National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards

12 August 9am

National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards

Three University of Auckland staff have received 2015 national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards.

Dr Elana Curtis from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS) won an award in the Kaupapa Māori category while Dr Eleanor Hawe from the Faculty of Education and Social Work Marie McEntee from Faculty of Science won Sustained Excellence in Teaching General awards.

The University has now won 22 national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards with our teachers or teaching teams winning an award in every year except one since their inception in 2002.

“Elana, Marie and Eleanor are outstanding teachers who bring a combination of inspiring delivery and research-based planning and development to their work,” says Professor John Morrow Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). “Their teaching is warmly appreciated by their students and admired by their colleagues; it epitomises the University’s commitment to excellent teaching that encourages our students to fulfil their potential. I am delighted that their sustained achievement has been recognised by peers from across the New Zealand tertiary sector.”

Elana Curtis joined the FMHS in 2005 as Senior Lecturer and Kaiārahi (Academic Director) of the Certificate of Health Sciences. Since then Elana has been at the heart of a team of people who have been successful in improving staff and student understanding of Hauora Māori and in supporting the success of Māori and Pacific students. With others in the University, Elana has championed innovative methodologies and kaupapa Māori approaches which have strengthened Māori and Pacific bridging and foundation education, retention and success within the faculty.

Eleanor Hawe joined the Faculty of Education in 2004 as Senior Lecturer and now leads programme and course development as Associate Dean (Academic Programmes). Eleanor adopts an experiential approach to teaching and learning that draws upon a deep and flexible subject knowledge built over a teaching career that spans 40 years. Eleanor’s pedagogical expertise is evident both in her teaching practice and strong publication record. Eleanor’s students (the majority of whom are experienced teachers themselves) highlight the extensive range of teaching strategies that she employs in her teaching.

Marie McEntee joined the University in 1993 and has developed a track record as an innovative educator of “science communication” in the Faculty of Science. Marie’s contribution is in complementing students’ core Science education with the soft skills that are essential for the modern careers to which they aspire. Marie organises, designs and contributes to two flagship courses in the Faculty: Communicating for a Knowledge Society and Managing Science and Technology. Despite phenomenal growth in enrolments, both courses consistently receive superior ratings by students, attesting to both the appeal of Marie’s courses and her ability to deliver quality learning at scale.

ends

© Scoop Media