Online Edition | Washington State University | Pullman, Washington | Friday, January 25, 2002

Teaching & Learning
Professor named 
science teacher of the year
By Rod Foss, WSU Today

John P. McNamara might seem like an everyday example of the classic all-American: College professor and dairy advisor, wife and three children, Cub and Boy Scout leader, bowler on the WSU staff league. But that is where the analogy stops. His academic credentials are impressive, even for a world-class university like WSU.

He’s also the Washington Science Teacher Association’s (WSTA) Teacher of the Year, in Higher Education. This award recognizes not only outstanding ability but service to the K-12 teaching community as well.

The 2001 award was given in November at a WSTA conference banquet in Yakima. But the ever-busy McNamara, with a previous commitment, had to forego the ceremony — the WSU Cooperative University Dairy Students (CUDS), which he advises, had their annual review at that same time. His friend and WSU colleague, John Paznokas, accepted the award on his behalf.

McNamara will chair WSTA’s 2003 conference in Pullman.

A look at his background shows why he was an excellent candidate for the award.

After earning his bachelor of science degree in agricultural science in 1976 from the University of Illinois, McNamara took only five and one-half years more to earn a master’s and his Ph.D. The master’s degree in dairy science came also from Illinois in 1978. The University of Georgia awarded him his Ph.D. in nutrition (the first doctorate in the program) in 1982. He did some postdoctoral work in dairy science at the University of Florida before coming to WSU in 1983. He is a "scientist and professor" of animal sciences and nutrition in the Animal Sciences Department and Nutrition Program, specializing in lactation biology and nutrition.

In addition, McNamara is the recipient of three fellowships, is a member of eight professional organizations and has served on nine civic organizations not counting his work with the Scouts. He has received three previous awards for research, and his list of service within academe runs off the chart. He has garnered about a million dollars in grants and contracts.

McNamara helped develop a series of successful training workshops in cooperation with Ann Kennedy (WSU Vancouver) and Howard Waterman (retired Spokane teacher) to show Washington state K-12 science educators how to better teach the subject. The state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has established new standards for all subjects, and McNamara and his associates (whom he claims deserve much of the credit) designed the workshops in response to those standards. McNamara believes this training program is part of the reason he won the award, as well as his own approach to teaching.

He says he loves science, scientific investigation and trying different teaching methods on his students. His approach to education is never static. He enjoys seeing students develop and grow.

"I want to see them work, study and try," he exclaims, "not just for knowledge sake, but to use knowledge to solve problems, face challenges and grow."

So he gives them a challenge the first day of class.

Students who make it to his senior nutrition class have gained a wide background of scientific information. McNamara advises them that it was not in vain. "I warn them that they will need and use that background to succeed in my class. They have to actually demonstrate their grasp of that knowledge by applying it to real-world situations."

To do this, he expects them not to sit in their classroom seats and answer questions but to get out and start asking questions in order to solve problems.

McNamara has no tests in his senior and graduate classes, only reports on scientific literature and specific projects. The final project is, of course, the biggest. Students must develop a rule-based expert system on computer, a program that prompts a user for input and then feeds back accurate information based on that input.

"Their program must be absolutely logical, scientific and technically correct, or it will not work," says McNamara. "This is a strong challenge for the students."

"I had one student last year who e-mailed a company in Florida at 10 p.m. Pullman time for help on a technical problem. The president of the company called back 15 minutes later, and the two of them worked out a solution. I think that is a great example of what can happen if there is a challenge. I know that student will be able to handle anything that comes her way."

But it is unlikely that McNamara will sit back, content with this approach, successful though it is. He’ll always look for something even better, because seeing science students succeed for themselves is one of his life’s passions.

"You provide the challenge, you provide some guidance, then watch them all get better. I don’t think that is unusual, but more teachers could probably use this approach."

"It’s fun," he says.