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Professor Robin Cohen has received the 2024 Excellence in Online Teaching Award, an honour conferred by ��ݮ��Ƶ’s Centre for Extended Learning. The Centre typically gives two awards annually — one recognizing an outstanding teacher and another for exceptional course design — both for fully online courses. Professor Cohen is being recognized with the Outstanding Teacher Award after her nomination was shortlisted last February from among 161 submissions.

Nominations are based primarily on student submissions and, at times, endorsements from teaching assistants. In addition to a certificate of recognition, recipients receive a $1,000 cash prize, sponsored by the Office of the Associate Vice-President, Academic.

Students in Professor Cohen’s Fall 2023 graduate course, CS 886: Trust Modeling, Explainability and Online Social Networks, nominated her for the award, making a compelling case for her exceptional teaching. This course examines the context of online social networks from the perspective of artificial intelligence, including an exploration of the subfield of trust modelling in multiagent systems and its application to social networking environments. Professor Cohen taught the course again in Spring 2024. New student endorsements from this second offering were added to her nomination, further strengthening her candidacy. 

“As Dean, I am highly invested in UW’s Digital Learning Strategy, and I believe that honoring Prof. Cohen with this award would further strengthen our faculty’s efforts in this area,” wrote Mark Giesbrecht, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, in his letter to the awards committee.

“Many students credited the course with helping them secure internships, while others appreciated the flexibility it provided to accommodate medical conditions,” he continued. “Her thoughtful use of the online environment — incorporating guest speakers from afar, creative group work in breakout rooms, and explicit efforts to foster social connection — demonstrates her ability to create a meaningful and effective learning experience.”

Professor Cohen’s dedication to teaching has been recognized many times over the years. She is frequently named one of the Top Teachers in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, received the Faculty of Mathematics Award for Distinction in Teaching in 2008, and was honoured with ��ݮ��Ƶ’s Distinguished Teacher Award in 2019.

Guiding principles of CS 886

Professor Cohen’s course is built on three guiding principles, each reflected in comments from student nominators.

The course’s first key guiding principle is to foster a vibrant social environment in the virtual classroom. Through small breakout room discussions, peer evaluations and encouragement to keep cameras on, students developed meaningful connections with one another, often stronger than those formed in traditional in-person classes.

“Despite being online, I felt I learned more than I have in most in-person classes due to how well-structured, organized, and in-depth Professor Robin Cohen made it. The breakout rooms and brainstorming sessions encouraged more interaction than what typically occurs in in-person classes, where students often leave immediately after lectures. Professor Cohen ensured we actively engaged with one another through group activities and presentations, allowing us to learn both from and with each other. One aspect I truly appreciate is the detailed feedback she provided. The time and effort she put into her email correspondence were remarkable, offering personalized guidance that made a significant impact.”

The second guiding principle is to promote skill development through repeated practice and constructive feedback. Students received detailed, encouraging evaluations after each presentation, helping them build confidence while improving their online presentation skills that often require specific talents. Students also reflected on their own and peers’ performance, deepening their learning through active engagement.

“Active participation in feedback sessions and dynamic discussions was pivotal in honing not only my presentation skills but also in cultivating a discerning eye as an audience member in the online environment. As I absorbed insights from talks delivered by my peers, my confidence in posing questions steadily increased. In some instances, post-class discussions with fellow students evolved into valuable tools, offering them a platform to refine their own projects. The online activity, where we spontaneously generated ideas to counter misinformation on online platforms as a group, served as a test for refining problem-solving skills.”

The third guiding principle is to emphasize the unique opportunities afforded by online learning and instruction. Zoom breakout rooms allowed for focused small-group problem solving with real-time instructor and TA support, and guest speakers from Canada and around the world enriched the learning experience. Students came to recognize the distinct benefits of online collaboration and presentation, insights highly relevant to today’s increasingly digital workplaces, as illustrated in the following quotes from two nominators.

“Professor Cohen’s course excelled in developing crucial online presentation skills, essential for today’s virtual job interviews and technical demonstrations. The course had multiple online presentation components, with Professor Cohen providing detailed, constructive feedback that helped me identify areas for improvement. Her guidance was instrumental in refining my presentation techniques and helped me secure a summer internship at Microsoft for 2024.”

“Professor Cohen has identified and is pioneering an aspect of learning in higher education that is necessary and gravely overlooked at institutions today: preparing students to be successful in a hybrid and remote workforce.” 

Another student highlighted the accessibility and global reach of the course.

“Students can participate from anywhere worldwide, eliminating the need for relocation or commuting. We had external speakers (or resource persons) speak to us from the US (California) different universities in Ontario, Canada and other provinces in Canada (Saskatchewan). This would have been extremely difficult to pull off if we had a physical meeting in the traditional classroom setting.” 

A recurring theme was Professor Cohen’s empathy and dedication to the well-being of her students, as reflected in the following comments from nominators.

“Professor Robin is truly one of the best teachers and mentors I have had. She genuinely cares about her students and puts a lot of effort into her teaching.”

“Professor Cohen stands out among every instructor I have learned from since I started my undergraduate degree at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ in 2014. She is an excellent communicator, embraces metacognitive strategies to engage students in self-reflection, and actively provides the most inclusive and equitable learning environment I have ever participated in. Professor Cohen is the furthest thing from the average in the context of teaching.”