Three Arts and Sciences teaching assistants recognized during awards ceremony

Three graduate teaching assistants from Florida State University’s College of Arts and Sciences — two from the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics and one from the Department of Psychology — were among six recognized by the university with Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards for 2017-2018.

Melanie Hom, Ana Laura Gil and Alan Febraio Parma were each chosen by the Program for Instructional Excellence at Florida State University to be recognized for their merits in teaching undergraduate students. They received their awards during the Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence on April 10.

Melanie Hom

Hom is a fourth-year doctoral student in clinical psychology who received her B.A. from Stanford University and her M.S. from

Florida State. She works under the mentorship of Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology Thomas Joiner in the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors. Hom taught “Abnormal Psychology” as the instructor of record, oversees the research training of advanced undergraduate students in her adviser’s research laboratory, and serves as a graduate student mentor for FSU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.

“My goal as an instructor is to challenge my students to think both critically and compassionately about how we can best help and support individuals struggling with mental health problems,” she said.

Hom seeks to do this by engaging her students fully and not merely lecturing them.

“Rather than have my students simply memorize a list of symptoms or steps of a research protocol, I strive to create opportunities for them to flexibly apply their knowledge to case-study examples, interpretation of real-world research data, and hands-on laboratory work,” she said. “These experiences also serve to humanize academic topics and create a safe space for students to share more personally.”

Hom said she was “incredibly grateful and honored” to receive the teaching assistant award.

“Teaching has been among the most gratifying experiences of my graduate career, and it has truly been a delight to work closely with such curious, driven and engaged undergraduate students,” she said. “It means so much to me that my students have enjoyed being in my classroom as much as I have enjoyed sharing my love of psychology and clinical research with them.”

Ana Laura Gil

Gil is a third-year doctoral student of Spanish linguistics. She received her M.A.

in world languages and linguistics from West Virginia University. In addition, she holds a degree as an English professor from Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Argentina, where she was a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship.

At Florida State, Gil previously received an Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Portuguese from the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics and is also a Seminole Torchbearer.

Gil’s research focus areas are psycholinguistic approaches to second-language acquisition and bilingual language processing. Her dissertation is centered on cross-language lexical interference, individual differences in language processing and inhibitory control in bilingual individuals.

When it comes to teaching, Gil takes a holistic approach and recognizes the importance of a teacher’s presence both in and out of the classroom.

“I start with the view that my students are important,” she said. “All my work — in and outside of the classroom — is done by anticipating the preferences and needs of my audience: how they learn  (and how they can learn better), what they enjoy doing, what they find motivating and difficult. I begin the semester by asking them directly, and then modify my lessons based on their interests. My job as a teacher is much more than just classroom teaching; being available for students outside the class is just as important. I believe that when students feel that the teacher cares, they feel more motivated to perform to the best of their ability.

“Being recognized by the students is a truly humbling experience,” Gil said. “This is not about me; it is about them. I try to help them learn about language, and I just work hard to give them the best foundation I can.”

Gil attributed her success to the great support system within her department.

“I would not be able to do that without the support and mentoring of my professors in the Spanish program here at FSU,” she said. “This award is also a testament of their outstanding work and excellence. I am also a student, so my teaching reflects, both what I am learning from my professors and what I am learning from my students.”

Alan Febraio Parma

Parma is a fifth-year doctoral student, also in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. He earned his B.S. in Portuguese

literature and linguistics and an M.S. in linguistics at Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil.

His doctoral research examines how second-language acquisition unfolds. Specifically, Parma is interested in how second-language learners comprehend and build a new linguistic system, and how this evolves across different proficiency levels.

Florida State was not Parma’s first teaching experience. He has been teaching foreign languages for more than nine years and is very passionate about it. Parma currently teaches Spanish and Portuguese at FSU and previously taught Portuguese at Middlebury College Language Schools in Vermont.

“I believe that motivation is a key factor in foreign-language learning,” Parma said. “My teaching style combines enthusiasm with knowledge of cultures and technology in an attempt to increase student motivation. With a smile and open personality, I strive to facilitate student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions during the learning process.

“I feel extremely honored and humbled to be contemplated with this award,” he said. “It is truly delightful that my students nominated me for such an important award. This nomination shows me that my students appreciate and recognize my everyday effort to make class engaging and fun.”

Parma added that he could not take all the credit for his award.

“I owe this to my colleagues and professors who are very supportive and helpful,” he said. “More importantly, however, I owe this award to my students, who motivate me to give them the best I can in every class.”

Hom, Parma and Gil were each awarded $750 and given a certificate commemorating their accomplishments at the Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence. Also recognized with Outstanding Teaching Awards were Michael Mesa of the College of Education, Allison Gibbes of the College of Fine Arts and John Zabanal of the College of Music.