Senior Mathematics Tutor – School of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University

“Excellent teaching is about being a ‘connectionist’, getting students to think about new concepts and make connections with earlier learning.”

Cami’s enthusiasm for students and passion for mathematics leads to excellent teaching. Cami dives deep into theory with a connectionist approach. She is a thoughtful and influential teacher with a rock solid foundation of effective practice both in the classroom and online. This includes aligning university courses with the NCEA curriculum and rethinking online teaching using techniques such as regular short videos to interact with students.

Cami redesigned courses that leveraged technology and intertwined thoughtful activities resulting in glowing student feedback. “She is never satisfied with ‘good enough’ and puts a huge amount of time and thought into improving course materials”, writes a colleague. “There is a lot we can all learn from Cami and her work”, writes another.

For the past four years Cami has worked with the Pūhoro STEM academy to develop their programme and create better understanding of the needs of Māori students between academics and NCEA. Her current focus is to incorporate pedagogies that better support Māori and Pacific learners.

Read Dr Cami Sawyer's profile »