Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching
The Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching is the college’s highest teaching award. It honors a teacher who communicates high expectations and encourages intellectual curiosity within and across disciplines; respects diverse talents and ways of learning and uses variety in instruction; and engages students and inspires them to do their best work. The award is named for the late Professor Jack Jensen who, through his dedication to teaching, inspired faculty and students alike.
Christine Konicki Bieszczad, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Natural and Environmental Sciences
With her strong belief in a multidimensional approach to teaching, Associate Professor of Natural and Environmental Sciences Dr. Christine Konicki Bieszczad has been sharing her passion for natural sciences with the Colby-Sawyer community since 2007.
Known fondly as “Dr. B,” the Dartmouth Medical School graduate instructs classes and labs in anatomy, biology, epidemiology, microbiology, pharmacology, physiology and toxicology, as well as courses in the Liberal Education and Wesson Honors programs. She guides students as advisor of the Biology Club, is a Capstone research advisor for biology majors, and was past advisor of the Health Professions Association. Beyond her instructor and advisor roles, Dr. Bieszczad strives to maintain the college’s high quality experiential learning and professional preparation programs as a member of the Institutional Review Board and the Undergraduate Research Task Force.
Dr. Bieszczad’s teaching style centers around the philosophy that the more ways students can encounter new information, the better it is retained. “I use a ‘see it, hear it, write it and say it’ approach to teaching and learning,” Dr. Bieszczad said. “Students see the information in the text, hear it during lecture, and write notes from the classroom board. They ‘say it’ when answering the many questions I ask, as well as during study sessions and class presentations. I also try to incorporate drawings, short videos and low stakes writing assignments to help students retain and understand the material.”
This practical approach to teaching has been embraced and appreciated by her students, as expressed in multiple award nominations. “I believe that Dr. Bieszczad encompasses all the qualities that promote deep undergraduate exploration and learning,” one student nominator said. “I have had Dr. Bieszczad for two courses and in each of the courses she communicates high expectations to her students, thus pushing them to truly learn the course material.”
A senior class nominator writes, “Dr. Bieszczad has truly inspired me throughout my four years at Colby-Sawyer. Even outside of class, she is incredibly supportive of academic inquiries. She has been indispensable in the development of my honors Capstone where I decided to examine an infectious disease. I cannot express enough how deeply Dr. Bieszczad has impacted my academic experience at Colby-Sawyer.”
“She consistently shows that her expertise extends far beyond the laboratory,” another student nominator writes. “Microbiology is notoriously difficult for first-year nursing students, yet she consistently meets with students and encourages them to pursue their dreams.”
Beyond Colby-Sawyer, Dr. Bieszczad brings extensive research experience, professional affiliations and activities, publications, presentations and honors to her impressive list of accomplishments. She serves on the editorial board for the online biology journal Fine Focus; was involved in reviewing the American Society of Microbiology’s Guidelines for Biosafety in Teaching Laboratories; and is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, the Northeast Association of Advisors for the Health Professions and is a Health Profession Advisor registered with the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Dr. Bieszczad lives with her husband and three children in Grantham. She holds a B.S. in biology from Saint Joseph’s College in Connecticut and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from Dartmouth Medical School. As is the tradition for the Jensen Award winner, Dr. Bieszczad will deliver the 181st Commencement Address on Saturday, May 11.