Oxford Brookes University Students’ Union Teaching Awards

Wednesday, 16 December 2020

The quality of teaching in Oxford Brookes Business School is high, and so when colleagues are recognised for their teaching they are truly exceptional.

As we come to the end of the first semester, it’s fantastic to see so many of our teaching staff being nominated and winning these prestigious awards.

Oxford Brookes colleagues recognised in the Teaching awards were:

• Alan McBlane:  Winner - Outstanding Teaching for Employability; Shortlisted - Contribution to the Student Experience
• Sola Adesola:  Winner - Feedback and Communication award
• Katerina Kosta: – Winner – Creative Teaching Award
• Kate Ji: Shortlisted - Most inspirational lecturer
• Isabel Virgo (Academic Liaison Librarian for OBBS): Shortlisted - Support Staff Member of the year
• Mary Davis: Shortlisted - Unsung Hero
• Peter Szende: Shortlisted - Outstanding Teaching for Employability

Alan was announced as winner of the Outstanding Teaching for Employability Award. In receiving the award Alan said “Being recognised by our students for doing the things that I love doing is a genuine honour, particularly in these categories. We all know how tough it can be to get your first break in any business and I believe that having the opportunity to take the knowledge that has built up through a career in industry and then share that with some genuinely gifted and talented individuals is a real privilege.”

Alan, who is a Senior Lecturer in Events Management, was nominated for his work in promoting employability and also for his contribution to the student experience. This award recognises his work on the Postgraduate and Undergraduate Events Management courses. Alan’s work has created opportunities for the students to get real life experience, both inside and outside of the university environment, helping to set their academic studies into a practical environment.

In nominating Alan for the award his students commented on how he pushes them to constantly seek new opportunities to better themselves both academically and in their desired career paths, and for the fact that he always goes above and beyond to improve the student experience at Brookes by offering multiple activities for the students to get involved with.
 

Dr Nicholette Michels, Associate Dean Postgraduate Studies commented: “It is such a fantastic endorsement to see Alan is so highly regarded by his students both within their studies and with the student experience as a whole.”

Sola was announced the winner of the Feedback and Communication Award.  In receiving the award Sola said ”When I received the news that I won an award for Feedback and Communication, it met me with a shock because I have never won anything from the student voice from my time I’ve been here at Oxford Brookes University."

Sola, who is a Senior Lecturer in Business and Management, was nominated for her approach towards feedback and communication. This award recognises her work on the BMGT 5001 module Corporate & Business Law, a Level 5 module where the learner investigates key advanced areas of business law including company law, employment law, contract law and common law liability in the law of negligence.  For most learners, this is their first encounter with Law, they quickly get to grips with some fundamental basics if they are to understand any aspect of law. Sola learnt best practice through colleagues to improve on the feedback, and to help students to engage better with feedback and feedforward into the summative assignments.

In nominating Sola for the award her students commented on the feedback she provided for encouraging students to look at new perspectives, whether it was via a mid-term reflection session or detailed feedback on essays and plans.
 

“Her feedback for our essays and plans was very detailed, comprehensive, and encouraging with new perspectives that were helpful for me to get the most of the module she lectured.”

Dr Nick Wilton, Associate Dean for Undergraduate studies said: “I want to congratulate Sola for her hard work and impact which is fully recognised by our students. Well done.”

Katerina Kosta

Katerina was announced the winner of the Creative Teaching Award. In receiving the award Katerina said "I feel extremely honoured to be the winner of the Creative Teaching Award and would like to say a huge thank you to my brilliant students for nominating me!”

Katerina, who is a Teaching Fellow in the area of environmental sustainability and sustainable development, was nominated for the module she led on Environmentally Sustainable Business. Her success as an award winning educator is testament to her research informed teaching, and previous accolade which builds on a previous Best Paper award from the ”Implementing Sustainability in the Curriculum of Universities”  symposium for her work on ”Sustainability Curriculum in UK University Sustainability Reports”.  

Dr Nick Wilton, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, noted "Katerina richly deserves this award which brings together her teaching and research interests in a way that enriches the student experience”.

Professor Tim Vorley, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Business School said: “I am very proud of all of our nominees and winners, to have 7 nominees and 3 award winners really shows that as a School we are fully committed to excellence through our teaching and research and being recognised with these awards very much embodies this.”

For more information on the Brookes Union Teaching Awards: https://www.brookesunion.org.uk/teaching-awards