Matthew F. Cain

Chemistry

For Professor Mathew Cain of the Chemistry Department at UH Mānoa, “successful teaching hinges on effort and patience.” He emphasizes the importance of self-reflection with the help of student feedback “to analyze/assess how to make the class better. This is where effort comes in” he notes. Professor Cain’s sustained efforts to help his students better grasp advanced chemistry content are not lost on his students, evident in this student comment: “Kudos to Dr Cain for making such advanced topics into digestible content.” From recording Zoom answer keys to creating a YouTube channel for covering “challenging topics,” Professor Cain is not shy about putting the effort which drives his students to put in more effort into his classes. An experienced teacher, he also recognizes that “patience is key” and knows how to ” keep them calm and focused on working as hard as possible to understand as best they can.” Professor Cain’s guiding philosophy in teaching is “helping students reach their personal and professional goals” which he sees as “the ultimate job of a teacher.”