating Lan for this wonderful and much deserved honor. I am also grateful to Roz and Robin for serving on the prize committee. Jen Jennifer S. Light Department Head and Professor of Science, Technology and Society Professor of Urban Studies and Planning Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Ave., E51-173 Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 452-2390 http://web.mit.edu/sts/people/light.html
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