2020 Winners
Recipients of the 2020 Teaching and Learning Awards are as follows:
Teaching Support:
The Teaching Support award, which recognises those who make an outstanding contribution to the support of teaching without being ‘frontline’ teaching staff, was awarded to Suzanne Stone, Teaching Enhancement Unit.
“Suzanne has provided outstanding support for academic staff attempting to enhance the learning experience for their students. Her enthusiasm has made a huge difference to my willingness to embark on new challenges. Her Loop assistance hours have been critical for getting staff to engage with Loop and Loop Reflect, but Suzanne’s impact extends well beyond this!”
Team Category:
In the Team Category, which provides an opportunity to recognise core staff teams that provide an exceptional, innovative, or transformational contribution to the student experience, the award went to the DCU Life Module team, DCU Business School.
Team members of DCU Life Module include Dr Roisin Lyons, Dr Peter Robbins, Dr Catherine Faherty, Prof Colm O'Gorman, Dr Shadi Karazi, Dr Philip O'Donnell and Karen Maguire.
Distinctive Approaches to Teaching:
The award was presented to Dr Martin Brown, School of Policy & Practice
“Martin has managed to do the impossible for me - he has made quantitative research understandable! He has a very effective way of presenting class material and keeps everyone engaged throughout the class.
I find his classes exciting and inspiring. His academic expertise paired with a clever sense of humour make him a most brilliant teacher.”
Distinctive Approaches to Assessment & Feedback:
This award went to Joanne Lynch, DCU Business School
“Ms Lynch is a large part of the reason I want to work in marketing. She's made a lasting impression on how I will approach marketing in the future. Her dedication to passing on her knowledge to students is beyond compare.”
Distinctive Approaches to Innovation in Teaching:
The award in this category was presented to Dr Stephen Blott, School of Computing
“CA282 is a new module that is everything that was missing from a Computer Applications student's education. Steve has gone above and beyond in developing ‘einstein’, the tool that evaluates hundreds of student's work. I truly believe that I learned how to programme well because of Steve Blott. He is very modest about the impact his use of educational technologies has had. The best lecturer I've ever had.”
New Lecturer Category:
The New Lecturer Category recognises relatively new lecturers and tutors for achieving excellence in teaching. The award was presented to Orla Bourke, School of Communications.
“Orla brings her considerable industry experience to the classroom in a manner that allows all her students to flourish. She has consistently sought to make significant additional time both to improve her own teaching and her students’ experience.”
Overall winner:
The Academic Category recognises all the nominees who have excelled in their teaching and learning practice at DCU. The overall winner of this category was Ann Marie Farrell, School of Inclusive & Special Education.
“Ann Marie is a one of a kind lecturer because she not only talks the talk but she also walks the walk. I feel that she is such an inspiration and we are so blessed to have such an amazing lecturer!”