Alewine Receives Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award
11/10/2008
Dr. Alan Alewine, associate professor of mathematics, was one of approximately 100 St. Louis area educators who received the prestigious Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award on Nov. 9 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Clayton, Mo. 
“Dr. Alewine was recognized by his faculty colleagues for his commitment to student learning, his use of innovative teaching methods, and his efforts to make learning enjoyable,” said Dr. Christine Bahr, McKendree University provost. “As many know, he goes out of his way to support students in and out of the classroom. With this award, we recognize Dr. Alewine’s accomplishments as a teacher and extend our gratitude to him for his dedicated service to our students.”
Since 1989, the program has recognized pre-school through higher education teachers for their passion for teaching, impact on student learning, knowledge and creativity. Honorees are selected by their school districts or institutions for exceptional efforts in the education field.
Alewine teaches Calculus I and II, Vector Functions and Matrices, Multivariate Calculus, Modern Algebra I and II, College Geometry, Linear Algebra, Introduction to Analysis, Point-Set Topology, Differential Equations and Modeling, and Graph Theory.
To keep his students engaged in such challenging subjects, he starts off most classes by playing a music video that relates to the day’s topic.
“I played the electronic dance song ‘The Power’ by the 90’s group Snap!, when we learned the Power Rule for differentiating polynomials,” Alewine said. “I also played “Funkytown”—both the Lips Inc. version and the Chipmunks version from the recent movie—when we learned the derivatives of inverse trigonometric ‘func’tions.”
“The students really like it. It keeps them guessing,” he said. “Mathematics is a difficult subject, even for mathematicians, so I try to be as encouraging as possible without complete shovel-feeding.”
Alewine quoted Dr. Phil Neale, professor emeritus of philosophy, who once said, “’Being a professor is the next best thing to being a student.’ I loved school growing up so this is a just the natural progression of things. I also love it when I witness students ge the ‘A-ha!’ moment when they’ve been struggling with a concept. That’s a great feeling to have, and it’s fun to be part of.”
A resident of O’Fallon, he has been on the McKendree faculty since 2002. He has served as vice president of the McKendree chapter of Phi Kappa Phi national honor society since 2007 and is a member of the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society. He is also a coordinator for the University 101 and Summer Reading Programs.
McKendree University is ranked among the top 10 percent of "Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the nation and in the “Great Schools, Great Prices” category by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2009." The Lebanon, Ill., campus is just 25 miles from downtown St. Louis. McKendree also has campuses in Louisville and Radcliff, Ky., and offers programs at Scott Air Force Base and other sites throughout Illinois and Kentucky. For more information, visit www.mckendree.edu.
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