In addition to a $1,000 gift, recipients of the annual Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching are asked by the award's sponsor, Students Honoring Outstanding University Teaching (SHOUT), to present the lecture they would give if it were the last one of their career. There were 500 nominations this year, and the winner was Brian P. Coppola, a lecturer in chemistry.

Coppola urged an audience of several hundred undergraduates in Rackham Auditorium one mid-April evening to go out and tell somebody about the dog.

The image of a dog, hidden in a black-and-white picture that looked something like a Rorschach inkblot test, was the symbol of Coppola's "last" lecture.

Coppola admitted he was surprised that U-M students had selected him for the award, since he teaches organic chemistry which most students line up to take only because the course is required by many professional and graduate schools. "What the heck is it about chemistry, anyway?" Coppola asked. "Is it a marketing problem?"

In remarks directed as much to faculty as to students, Coppola cited disintegrated teaching methods as one factor responsible for much of chemistry's bad reputation. "Teachers must always remember what it's like not to be able to see the larger picture," Coppola said.

If teachers spend all their time teaching discrete facts, Coppola warned, students may never learn to integrate knowledge across disciplines and find connections between chemistry and other fields.

Coppola introduces themes from history, philosophy, psychology and literature into his chemistry classes. "In the last 10 years," he said, "there has been a revelation that we need to integrate various subject matters for students. We really mean re-integrate. The world is naturally connected, but it is the system of formal education that has created the boundaries."

Paraphrasing the 18th-century French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, Coppola said, "You can never get a properly developed meaning of 'tree' if all you do is study oaks."

Coppola also criticized students who give the "I-didn't-learn-it-because- you-didn't-teach-it" excuse for gaps in their knowledge. Teachers are not completely responsible for learning, he said. "My role is to create an environment that facilitates learning, but I can't teach you anything. You must learn it."

Viewing teaching as the opposite of learning is a false dichotomy, according to Coppola. "Teaching is an implicit part of learning," he said. "I want learners who also consider the need to express or teach what they have learned.

"Whenever you learn new and difficult information, it's important to be convinced there's a bigger picture there to see," he continued, as the image of the hidden dog flashed on the screen. "Keep grouping and regrouping the little pieces of information you see until you see the role each plays in the assembly of the big picture. And always remember that seeing the dog is a metaphor for persistence."

The only U-M award for outstanding teaching that is given solely by students, the Golden Apple is administered by a SHOUT committee comprising of representatives from several campus honorary and service organizations. The award is sponsored by Hillel Foundation and Apple Computer and co-sponsored by more than 25 U-M academic and administrative units.

It is rare for a teacher not in line for tenure to win the award, but Coppola told a reporter that foregoing tenure was "a small price to pay" for teaching the way he wished to.