Image: Dainess Maganda, an African Studies affiliate faculty member, has been named a recipient of the University of Georgia Award for Excellence in Teaching for her dedication and creativity in the classroom. The award recognizes teaching faculty who strengthen the university’s mission by offering exemplary instruction, promoting innovation, and providing an engaging environment for student learning. Students in Maganda’s Swahili and African language and culture courses enjoy a variety of hands-on experiences. In one course, she takes students to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to practice their Swahili by naming the flower colors. Maganda and her students have also offered Swahili lessons to the elderly at the Athens Council on Aging as a service-learning project. In addition to the app Maganda created, her students use tools such as Edpuzzle, Padlet and VoiceThread to practice their language skills. “She taught me how to learn in a different way,” a student wrote in a course evaluation. “Her enthusiasm for the topic made me fall in love with this class and learning a new language.” Read the UGA campus news release Type of News/Audience: Announcement Recognition
