Professors Holly Golecki and Joe Bradley were recently recognized by The Grainger College of Engineering for their exceptional teaching. Golecki received the Rose Award for Teaching Excellence for her hands-on, student-centered approach in the classroom, while Bradley was honored with the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Online Teaching for his dynamic, interactive remote instruction. Both professors emphasize building connection, encouraging curiosity, and adapting to students’ needs—demonstrating the department’s deep commitment to making bioengineering education both rigorous and inspiring.
Written by Ben Libman
The Department of Bioengineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently had two professors receive awards for their outstanding teaching. Professor Holly Golecki received the Rose Award for Teaching Excellence, and professor Joe Bradley received the Campus Award for Excellence in Online Teaching. Their recognition is a demonstration of bioengineering’s dedication to excellence in student learning. Learn more about their process below.
Professor Holly Golecki
Holly Golecki, Rose Award for Teaching Excellence
What does receiving this award mean to you?
Receiving The Rose Award for Teaching Excellence is an incredible honor. It reaffirms my passion for teaching and commitment to creating an engaging and meaningful learning experience for students. This award serves as a reminder that the effort put into fostering student success truly makes an impact.
What is your approach to connecting with students in your courses?
I believe meaningful learning happens when students feel engaged, supported, and challenged. My approach involves creating an interactive classroom environment where students feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas, and applying concepts in real-world design challenges.
What advice would you give a new teacher?
Some advice I received that I try to keep in mind is that passion for the subject matter is contagious, and when students see that you genuinely care about what you teach, they can become inspired too. Showing our passion for engineering can be the spark a student needs.
Professor Joe Bradley
Joe Bradley, Excellence in Online Teaching
What does receiving this award mean to you?
First of all, I feel very humbled, blessed, and thankful to be voted by my peers for the award. There are so many amazing and deserving individuals within this university community. Because it was given by my peers and colleagues, the award means so much more. My goal is to continue to get better and better.
What is your approach to teaching online courses?
For teaching online or in person, my approach has always been to make learning interactive and student-centered. My goal is to maintain student engagement to facilitate learning. I use various techniques from breakouts to periodic questions throughout the courses that I am giving. I try to bring students in through prompts and discussions from current issues or societal challenges. This seems to be an effective approach with the class.
What advice would you give to someone teaching an online class for the first time?
(1) Develop a strategy for how you plan to keep students engaged. Lots of the course may be asynchronous where students will explore content at their own pace and then apply their knowledge in a later context.
(2) Be intentional to schedule live session check-ins. Attendance may vary for the live session, but you want the students to know that you are a “real” person that is here to support them.
(3) Break the lessons/content into small chunks. Imagine yourself as the student on the receiving end of the course materials.
(4) Be ok with pivoting if something is not working for you or for the students.