Higher education provides a unique opportunity to shape the knowledge and wisdom of students for the trajectory of their lives. Professors carry out the noble occupation of preparing learners for careers and personal lives filled with purpose and success. Each year, the HBU Colleges and Schools select their Piper Professor Nominee. These individuals represent the very best in teaching and professional development in each college. Nominees are recognized for their effectiveness in the classroom, their work with students in advising and mentoring, their dedication to teaching, admiration and respect from their colleagues, scholarship in their field, and contributions to the University. From among these nominees, one professor is selected as HBU’s Piper Professor for the 2021-2022 School Year. Congratulations to this year’s HBU Piper Professor!
Dr. Saul Trevino | College of Science and Engineering
Dr. Saul Trevino, Associate Professor of Chemistry, is passionate about teaching and the science of learning. This passion stems from his intense desire to help his students succeed not only in chemistry courses but in all of their college courses. In the last 4 years, Dr. Trevino has presented at seven conferences related to post-secondary and chemical education and has co-authored a peer-reviewed paper on retrieval practice. His presentation topics included equity in the classroom, characteristics of approachable teachers, retrieval practice, teaching students how to learn, reciprocal tutoring, integrating faith and learning and interdisciplinary professional development. At HBU, Dr. Trevino has initiated collaborative learning groups for faculty centered on the scholarship of teaching and learning, including a Faculty Learning Community based on Dr. Saundra McGuire’s book “Teach Students How to Learn.” After reading this book and implementing McGuire’s intervention with his students, Dr. Trevino saw significant impacts on his students’ metacognitive learning skills and success in General Chemistry. To build upon these promising results, Dr. Trevino led the interdisciplinary Faculty Learning Community in a study of the book and developed professional development workshops that help HBU faculty from diverse disciplines adopt metacognitive strategies in their teaching. This metacognition movement inspired faculty to lead the development and implementation of HBU’s new campus-wide Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) titled “Mission: Metacognition.” He has mentored twelve students in undergraduate research and is the faculty advisor for two student organizations, the American Chemical Society and the Navigators. Dr. Trevino also regularly forms and/or participates in groups that read and discuss books on a wide range of topics, and he looks forward to future learning journeys with faculty and students.