Pollock shares education style with CU Advocates

Steven Pollock chats with CU Advocates following his presentation at 1800 Grant St. (Photo: Michele McKinney/University of Colorado)

CU-Boulder physics professor Steven Pollock, named a 2013 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, spoke to a group of about 80 CU Advocates during a June 17 program at 1800 Grant St.

Following an introduction in which his colleague Noah Finkelstein called him “one of the rising stars of our institution,” Pollock distributed clickers to everyone in the audience, most of whom likely never used the technology during their own school years. He asked survey questions and showed off the immediate response-gathering capabilities of the devices, which help educators gauge when and how a classroom is engaged.

“We must know our audience,” he said. “Teaching is an art and a science – it’s not either/or.”

After his presentation and a Q&A session with the audience, Pollock stayed for a reception and continued the conversation.