The Students’ Association Teaching Awards 2020

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As the weeks of lockdown continue, more and more events are being rescheduled or cancelled. But yesterday the Students’ Association decided to celebrate their annual Teaching Awards online on their Facebook page instead.[\lead]

The awards recognise the teachers, personal tutors, students who tutor, research supervisors, and support staff who make a positive impact on students’ learning experiences at the University of Edinburgh.

A big thank you to all those who took the time to submit nominations and congratulations to everyone who was nominated!

Watch the welcome video.

Supervisor of the year

Viccy Coltman, Edinburgh College of Art
Viccy Coltman, Edinburgh College of Art

“Her honesty, diligence, and humour have seen me through times that have been both difficult and rewarding. Throughout, her commitment to making me the best researcher, writer, teacher, and speaker has never diminished. She is a constant source of support, and perhaps most importantly a role model for myself both inside and outside of the classroom.”

View Viccy’s speech.

Outstanding feedback

Gudrun Schoeffmann, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
Gudrun Schoeffmann, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

“At the end of rotations, she gives really personal and in depth feedback to each student she has worked with… She is such an inspiring teacher, quick to explain things very clearly and also assess how well you are doing… All in all, she is a very inspiring clinician who clearly wants the best for all of her students to succeed, and the vet school is very lucky to have her!”

View Gudrun’s speech.

Personal Tutor of the Year

Jessie Paterson, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
Jessie Paterson, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

“While it is one thing to go above and beyond as an individual offering students support, Jessie has been instrumental in starting programs that encourage students to be able to support and teach each other, including Peer-Assisted Learning programmes, offering workshops on empathy and compassion, taking her time to carefully pair incoming students with those that could best identify with their situation to ensure that each new vet student has the best mentor to assist them, and running a project to allow vet students to experience failure in a professional setting in a safe manner before getting into clinic, allowing students to reflect on her safe curriculum of failure to work through more serious failings in clinical scenarios once practicing medicine.”

View Jessie’s speech.

Outstanding Support Staff

Jean O'Donoghue, School of Chemistry
Jean O’Donoghue, School of Chemistry

“Jean is a constant source of stability in what can be quite a daunting and difficult time as a PhD student. She is consistently available for support whenever we need it, both personally and professionally – and it’s always clear to us that she cares about us as people.”

View Jean’s speech.

Student Tutor of the Year

Daniel Day, Edinburgh Medical School
Daniel Day, Edinburgh Medical School

“He is incredibly supportive, knowledgeable and a brilliant teacher. He caters his teaching to the needs of the student and generally creates a very positive working environment for anyone he is teaching.”

View Daniel’s speech.

Outstanding Commitment to Liberation in the Curriculum

Sharon Cowan and Chloë Kennedy, School of Law
Sharon Cowan and Chloë Kennedy, School of Law

“Sharon and Chloë have co-coordinated the Scottish Feminist Judgements Project, which applies feminist and critical theory to past Scottish cases in order to show that the result was not inevitable and indeed, if the judge had been a feminist, may have been different. This casebook has already influenced teaching in Edinburgh and further afield. Their dedication to not only teaching what the law is, but what the law could be, is inspirational. It encourages students to challenge what they learn. The critical skills this imparts makes students better lawyers, scholars and people.”

View Sharon and Chloe’s speech.

Outstanding Course

Music in the Community, Edinburgh College of Art
Music in the Community, Edinburgh College of Art

“This course provides so many opportunities for growth as a person. Connecting with the local Edinburgh community, I have been able to work with dozens of new people, and make a real, visible difference within a special needs school. The way it is taught is so exciting and informative, often very hands on and interactive…”

View Dee’s speech.

The Ian Campbell Award for Teaching in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Jane McKie, School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC)
Jane McKie, School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC)

“I would like to nominate Jane simply for her unwavering commitment towards her students, her approachability and passion for teaching. Jane is a credit to the LLC, she always makes her own classes as engaging and insightful as possible, but where she particularly stands out is in her encouraging nature and her ability to instil self confidence in her students’ own abilities.”

View Jane’s speech.

The Van Heyningen Award for Teaching in Science and Engineering

Andreas Sogaard, School of Physics and Astronomy
Andreas Sogaard, School of Physics and Astronomy

“I cannot emphasize how wonderful it has been learning from him… His lectures are well organised and very engaging, emphasizing the concept without undermining the complexity… The supportive environment he has cultivated has motivated students to do their best on every assignment… Everyone appreciates that Andreas is willing to go above and beyond for us because he genuinely believes in each and every one of his students.”

View Andreas’ speech.

Best teaching in Veterinary Medicine

Bronwyn Koterwas, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
Bronwyn Koterwas, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

“Bronwyn is one of those professors whose enthusiasm for helping students to learn and grow extends from within her classroom to beyond it. Her lectures are organized, she genuinely cares about whether or not students have understood the concepts, she includes case examples of concepts to help make lectures applicable, and she’s more than happy to explain things one-on-one if need be.”

View Bronwyn’s speech.

The Kendell Award for Teaching in Medicine

Dawn Livingstone, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences
Dawn Livingstone, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences

“Dawn is the course organiser and lecturer for Pharmacology 3 and Applied Pharmacology 3. These courses have been my favourites since starting at the University thanks to her. She has put in so much effort in organising the course, not only by getting fantastic lecturers (and being a great one herself), but also in terms of support she has shown to us… She is great at creating a friendly and welcoming experience, and her own lectures have a fair bit of humour involved which makes learning easy.”

View Dawn’s speech.