Manoa’s Meritorious Teachers

Wayne Iwaoka
Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences

Wayne Iwaoka is an associate professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences in the College of Tropic Agriculture and Human Resources. Iwaoka believes that education should further student’s critical thinking and problem solving skills. Students should learn to collaborate, be creative, reflect on their learning and communicate effectively. Learning goes beyond the core principles of food science and technology, and Iwaoka uses his courses as a vehicle to cultivate life skills in his students.

Iwaoka’s unconventional teaching style communicates the content of a course in a rather exceptional way. He introduced innovative options, such as administering the Meyers-Briggs Personality Profile so students can better understand themselves. He also uses the Cornell Critical Thinking Test to monitor his students’ critical reasoning skills.

Because of Iwaoka’s unconventional class structure and high standards many of his students find his courses challenging, however, they appreciate the challenges.

As an academic counselor, Iwaoka stresses the importance of finding, exploring and developing students’ passions so that they can incorporate them into their careers.