2011 CAP Medal for Excellence in Teaching Undergraduate Physics

Prof. Joanne O’Meara is an outstanding classroom educator who receives superlative ratings from her students, who appreciate her clarity in lectures and her willingness to provide out-of-class assistance, whether for course-related topics or for planning for future careers, graduate studies, or other personal issues. A typical student comment is “her passion is clearly communicated both in the enthusiasm of her lecturing and in the willingness to provide help outside of class hours.” She engages students actively in her lectures, and is continually refining her teaching methods and the teaching resources and laboratory activities in her courses. She has given many invited talks and written refereed papers about physics education topics. In the CAP she has been Chair of the Division of Physics Education, was Co-editor of a special issue of Physics in Canada on Physics Education, was one of two lead authors of the CAP Curriculum Revitalization documents, worked on the development of workshops for high school teachers, and was a member of the Teaching Medal Awards Committee. At the University of Guelph, she has served on several Departmental and University committees related to curriculum and education. She currently is Chair of both the Physics Undergraduate Curriculum and the Biological and Medical Physics Curriculum Subcommittee, and is a member of the B.Sc. Program Committee. Outside the university, she has developed science-teaching workshops and student worksheets for local elementary school teachers, has given physics demonstration shows to elementary school students, and presented physics demonstrations on the “Daily Planet” program on the Discovery Channel.