Department of Psychology

August 6, 2008

Council of Canadian Departments of Psychology (CCDP)
2008 Teaching Assistant Award

by Jean-Paul Boudreau

We are pleased to announce that Gillian Sandstrom, first-year MA student in Psychological Science, is the winner of the 2008 Council of Canadian Departments of Psychology (CCDP) Teaching Assistant Award for the Department of Psychology at Ryerson.

This award recognizes excellence in teaching on the part of undergraduate or graduate Teaching Assistants. Every Psychology Department in Canada presents one award per 50 teaching assistants. Gillian was selected by the Department Executive Committee following a nomination process.

Dr. Todd Girard who nominated Gillian and taught Psychology 411 (Research Methods and Statistics) sums it up: “Gillian went above and beyond! Her initiative, ability to connect with students, and her background in computer science regularly exceeded expectations.”  Beyond helping students, “Gillian demonstrated foundational classroom teaching skills.”

Some comments from the students in the class: “She has been awesome!”; “She is clear and answers questions directly”; "She is very helpful and always available and quick to return emails”; and “Gillian is amazing! I'm so glad she's my TA - she's helped me to understand material that I did not otherwise understand.”

Dr. Girard had students rank and evaluate different components of the course, such as the instructor, teaching assistant, and resources, which included the famous textbook by David Howell, a classic now in its 8th edition. Dr. Girard was impressed to see that Gillian was ranked higher than the famous classic handbook!  

Congratulations Gillian!

Photo: Jean-Paul Boudreau (Department Chair), Gillian Sandstrom, Martin Antony (Graduate Program Director)