Meet Emily Cantonwine, Winner of VSU’s 2024 Presidential Excellence Award for Teaching

Dr. Richard A. Carvajal, president of Valdosta State University, recently honored Dr. Emily Cantonwine with the 2024 Presidential Excellence Award for Teaching. She joined the faculty of VSU’s College of Science and Mathematics in 2007 and currently serves as a professor in the Department of Biology.

VALDOSTA — Dr. Richard A. Carvajal, president of Valdosta State University, recently honored Dr. Emily Cantonwine with the 2024 Presidential Excellence Award for Teaching.   

The Presidential Excellence Award for Teaching recognizes a faculty member who employs innovative teaching strategies and demonstrates a strong commitment to student success.  

Cantonwine joined the faculty of VSU’s College of Science and Mathematics in 2007 and currently serves as a professor in the Department of Biology.

VSU: What are your favorite classes to teach and your favorite topics to research?

Cantonwine: My favorite classes are the ones I am actively teaching. That’s because I enjoy sparking interest in others. Some semesters, it's Principles of Biology I and Mycology; others, it's Plant Pathology and Biodiversity of Fungi. My research focuses on how peanut plants and two fungal species that attack them interact to cause disease. I am also curious how these fungi survive in between peanut seasons.

VSU: What strategies/tools/techniques have proven most effective in increasing student learning in your classroom?

Cantonwine: In my introductory biology course, I use remote response devices (clickers) to enhance attention, provide practice, correct misconceptions, and promote interest. The clicker data also helps me determine if I need to slow down instruction or speed it up. In my upper-division courses, I often include project-based learning activities related to authentic problems and cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is a guided inquiry method that promotes peer-to-peer and self-directed learning. I have been recording lectures with Kaltura since 2017, and many students tell me this is the most effective teaching strategy I use.

VSU: Helping students achieve success often involves countless hours of work outside the classroom. In what ways do you actively engage with your students to continue the learning process outside of scheduled class times?

Cantonwine: I have directed 35 undergraduate students and six graduate students in independent research at VSU, with more than 40 scholarly products produced. Each student received one-on-one training in lab techniques and extended conversations so they understood the science and math they were applying.

VSU: What advice do you have for other faculty who wish to identify more effective ways to stimulate engagement and comprehension in their own classroom?

Cantonwine: The new Experiential Learning Certificate Program that the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching-Quality Enhancement Plan team created with the experiential learning faculty ambassadors is outstanding. I encourage everyone who wants to improve their instruction to become Experiential Learning certified.

As the winner of the Presidential Excellence Award for Teaching, Cantonwine received a framed certificate and a $1,000 cash prize.