Ted Amato, professor of economics in the Belk College of Business, is among the five finalists for the 2013 Bank of America (BofA) Award for Teaching Excellence. The recipient this award, UNC Charlotte’s top teaching honor, will be named at a special reception, Friday, Sept. 20. Inside UNC Charlotte will feature each finalist in alphabetical order prior to the reception.
According to Amato, education is more process than outcome—in other words, what the students learn is not nearly as important as how they learn.
“The greatest educational benefit from studying economics is the opportunity to foster logical and critical thinking,” explained Amato. To nurture the development of these skills in his students, Amato noted he creates a safe environment in his classroom; an environment in which offering a wrong answer is preferred to offering no answer at all. He informs students on the first day of class that education is not a spectator sport or a television program, but rather requires active participation.
After creating a safe zone for active participation in the classroom, Amato begins to mitigate what he sees as students’ growing discomfort and inability to cope with ambiguity. He noted, the world of economic decision-making is complex; not always cut and dry. Through course assignments, projects, and class discussions, he challenges his students to confront ambiguity. He also guides students to understand that there are alternative opinions for almost every policy issue and teaches them to carefully review and evaluate the evidence for these alternative arguments.
Since joining the faculty in 1980, Amato has displayed a dedication to teaching excellence that has been recognized by students and colleagues.
One graduate student wrote, “Dr. Amato is, first and foremost, a professor who cares about his students professionally and personally. He is clear in his expectations but takes great care in ensuring that each of his students has the tools and preparation needed to succeed. He also creates an inclusive, sharing environment, where he encourages and gets ample participation from a broad section of students.”
The only faculty member in the Department of Economics to have received the department’s Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award and the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, Amato is a recipient of the Belk College of Business Outstanding Teaching Award, too.
More than 20 years ago, Amato helped found the Belk College of Business Honors Program. As its director, he is responsible for recruiting and advising honors students, teaching honors courses and supervising honors theses. He was an early director of the Master of Science in Economics program, served for four years on the Master of Business Administration Curriculum Committee and nine years on the Department of Economics Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and completed a two-year term on the Department of Economics Graduate Advisory Council.
“Contemplating a day that I won’t be teaching both saddens me and leaves me feeling a bit of shame; shame for having often taken teaching for granted,” said Amato. “Among the pressures of our profession, it’s easy to lose sight of the precious opportunity that we have been given.”