Award Winners 2011
Prime Minister's Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year
- We are proud to congratulate Associate Professor Roy Tasker for receiving the highest ALTC accolade, the Prime Minister's Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year. Associate Professor Roy Tasker - School of Natural Sciences. Category: Physical Sciences and Related Studies
Roy helps his students to construct a mental model of the molecular world by using his VisChem learning design program; a sequence of learning activities involving interactive multimedia visualisation and peer discussion. This learning design is grounded in an evidence-based cognitive learning model, and exploits the strengths of face-to-face and computer-mediated learning experiences.
Adaptive online tutorials reinforce key concepts and skills and provide context-sensitive feedback to each student. Student survey data and analysis of academic performance provide evidence of the popularity and effectiveness of these teaching approaches while research publications and conference plenary invitations are evidence of peer recognition of the VisChem project.
Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
- Dr Ray Archee and Myra Gurney - School of Communication Arts - For specialist expertise in the design and implementation of blended learning classes leading to enhanced student engagement and learning.
- Professor Shelley Burgin - School of Natural Sciences - For sustained effort in students achieving beyond the expectations in their dreams when learning science.
- Dr Carmel Coady - School of Computing and Mathematics - For sustained commitment in enhancing students' mathematical abilities in providing a superior mathematical learning experience by developing and implementing inspirational learning resources.
- Dr Bronwyn Cole - College of Arts - For sustained expertise in developing and teaching with HSIE curriculum, pedagogies and resources that motivate and engage students on campus and in schools.
- Janelle Davis - Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) - For delivering transparent equitable systems for increasing access opportunities to improve engagement and transition of VET learners to university.
- Dr Joanne Lind (Early career award winner) - School of Medicine - For the use of research-led "story telling" teaching from laboratory to diagnosis, transitioning students from rote learning to a first principles approach in medicine.
- Marina Nehme - School of Law - For motivating, inspiring and positively influencing students' learning in interdisciplinary law units by an early career academic.
- Clare Power - Student Learning Unit - For facilitating enhanced learning experiences for students through visionary leadership of an effective and innovative PASS program.
Teaching Excellence Award Winners
- We are proud to congratulate Associate Professor Roy Tasker, Dr Loshini Naidoo and Dr Wayne Sawyer for receiving Teaching Excellence Awards from the ALTC.
Dr Loshini Naidoo is a senior lecturer in social justice education at UWS. She has established a reputation in the area of social justice education especially through the Master of Teaching (Secondary) program in the School of Education.
Loshini plays a key role through the service learning initiatives and the student support programs she convenes in ensuring a diverse student profile as well as increasing the participation rates of students from disadvantaged and mobile communities, not only within the School of Education, but also within Greater Western Sydney and the Northern Territory.
By developing social and intellectual capital in response to the challenges of these areas, she substantially increases her already established teaching profile in social and cultural diversity. Additionally, she contributes to the UWS mission to devleop effective partnerships through her teaching with organisations and communities in the Greater Western Sydney region, nationally and internationally.
She has published in peer-reviewed journals and books of both national and international repute, established international links with renowned scholars, obtained both internal and external research grants and has raised the profile of UWS by presenting at international conferences.
Category: Social Sciences
Professor Wayne Sawyer works in the area of teacher education, both pre-service and in-service. He has taught at UWS for a number of years in a broad range of English and literacy-related subjects, across primary and secondary curriculum, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. His particular specialisation is in working with current and future secondary English teachers.
Wayne aims to produce teachers with a strong theory-base in the teaching of English who can translate this into engaging, worthwhile and productive classroom learning, while accessing innovative and appropriate resources to help produce that learning. His teaching is typically characterised by students engaging in the activities that they will use in classrooms and then reflecting on the implications of such activities for their own learning.
As someone involved in teacher education, effective teaching is the day-to-day business of his research. His influence on curriculum development and his role in professional associations, as well as his research in to effective teaching in a number of contexts - low socioeconomic status communities, rural communities, boys, senior and middle years schooling - has demonstrated broad leadership of the profession.
