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
McBlaneAlan 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.”
Dr Sola
AdesolaSola 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