Teacher of the Year 2004-2005
Name: Dr. Robert J. Thieke
Department: Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering
College: College of Engineering
Rank: Assistant Professor
Years at UF: 15
Year and Institution of Ph.D.: 1988, University of California, Berkeley
Activities that led to award:
I have served for 15 years at the University of Florida, teaching 12 different courses which have been attended by over 2500 students from across the College of Engineering. My primary teaching responsibility is the undergraduate Hydrodynamics course in the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, which is an extensively laboratory-oriented course that is taught every semester and is a required element for over 150 students per year in programs in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Agricultural Engineering. In the past five years I have also taught 2 other undergraduate courses and 5 graduate courses within our department.
My teaching philosophy follows directly from the root of the word education (educe), that is, to "draw forth" or "bring out". I have found that the most effective learning occurs when the students are active participants who “discover” concepts and physical principles rather than merely being informed that they exist.
An often cited quotation of William Butler Yeats reads: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." There is a tremendous excitement to be realized in the process of learning; I do my best at every turn to impart some of that excitement to my students.
