Fall 2002

Daniel Hallahan, Cavaliers’ Distinguished Teaching Professor

The Cavaliers’ Distinguished Teaching Professorship was established in 1991 to recognize an eminent scholar for outstanding teaching of undergraduates. Previous winners have included Kenneth Elzinga (Economics), Dean Harman (Chemistry), Karen Chase (English), Dennis Proffitt (Psychology), and James A. Smith (Civil Engineering). In addition to receiving a monetary award, Cavaliers’ DTPs teach University Seminars and work with the Teaching Resource Center to promote the general enhancement of teaching at the University. Teaching Concerns highlights this year’s winner, Daniel P. Hallahan of the Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education Department in the Curry School of Education. In the course of his thirty-year career at U.Va., Dan Hallahan has melded a passion for his discipline and his students by emphasizing the human element in his teaching. He has come to a profound awareness that learning depends as much on challenging students to explore their own feelings and attitudes about the subject matter as on his delivery of facts, figures, and interpretations. For example, when teaching his “Exceptional Learners” class Dan uses video case studies, guest speakers with disabilities, personal accounts, and films to help students grasp their own preconceptions and assumptions about people with disabilities. He wants students to wrestle with the nuances about how the disabled are both similar to and different from themselves. He finds, in turn, that this more personalized understanding motivates students to study the factual material and theoretical approaches with enhanced enthusiasm. During his tenure as DTP (2002-2004), Dan will explore the pedagogical applications of advanced technology, serve as a mentor for junior faculty, and make presentations on teaching to University audiences.