Dr. Joshua Spinler Honored with Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching
Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching
Dr. Joshua Spinler, advanced instructor and lab coordinator for the Geology program, has received the Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching, which is given to exemplars of the teacher/mentor model who maintain high expectations of their students.
“Dr. Spinler’s extensive contributions to teaching, his unwavering commitment to student success, and his continuous professional development make him a truly deserving candidate for the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award,” Dr. Tansel Karabacak, director of the School of Physical Sciences, wrote in a recommendation letter. “Notably, he developed and redesigned several courses, including Geology of the National Parks, Earth Science in the Movies, and Geophysics, filling important gaps in the Geology curriculum and providing upper-level students with more opportunities to engage in critical thinking, both in the classroom and in the field.”
With a background in geophysics and tectonics, Spinler encourages his geology students to think about the “big picture” to better understand the processes that shape the world. He emphasizes experiential learning through hands-on activities, real-world case studies, and field trips to local, regional, and national sites.
Spinler directs the Field Geology II capstone course, a three-week intensive field mapping experience in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. He has also played a key role in shaping field experiences for geology students by redesigning the Field Geology I course and co-developing Geology of the National Parks, a field-based course featuring week-long trips during spring break to destinations like the Grand Canyon, Saguaro National Parks, Big Bend, and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks.
In his 10 years at UA Little Rock, Spinler has taught 12 distinct courses across multiple formats, from introductory geology lectures and labs to upper-level and graduate courses in structural geology and geophysics. He has developed three new courses and collaborated with faculty to establish a Certificate of Proficiency in Earth Science.
“I am humbled that my peers have both nominated me for and selected me to receive this prestigious award from our college,” Spinler said. “I strive every day to have my students further develop their ‘sense of place’ in that after they leave my classes, they have a more complete understanding of the world around them, what processes go into shaping that world, and how that world changes over time, from both natural and human-driven changes. If we better understand the world around us, we can be more successful stewards of the one and only planet we call home.”