Dr. Amanda Gonzales, assistant professor of accountancy, pursues teaching excellence in the classroom through the inspiration she receives from students. Her passion to help students grow and flourish resulted in her being named a Seacrest Teaching Fellow this fall.
“My students motivate me to continually reflect and grow as a teacher. Providing my students with the best learning experience possible is a top priority. The Seacrest Teaching Fellows program is a wonderful opportunity for me to benefit from the immense wisdom of my amazing colleagues in both the shortterm as I pursue my next classroom innovation, and in the long-term as we continue to work together to help students thrive,” said Gonzales.
Dr. Amanda Gonzales plans to research methods of enhancing the dynamics of teamwork utlizing a team charter created by her students.
Through the college’s Seacrest Fellowship, made possible through the support of Rhonda and the late James Seacrest, Gonzales plans to investigate how to improve dynamics of working in team settings by having students develop and utilize a team charter. The charter, which students create, serves as a document team members use to specify objectives, roles, norms and processes.
“I plan to investigate whether students’ explicit recall of their individual and collective strengths as part of the team charter development enhances measures of team effectiveness such as team cohesion, member satisfaction and performance. This intervention builds on research in positive psychology that suggests identifying and using strengths increases individuals’ engagement and achievement,” she explained.
Dr. Aaron Crabtree, director of the School of Accountancy and associate professor of accountancy, said, “Not only are Amanda’s numbers from her student evaluations near the top of the School of Accountancy, she consistently receives glowing and meaningful written comments. This speaks to her ability to connect with students. She is exactly the type of faculty member we want as a Seacrest Teaching Fellow.”
Dr. Tawnya Means, assistant dean, director of the Teaching and Learning Center and assistant professor of practice in management, noted Gonzales’ ability to resonate with the mission-focused goals of the College of Business.
“Amanda’s willingness to develop resources and investigate the impact of her teaching innovation on course evaluations, student satisfaction, retention and performance will help other faculty in any department leverage organizational behavior literature on student strengths and positive psychology to impact successful teamwork in their courses using team charters,” said Means.
Gonzales believes this honor can only enhance her ability to help students be prepared to successfully address business-related challenges in the future.
“It is a tremendous honor. My long-term goal is to implement classroom innovation for group projects that students can apply to work effectively in teams in their future professional endeavors and develop resources that faculty in any discipline can leverage to better use team charters in their courses,” said Gonzales.