Anthony Mahama, assistant teaching professor in agronomy, is the recipient of the 2023 Distance Education Teaching Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. Colleagues say he has made immeasurable contributions through teaching of distance courses, and helping in curriculum development and core competencies. He is respected by students, as he creates an engaging and open learning environment.
Mahama has been intricately involved in improving content delivery of the distance Master’s in Plant Breeding program. Course development is an involved process that requires advanced technical competency in the subject and pedagogy knowledge to create meaningful content, sequence and exercises that help students learn seamlessly. Noteworthy contributions include learning the gaps and overlaps with other courses in the curriculum and working with various faculty members. He provided leadership in the Plant Breeding e-Learning in Africa project as well, working closely with instructors to review e-learning modules and coordinating workshops between faculty members at Iowa State and African universities. The program recently partnered with Soybean Innovation Lab, and Mahama helped create instructor guides. A colleague states, “Dr. Mahama is a sincere, humble, spirited and committed teacher who has helped numerous students through the distance learning platforms at Iowa State.”