TEACHING
EXCELLENCE
Why we see as we do
Dan Lloyd ssociate Professor of Philosophy Dan Lloyd is preoccupied with thinking. But unlike Rodin's solitary, pensive figure, Lloyd believes that learning is a social activity, and he challenges his students to learn by going out into the world to solve real problems. "Theoretical learning is a starting point that becomes useful when you learn how to apply it. What I've done is to make sure that every theory gets taken out of the classroom and becomes part of the toolbox with which students address the social and scholarly world," he said. Lloyd's active engagement of problems has manifested itself in many forms over the years. In his latest foray, he heads an effort that integrates community involvement into the College curriculum -Trinity's Community Learning Initiative. "At Trinity, community service learning is more than just a community service initiative; it is integrated into the fabric of the academic structure and goals of courses . While other institutions are also taking on similar programs," Lloyd said, "I believe the high level of faculty involvement and interest here is quite unusual." As strongly as he supports the interaction between the community and classroom that occurs in service learning, Lloyd believes in mutual engagement of problems .
BY SuzANN E ZACK
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their feet. Knowledge is a moveable edifice. I want my students to be able to handle themselves in the year 2010," he said.
Homemade bread
with his students, especially when exploring his field of interest: consciOusness. "In such a specialized field of study, any theory this year is likely to be in doubt next year and utterly rejected three years later. What my students need to do is to learn more general skills of informed reflection that will be sensitive to shifts in theory under
In 1990, Lloyd was the first recipient of the College's award recognizing the accomplishments of newer faculty members, the Hughes Award. Receiving the Hughes for his special achievement in teaching, Lloyd has won accolades from students and colleagues alike during his nine years of teaching at Trinity. His accessibility outside the classroom is well-known; he has opened the door of his on- campus apartment to students for impromptu evening discussions, complete with the fruits of another of his labors, homemade bread. Recently, students in Lloyd's "Issues in Cognitive Science" course focused attention on brain injury, exploring the interplay of clinical descriptions and the subjective experience of brain injuries and rehabilitation. Using the example of a colorblind painter in Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars, Lloyd led students in a classroom discussion of color. Using colored paper samples, he demonstrated how their brightness changed when viewed first in a lit classroom and then without benefit oflight,