Gordon State College Professor has Work Published in USG eBook
Engaged Student Learning: Essays on Best Practices in the University System of Georgia
Dedicated scholar and Gordon State College Professor of Psychology Dr. Joseph A. Mayo was included in the University System of Georgia’s (USG) eBook “Engaged Student Learning: Essays on Best Practices in the University System of Georgia.”
The USG said “This book arose from a desire to recognize the excellence of all individuals who had been nominated for one of the prestigious Regents’ Awards for Teaching Excellence—the USG’s highest recognition of exemplary teaching. Nominees and winners of the 2019 Regents’ Awards were invited to submit an essay describing a classroom practice or pedagogy that they use to engage students.”
Mayo submitted his research Analogy-Enhanced Pedagogy: Class Activities to Engage Students in Learning to the USG. Mayo said he spent the past two decades systematically investigating the impact that student-generated analogies have on learning. Overall, he found students learn most when they create their own analogies through classroom activities affording opportunities for facilitating student-to-student and instructor-to-student interactions.
"As a longstanding educator, it is an honor to share with my faculty colleagues throughout the University System of Georgia what has been deemed a best practice in teaching,” said Mayo.
Mayo has been teaching and conducting classroom-centered research in higher education for over three decades. His primary research interest is effective undergraduate teaching strategies with an emphasis on constructivist classroom applications. He is the recipient of both statewide and national awards for his teaching innovations and ongoing contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. C. Jeffery Knighton said, “Gordon State College is indeed fortunate to have a professor of the caliber of Dr. Joe Mayo on our faculty. He possesses that rare combination of skills that enable him to be an outstanding teacher while also being an outstanding researcher. He is not only a much-sought-after professor by students but is an inspiration to our entire faculty because of his dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, his practical application of research to the educational process, and his overall commitment to our students. It is not an exaggeration when people on campus refer to Dr. Mayo as a “national treasure” on our campus.”