Outstanding Teaching Awards 2018

Do you know a truly inspiring teacher who can bring a subject to life? This is your chance to tell them how much their teaching has made a difference to your time at the University.

The University and the Guild of Students are proud to announce the Outstanding Teaching Awards 2018, designed to recognise one member of teaching staff from each of the University’s five colleges that demonstrates truly excellent teaching. The recipients of the award will be nominated by the student body.

Contenders will be those who encourage and facilitate active learning and provide teaching that is stimulating, enthusiastic, innovative and consistently challenging. They should also have expertise in their field and be committed to sharing their knowledge with their students. The award winners will be notified in May 2018 and the awards presented as part of the Degree Congregations in July 2018.

Applications are open NOW and the closing date for the receipt of applications is Friday 23rd March 2018 at 17:00 PM GMT.

Following the closure of nominations shortlisting and judging panels consisting of Student Reps, Guild Officers and University staff will meet to decide the winners.

Thank you for taking the time to nominate and we look forward to awarding the staff that make the student experience at Birmingham the best.

All students who submit a nomination will be entered into a prize draw to win an iPad.

There will also be College-specific prize draws to win one of two £30 Amazon vouchers and three £15 Amazon vouchers.

If you have any questions or concerns please e-mail studentreps@guild.bham.ac.uk

Eligibility Criteria

1. You should have been taught by this person whilst you have been a student at the University of Birmingham. They need to have been a member of staff at the University of Birmingham.
2. The judging panel will be looking for evidence of some or all of the following when making their decisions;

• Outstanding teaching which is stimulating, enthusiastic and consistently challenging
• Expert knowledge of the subject
• Encourages and facilitates active learning. Active learning approaches tend to shift away from teaching techniques that involve simply transmitting information from the lecturer to the student. These kinds of activities can take place in a variety of different contexts including lectures, seminars and lab based learning.
• Gives prompt and helpful feedback that helps your learning
• Shows commitment to their students
• Excellent teaching could also mean a staff member who promotes sustainable living and commitment to our environment. There may be a class where you can pass on the subject matter to other students or people in your community.
• Empowers learners of any age, in any education setting, to transform themselves and the society they live in.

Your Nomination

Please supply up to 500 words to support your nomination.

The shortlisting and judging panel will have to make some difficult decisions so the easier you make it for them the more likely your nominee will be shortlisted.

You should tell us how your nominee fits within the eligibility criteria and the more specific examples the better. We want to see examples of what makes this individual ‘outstanding’. What do they do that means they go above and beyond expectations? For example, just being funny doesn’t necessarily make you a good lecturer.