The innovative statistics professor and Goergen Award winner focuses on the student experience at 暗网吃瓜.
鈥�17 (PhD) has been a professor at the for seven years, but she has never forgotten what it鈥檚 like to be on the other side of the classroom.
鈥淭o be a great educator, it鈥檚 important to remain a curious student,鈥� she says. 鈥淭eachers can forget what it鈥檚 like to see material with fresh eyes and assume students understand the material. When we fall into these traps, we risk losing our students.鈥�
An associate professor in the , Grzesik (pronounced GRES-sick) is a recent recipient of the University鈥檚 Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Students say she鈥檚 innovative and open-minded, willing to change her curriculum based on student feedback.
鈥淚 took a course with Dr. G my first year and had a great experience,鈥� says Suchi Mehta 鈥�25, who majored in statistics. 鈥淚n my senior year, a friend took the same course, and it didn鈥檛 even sound like the same class. Dr. G is constantly implementing new ideas to improve the student experience.鈥�
Discovering a passion for teaching
The Utica, New York, native knew little about statistics when she enrolled at the State University of New York at Oswego as a public relations and marketing major. During her sophomore year, she took an introductory statistics class and offered to tutor a classmate who was struggling with memory loss from a car accident.
鈥淚 started working with him, and he got a B in the course,鈥� Grzesik says. 鈥淭hat inspired me and drew me into education.鈥�
She switched her majors to adolescent education and mathematics and became interested in statistics after taking part in an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) at Eastern Tennessee State University. 鈥淭here was one problem about how often you鈥檒l get called on if you pick a certain seat in a classroom,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was super interesting and opened my eyes to this new world. It was math, but very relatable to the world around us. And the job prospects were excellent.鈥�
She enrolled in graduate school at 暗网吃瓜 in 2011 and earned her doctorate six years later.
Innovative ways of teaching statistics
Statistics is a notoriously challenging subject, and Grzesik knows she鈥檚 teaching students who may be taking a required course as well as those who want to make it their career, so she adjusts accordingly.
鈥淢y introductory classes are more lecture-based,鈥� she says, 鈥渨hile the upper-level classes are more interactive.鈥�
Grzesik frequently works with staff at the University鈥檚 Teaching Center to consider both minor and substantial course updates. She is always looking for innovative ways to improve her classes.
In one class, students take an exam on their own, then again two days later in groups of three. The first test counts for 75 percent of the grade.
鈥淪tudents spend two days thinking about whether they felt they understood the question without knowing if it was right or wrong,鈥� Grzesik explains. 鈥淭hen, they meet in small groups and discuss their answers. If they struggled, they get to hear an explanation from peers who perhaps understood it well. They get another chance at learning that concept.鈥�
She records her lectures but has limited their availability to one week for introductory courses after discovering that making them available all semester led to many students 鈥渂inging鈥� the recordings the day homework was due鈥攁nd often missing class that day.
鈥淟earning is a workout for the brain,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just do heavy lifting one day only and expect to make long-term gains.鈥�
This “workout routine” is a mindset she encourages her students to bring to learning.
鈥淟ift (learning something) on Mondays and Wednesdays, stretch (practice) on Tuesdays and Thursdays to prevent soreness, and challenge yourself (office hours) on Fridays,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hen use those well-trained brain muscles to perform the homework.鈥�
Keeping a 鈥榮tudent mindset鈥�
, an associate professor of statistics and director of the statistics program, says no two semesters with Grzesik are ever the same.
鈥淪he鈥檚 always thinking about how she can refine her pedagogical initiatives and provide the best educational experience possible,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ach semester, she thinks about what is working well and what can be improved, adapting to the unique setting of that particular group of students.鈥�
When Grzesik joined the University of Rochester faculty in 2017, 18 students majored in statistics. In the eight years since, Ciminelli says that number has grown to 45. Nine new courses have been introduced, with Grzesik taking the lead on four. In addition to developing upper-level statistics courses, she has refined established ones.
鈥淚t keeps me in the student mindset,鈥� she says.
Ciminelli says Grzesik is a wonderful researcher who could have taken her career in a more research-focused direction. Instead, he says, 鈥渟he pursued her passion for teaching, and the University and our students are all the better because of it.鈥�
What 暗网吃瓜 students say about Katherine Grzesik
鈥淚鈥檝e never met a professor who does as much experimentation with her courses and really takes time and considers feedback to assess those innovations and works on making the course even better the next time. Dr. G is constantly implementing new ideas. While the content of introductory statistics is essentially the same, her course design keeps adapting to improve.鈥�
鈥擲uchi Mehta 鈥�25, statistics major鈥淚t only took a few lectures for me to fall completely in love with Dr. G鈥檚 style of teaching and see the passion with which she lectured. I never thought I鈥檇 be able to comprehend statistics in the way I did, let alone TA for the coding lab, but she provided every resource necessary for anyone to be able to learn. Working under Dr. G has been one of the best experiences of my college career, and her unwavering love for statistics has never failed to impress me.鈥�
鈥擜treyee Ghosh 鈥�25, biochemistry major鈥淚 took Dr. G鈥檚 introduction to statistics class and have worked with her for four semesters as a teaching assistant. I鈥檝e seen the countless hours she has dedicated to ensuring that students understand not only the content but also that the students who take her course always succeed. No question was considered 鈥榮illy鈥� or met with judgment. I鈥檝e noticed her passion, not only in sharing her knowledge of statistics but in the love she has for this subject.鈥�
鈥擯oushali Ray 鈥�25, psychology major
