BLINN COLLEGE PROFESSOR EARNS DISTINGUISHED PSYCHOLOGY TEACHING AWARD
A Blinn College professor has received the highest honor bestowed upon a two-year college psychology educator.
Dr. Katherine Wickes, a 13-year Blinn veteran and a department head in the Division of Social Sciences, was recently named the 2016 Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award winner by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association (APA), the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States.
The award is annually presented to two-year college psychology instructors who exhibit outstanding service and scholarship of teaching and learning.
As part of the nomination requirements, Wickes submitted documents containing her teaching expertise, classroom assessment, research initiatives and service to the College, as well as a two-page paper on her teaching philosophy. She was nominated by Dr. John O. Beaver, Blinn’s dean of educational partnerships.
“[Wickes’s] diligence both in and out of the classroom has positively affected her students, colleagues and the community Blinn serves,” Beaver wrote in the nomination letter. “I can think of no better candidate for this award.”
Past recipients of the Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award have joined the board of the Society for Teaching Psychology or taken leadership positions in APA.
Wickes earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from George Mason University and master’s and doctorate degrees in psychology from Texas A&M University. She began teaching psychology at Blinn in 2003. She serves on the board as past president for Psi Beta, the official national honor society in psychology for community colleges, and is the advisor of Blinn’s Psi Beta student chapter. Wickes is department head of Assessment, Curriculum and Program Development for Blinn’s Division of Social Sciences, and co-chair of the College’s Institutional Review Board, which promotes the ethical and responsible treatment of human participants in research.
“I am pleased, happy and surprised to receive this prestigious award,” Wickes said. “I am no more extraordinary than any other faculty here. I can think of a lot of faculty who would be just as deserving.”
Story and photo courtesy of: Blinn Communications