LEWISTON – University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College Assistant Professor of Education Paul Caron was honored recently, receiving the USM Faculty Senate Award for Teaching.

Caron was cited as “a teacher of educators in mathematics and physics who models the best practices in the classroom as part of his goal of improving learning in the schools. He exemplifies his philosophy by facilitating students’ exploration and discovery of the content areas and applying it in their classrooms.”

One of his faculty nominators noted, “Paul Caron has demonstrated what it means to be an innovative and effective teacher. He possesses a philosophy of teaching that not only addresses the needs of different types of learners in the delivery of course content, but also in the techniques by which student learning is assessed.”

LAC students have described Caron as an “awesome teacher” who “takes the time to get to know his students.” One student said, “I have never had a more involved professor who truly cared about the outcome of what we learned.”

Caron, a resident of Lewiston, earned his PhD in curriculum, instruction and administration at Boston College. Caron served previously as director of St. Joseph’s College secondary education program and as science/math consultant for the Auburn School System. He also served as the professional development director of Maine’s Curriculum Framework for Math and Science.

In his philosophy of teaching statement, Caron writes that he sees his role in the classroom as that of a student-oriented facilitator who helps students achieve higher levels of understanding through risk taking and the discovery of knowledge.

Students note that while his courses are rigorous, they are also interesting and fun. As one student reported, “The instructor encouraged the students to take the bull by the horns and make it work. And we did.”


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