By Gavin Mackintosh-
Highly rated London University, Queen Mary, staged an event rewarding outstanding teachers who have contributed to making education a bright experience.
The winners of Queen Mary’s new scheme of annual Education Excellence Awards and President and Principal’s Prizes were announced at a ceremony held on the campus yesterday. The internally funded awards awards were held last night to coincide with the Teaching and Learning Conference.
Representatives of Queen Mary University told The Eye Of Media.Com that the awards were overseen by a committee which included student representation. Staff members were self-nominated for the awards, or could be nominated by a colleague. The winners were chosen by faculty panels looking for excellence in education, student engagement, student employability and learning environment.
They set out to highlight the significance of an excellent education at Queen Mary, alongside research and public engagement. They are supplementary to the existing Education Awards, which are organised by the Students’ Union and nominated on and voted for by students.
Organisers of the scheme say it aims to improve the quality of education and embed a culture of excellence at one of the Uk’s most respected Universities; certainly one of London’s most respected. The University stated that through the recognition and celebration of teaching excellence, it seeks to encourage student engagement through co-creation, supporting excellent student learning outcomes, and providing an excellent student environment.
It is not clear whether any prize giving ceremonies are in the pipeline for University students, who could surely do with a boost. The University has a wealth of very bright students , gathered from the best private schools, and the very best of state or mainstream schools. They may have to give out too many prizes fir academic excellence, if they had to.
Awards were given to individuals and teams for excellence in education with prizes of £1,000 each for individual awards and £5,000 for team awards to be used for professional developmental support for the benefit of the individual(s) and the University.
On Thursday evening, lecturers at the high fly University due for prizes with in high spirits. Their weekend will be very good.
Award winners were identified by the Faculties, with three nominees also identified for the President and Principal’s Excellence Prizes, which include a reward of £3,000, to be used for professional development activity. Dr Paul Copeland from the school of Politics and International Relations was accredited for excellent revision of curriculum and student assessment experience using a student-centred, co-creative approach
High Academic: Dr Paul Copeland
The president and Principal Excellence Prize
The excellent prize went to four different staff members in the School Of Law, William Harvey Research Institute, School of Mathematical Science.
Dr Anastatious Tombors won the prize in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science for excellence in assessment, feedback, and co-creation of modules in assessment. He also won a prize for providing exemplary student support, both academic and pastoral, that has enabled disengaged undergraduate students to reengage with their degree studies in mathematics.
He was credited for excellence in assessment, feedback and co-creation of modules in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He was also credited for running an efficient legal advice centre for Law. The Legal Advice Centre at Queen Mary’s University is a well-run and award-winning free community law centre through which Queen Mary students provide supervised free legal advice to members of the public in many subject areas. This is a highly skilled area that commands much respect.
Excellence
Professor Maralyn Druce won the William Harvey Research Institute for Excellence in Education in Endocrinology, nationally and internationally. Professor Druce is also credited for providing exemplary student support, both academic and pastoral, that has enabled disengaged undergraduate students to reengage with their degree studies in mathematics.
An impressive graduate of Christ College, and Cambridge University, she completed her clinical training at University College and Middlesex School of Medicine in 1994. She was awarded a Wellcome Trust clinical research training fellowship, on top of which she obtained a PhD in physiology in Professor Steve Bloom’s laboratory in Imperial College, focusing on gut hormones and their role in the peripheral and central control of energy homeostasis.
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Prize Winning expert lecturer: Professor Maralyn Druce
Many other award winners were selected in the School of Medicine And Dentistry, Humanities And Social Science, Science And Engineering.
CELEBRATION
Professor Colin Bailey, President and Principal of Queen Mary University of London, said: “These awards celebrate the diversity of ideas and practices from across our faculties which helps to improve the experience of Queen Mary students. I have been impressed by the quality of nominations and I’m proud to recognise and support the exceptional contributions of our staff to enable excellence and innovation in teaching and learning at Queen Mary.”
Professor Stephanie Marshall, the University’s reputable Vice Principal expert of innovation in teaching and learning said: “We were delighted by the enthusiasm and interest that our colleagues have shown towards the awards. The applications were thoughtful and gave us a tough task in shortlisting the candidates. The applications clearly showed us how committed our staff are to delivering our vision of an outstanding, inclusive world-class education at Queen Mary. I would like to personally congratulate everyone who took part and we are excited to take this forward next year.”
Vice Principal : Professor Stephanie Marshall