Dr. Anna Stokke
BSc, MSc, PhD
Dr. Anna Stokke is an ambassador for math education whose high standard of teaching and research inspires student success.
Her commitment to teaching excellence has been recognized with a series of awards, including most recently a 2021 3M National Teaching Fellowship — Canada’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in post-secondary teaching and educational leadership. She balances innovative classroom teaching with community service, a high level of administrative leadership, NSERC-funded research, and media availability for interviews on math education.
Stokke is a gifted educator who goes out of her way to create an engaging atmosphere in which students excel. Whether mentoring advanced math majors undertaking complicated research projects or teaching first-year students, she incorporates techniques like scaffolding to introduce new concepts in incremental steps that allow students to experience success faster. On her public YouTube channel, she posts videos of herself working through math problems for viewing by her own students as well as those in other classes.
Stokke’s passion for the material inspires students to become extremely engaged and work hard to succeed in her classes. “I lose track of time during her lectures,” said one of her students. “She makes extremely complicated material simple. She makes learning math fun.”
UWinnipeg student Gabriella Borelli said that Stokke’s first-year calculus course changed her life. “If it was not for Dr. Stokke’s excellent teaching and inspiration, I do not believe I would have pursued a career in math. She truly is my role model. I strongly believe that if every student had the opportunity to learn through Dr. Stokke’s teaching, there would not only be far more students pursuing a career in mathematics, but there would also be a significant increase in students confident in their mathematical ability.”
Stokke’s passion extends beyond her classroom. Former students who have become teachers often look to her for advice when teaching their own students. When Max Bennett became a math teacher, she reached out to him, not only to say congratulations, but also to make sure he had the resources he needed to ensure his students’ success.
Dr. Anna Stokke is a gifted educator whose passion for her subject and belief that mathematics can and should be accessible to everyone inspires students to engage, excel, and succeed. The University of Winnipeg is proud to present her with the Clifford J. Robson Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence.