Larasati (Lara) Wulandari, a fourth-year PhD student in development economics with the Department of Economics has won the UTM June Scott Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Assistants. The award recognizes the contributions teaching assistants make towards the achievement of excellence in undergraduate education and to honour those who have made exceptional contributions to teaching. Award winners receive $2000 to put toward conference travel or professional development.
“This award really means a lot to me” Wulandari said. “Teaching has been one of the most rewarding parts of my time here at UofT, and it’s incredibly meaningful to know that students and instructors felt positively about our work together.”
Nominations for the award are supported by both faculty, who oversee teaching assistants in their courses, by staff, and by students who benefit from their work as tutorial leaders and marker/graders.
“As an Academic Advisor, I regularly hear from students about their challenges and successes in the classroom,” said Kayla Forrester of the UTM Department of Economics and one of Wulandari’s nominators. “It is often the case that students reach out when something isn’t going well, but in Lara’s case, the opposite was true. Lara was the Teaching Assistant that students most often mentioned positively, and her seamless transition to course instructor was reflected by their comments.”
Wulandari completed her undergraduate degree at UTM and took many of the same courses she now supports as a TA.
“I took ECO206 (Microeconomics) with Professor Xianwen Shi in my second year and later became his TA,” she remembered. “It was a full-circle moment!”
Over the years, has also contributed to ECO101, ECO375, and ECO380 and developed a sound pedagogical focus based in empathy and her own experience.
“I think I still have a lot to learn in terms of teaching strategies,” she said, “but I always make sure that the students feel they can ask me any questions. I still remember how confusing some of the concepts felt when I first learned them, so I try to be as patient and clear as possible, offering to repeat what I said if they didn’t get it and to reassure students that it’s okay to take time to understand.”
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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