Psychological Science Professor Receives Teaching Excellence Award

Jennifer Webb is among the 2020 recipients of the UNC Board of Governors Awards for Excellence in Teaching.

An associate professor in the Department of Psychological Science in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Webb joined UNC Charlotte in 2007. She has taught eight courses in the psychology undergraduate program and four courses for the health psychology doctoral program. Additionally, she developed two new courses for the undergraduate major.

When engaging with students, Webb strives for respect, fairness, transparency and authenticity. She considers her classroom a space where students are co-creators in the process of learning with the goal of enhancing student motivation and learning.

“I do not believe in lecturing at students,” said Webb. “I view the classroom as a creative space for our collective wisdom to dynamically unfold through lively exchanges in which we can comfortably debate the merits of multiple sides of an issue. Engaging this critical lens supports students’ consciousness-raising capacities and cognitive flexibility as personal resources.”

She also uses group projects and assignments around community engagement and advocacy themes to “advance students’ ability to synergize their collective personal strengths in a meaningful way to help strengthen campus or community resources.”

Webb is the 2019 recipient of the University’s Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence; she was bestowed the Bonnie E. Cone Early-Career Professorship in Teaching in 2017.

Established by the UNC Board of Governors in 1993 to highlight the importance of teaching, the Awards for Excellence in Teaching recognize the extraordinary contributions of faculty members system wide. Each of the winners will receive a commemorative bronze medallion and a $12,500 cash prize. The award recipients will be honored at each of their institutions at a future date.