Animal behaviour specialist takes top kudos for undergrad teaching excellence
Early achievement of excellence in undergraduate teaching award winner credits mother for her teaching values
Her students probably wonder, says Clover Bench, why she spends so much time working with them on their writing and on strategizing how to improve their grades, or how to overcome personal challenges.
"It's because I watched a college student struggle," said Bench, who teaches animal behaviour in the Faculty of ALES and is this year's recipient of the Provost's Award for Early Achievement of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
That student was her own mother, Susan. She'd passionately wanted to teach science, too, and earned her degree while working full time and raising Bench as a single parent. While a student-teacher, her mom dispensed information to students at a science centre and brought snakes and gophers to guest lectures in Bench's elementary school. Most importantly, she was always alert and helpful to any students who floundered.
"I learned from my mom that it's not the big things you do, but the little things," said Bench. "When she caught that there was a student struggling, she stopped and spent extra time. Even if it was just that the student didn't have the confidence, and she said 'you can do it,' or if the student wasn't being honest with themselves, she was there for a reality check."
Yet despite her natural knack for it, Bench's mom never did teach as a profession. By the time she graduated, it was evident she could make more money at the Silicon Valley job she'd held while putting herself through school. So she put her dream aside but encouraged her daughter's love of animals by allowing her to raise pigs, lamb and steer through 4H clubs, and supported her through a B.A. and master's, and a PhD in ethology, the study of animals' behaviour in their natural environment, at the University of Saskatchewan.
Bench's mom died of cancer in 2009, three years before Bench became a full-time assistant professor, specializing in the study of farm livestock behaviour. But her teaching values survive. They're front and centre in all the endorsements students and colleagues sent the award committee praising how memorably Bench imparts her passion for understanding animal behaviour in order to improve their health and welfare.
Bench's admirers also emphasized the personal interest she takes in each student, from ensuring they master course work to coaching them on soft and hard networking skills. They commended her for ensuring students learn to problem-solve via her scenario-based assignments and exams. They pointed out that in addition to already designing three 300-level courses, Animal Welfare, Food Animal Behaviour, and Companion Animal Behaviour, the young professor also hosts a weekly, lunch-time study group and provides extra mentoring for capstone courses.
Bench has also forged an array of solid community connections so students can test their knowledge by conducting useful projects in real-life animal care settings such as the Valley Zoo, where one group recently evaluated animal enclosures during the facility's renovations and recommended environmental enrichments.
The depth of her student guidance is underscored by Bench's standing offer to provide an hour's feedback on any paper if it's submitted seven days before it's due.
"I'm trying to teach good professional habits, like time management, being organized, being prepared, being a good writer," said Bench.
"So the carrot is that if you are well organized enough to have a final draft a week before, I will sit with you, and go through it, just like I would with a grad student, and give you feedback. There are rules. I don't just tell them what to do. I pick it apart and say, 'Did you know you have a favourite word you use a lot?' Or I can tell what they're relying on as a source. It's meant to be transformative and to teach them a bit about themselves."
Students who benefit can thank both Bench and her mom.