Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching
Teaching Medal Award Winner
Sai Bhatawedekar
Manoa
Sai Bhatawedekar is an assistant professor of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures at 51²è¹Ý Manoa.
She states that she and her students transform the classroom into a “dynamic, vibrant, hilarious and stimulating learning environment that brings out the best in all of them.” Colleagues who have observed her classes say that they have been inspired by her teaching practices.
Bhatawedekar’s forthcoming publication as a Hindi text and workbook with CD-DVDs will benefit language programs nationally that struggle with inadequate and outdated books. The depth and breadth of her extensive, eclectic research has significantly and profoundly impacted her teaching.
One student defines her own career path as only a dream previous to Bhatawedekar’s influence on her, saying “her influence on student success advances the academic community of the university in cultivating new expectations for those born and raised in Hawai‘i.”
The Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching is awarded by the as tribute to faculty members who exhibit an extraordinary level of subject mastery and scholarship, teaching effectiveness and creativity and personal values that benefit students. The board also awards the Regents’ Medal for and links to archives.
