Aug. 5, 2015

Sharaz Khan wins Outstanding Teacher Award

Commerce Undergraduate Society recognizes teaching excellence in business technologies instructor
Sharaz khan
Sharaz khan

For his focus on technology-based classrooms and student-centered approach to teaching, Sharaz Khan was awarded this year's Commerce Undergraduate Society Outstanding Teacher Award.

The annual prize is determined by student nominations and is a tradition going back 25 years.It is awarded to a professor who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to the student experience at the Haskayne School of Business.

"He is passionate about the success of his students," says Zeid Ayoub, the society's president. "I have experienced first-hand the positive difference he is bringing to not only the student body of Haskayne, but to the entire University of Calgary community."

Ayoub said the winning nomination letter highlighted Khan's "overwhelming interest in the success of students outside academics."

Khan, who joined Haskayne in 2008 as a management information systems instructor, says his teaching style has evolved over the years to increasingly incorporate a technology enabled learning environment. He describes his style as constructivist.

"Constructivist teaching is based on the belief that learning occurs as learners are actively involved in a process of meaning and knowledge construction as opposed to passively receiving information. Negotiation is an important aspect of a constructivist classroom. It unites teachers and students in a common purpose," says Khan.

He is currently getting a doctorate in educational technologies from the Werklund School of Education and says it has helped him bridge the gap between theory and practice.

"The education in Werklund has given me the breadth and depth on co-creation of knowledge within the classroom. Through the process of inquiry, questioning, self-reflective practices, conversations within the classroom can be converted into useful knowledge," he says.

Winning this award from students is an "absolute honour," he says.

"There are many great instructors and professors I look up to at Haskayne and at Werklund and in that company my teaching approach and style has been accepted," says Khan. "I am so happy that I can utilize the tools that both schools have provided me to impart knowledge in the most creative, innovative way possible."