President's Awards 2011/2012
Winners of the President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching 2011/2012
Innovation and excellence in teaching and learning at DCU were celebrated at this years annual Teaching and Learning Day and Presidents Awards for Excellence in Teaching which took place on 15th May 2012.
Each award consists of a formal citation, together with a prize of €8,000 for the Academic Award, €2,500 for the New Lecturers/Tutors Award and €2,500 for the award to Teaching Support staff. The category winners also received an inscribed piece of Louise Kennedy crystal and all nominees received a commemorative piece of Crystal Eire. The awards were presented at the annual Teaching and Learning Day on 15th May in the Helix.
From left to right: Professor Brian MacCraith, Dr Jean Cushen, Mr Vincent Hooper, Dr Derek Molloy, Dr Mary Canning
Academic Category: Dr Derek Molloy, School of Electronic Engineering
"Recording lecture videos really helps to catch up if a student misses a class. Pre-recorded videos for digital electronics labs were really helpful. Derek used a straightforward manner to explain the hard theory, also using lots of examples to help understanding. Weekly videos of lectures and indexed tutorial videos are great tools for students to better master the points of module."
New Lecturers/Tutors Category: Dr Jean Cushen, DCUBS
"Taught us real life examples in class and got us involved via interactive role plays which we had to prepare for a brilliant mix of resources and teaching materials, included video clips, cartoons, graphs etc. Individual and Group Feedback Forms with lots of useful tips and observations on assessment and participation."
Academic Support Staff Category: Vincent Hooper, School of Chemical Sciences
"Vincent has been responsible for innovating and improving on laboratory teaching practices for the first and second year teaching syllabi as run in the School of Chemical Sciences. This has been particularly valuable for the teaching of large classes of students in an efficient and safe manner he is highly thought of by all those who know and work with him."
Two special awards were made for Distinctive Teaching Approaches and Distinctive Approaches to Assessment and Feedback and the winners were:
Distinctive Teaching Approaches: Dr Mary O'Connell, School of Biotechnology
Distinctive Approaches to Assessment and Feedback: Colm O’Ciardubhain, Fiontar