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Zack Fredin is the recipient of Michigan Technological University’s 2026 Distinguished
Teaching Award in the category for associate professors/teaching professors, professors/teaching
professors, and professors of practice.

Associate Teaching Professor Zack Fredin has been with Michigan Tech for nearly a decade, not counting his years as a student,
when he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering. As a teaching professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE), Fredin teaches courses in transportation engineering, railroad engineering,
airport planning and design, and more, and conducts research in design standard development
as well as road, rail and bridge design.

Prior to his role in the classroom, Fredin worked as a Michigan Tech research engineer
within the Center for Technology and Training, overseeing structural engineering work in collaboration with the Michigan Department
of Transportation. He has previously served as a CEGE adjunct faculty instructor and
coordinator for Tech’s Enterprise Program. Outside of Tech, he worked as an engineer with OHM Advisors, overseeing high-profile
road and structural design projects.

This spring, Fredin was also selected for the Deans’ Teaching Showcase, which honors 13 outstanding Michigan Tech instructors annually for exceptional teaching
and innovative curriculum design. Fredin is known for his gamification approach to
instruction, where students work in teams and compete in semester-long rankings tied
to coursework, which promotes accountability, peer-to-peer learning and active participation.

In this Michigan Tech News Q&A, Fredin reflects on his approaches to teaching and
collaborating with undergraduate students.

Q: What does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
ZF: Firstly, it’s such an honor! On a professional level, in 2024 I made the decision
to leave a really enjoyable engineering job to become a full-time instructor here
at Tech. At the time it felt like a really big risk. This award has helped affirm
that the decision to jump into teaching has turned out to be a good one. On a more
personal level, it’s been amazing to hear of the impact that I’ve been able to have
on students as they prepare for the next stage of their life, whether it be full-time
employment or proceeding further into their academic studies.

Q: Can you share some insights into your approach to teaching and how it’s changed
over the years?
ZF: My approach to teaching always relied heavily on interactivity. All of my courses
tend to be structured slightly differently from one another based upon their content,
although there’s always an underlying component of gamification and team-based learning
that I incorporate into daily activities. I’ve found that this approach heavily fosters
peer-to-peer learning and breaks down the traditional barriers or tension students
may feel when asking questions about the material. It’s been amazing to watch students
grasp a concept simply by collaborating with their peers, requiring little interjection
from myself as the instructor. While my teaching style hasn’t changed significantly
over the years (from a part-time adjunct to now), I have certainly spent a lot of
time ensuring that I provide clear and easy-to-use course materials and spend a little
more time on the tougher topics than I did in my first iterations of teaching specific
courses.

Q: What do you think makes for a successful learning experience?
ZF: I think a successful learning experience can be measured in a variety of different
ways, but for me, one key to success is providing students with the motivation to
learn the material. With every topic I teach, I always strive to provide clear examples
or situations where the topic I’m teaching can be directly translated into use in
everyday life. It’s amazing how students become excited and curious about certain
topics once they see the applicability to their own lives and future careers. I’m
also a strong believer in learning through failure, so I feel it’s incredibly important
to allow students the grace to make mistakes without a significant penalty as they
initially learn a topic. I structure my courses such that when they answer questions
in the classroom, there’s no penalty for wrong answers. In fact, I tell my students
every semester that quite often a wrong answer is better than a right one in a lot
of cases because chances are other students in the classroom will learn from the same
mistake they have made.

Q: How do you strive to nurture your students’ growth?
ZF: I try to be as understanding and as patient as possible. I see learning as an
adventure where there are many paths to the final destination. I think it’s incredibly
important to spend the time to understand each student’s path and to provide the support
they need to endure the uphills or challenges, keeping in mind that the ultimate goal
is not about how a student gets to the end of their own path, but rather that getting
there is what matters.

Q: Are there any particular teaching methods or techniques that you find especially
effective in helping students grasp complex concepts in your field?
ZF: I often rely on a combination of gamification and the flipped-classroom format.
Students will complete some pre-work, typically watching some videos and/or reading
some documents prior to coming into the classroom. In the classroom, I will ask the
students a series of questions surrounding this material, where they earn points for
the right answers. This allows students to enter the classroom with a base-level knowledge
and then work together to apply what they have learned. As the instructor, I then
provide a deeper dive into the answer to these particular questions to build upon
this fundamental understanding. I have found that when students have a chance to apply
what they have learned prior to completing a graded assignment, they tend to be much
more comfortable with using more difficult concepts to solve problems.

Q: Is there a particular teaching memory from your time at Tech so far that stands
out to you?
ZF: I’ve already had so many memories with so many great students — that’s what makes
this job the best there is! However, my favorite memory goes back to my very first
early semester student feedback from the very first class I taught as an adjunct professor.
This particular student noted in their feedback that they “hated everything” about
the course and proceeded to provide some very pointed criticism of my teaching. Based
on this feedback, I made some adjustments to how I taught the course the remainder
of the semester. When this specific student graduated they gave me a thank-you card,
saying in part that they wrote that evaluation and that they were so thankful for
the experience I provided them in the classroom. This experience has been pivotal
in how I incorporate student feedback into my courses.

Q: Are there any accomplishments, initiatives or acts of service you have been part
of at Michigan Tech that you are particularly proud of?
ZF: I have had the opportunity to be a part of the Michigan Tech Student Success Council
with a focus on Canvas usage on campus. I have a huge passion for clean, easy-to-use
Canvas course sites and I have really appreciated sharing my knowledge and passion.
I’m also the faculty advisor for the Railroad Engineering and Activities Club, which I was a member of as a student, and have gotten such enjoyment out of watching
students’ rail involvement blossom from a light interest in the area to obtaining
a full-time job in the rail industry when they graduate.

Q: What opportunities does this award open up for you?
ZF: I think this helps affirm that I’m in the right place! I also hope to be able
to use this to bolster my case for promotion in the future.

Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.