Vice Chancellor's Excellence in Teaching Awards 2009

The Vice Chancellor's Awards for Teaching Excellence (TEx Awards) give recognition to teachers (individuals and teams) renowned for the excellence of their teaching, who have outstanding presentation skills and who have made a broad and deep contribution to enhancing the quality of learning and teaching at Murdoch University.

Four awards of $4,000 each will be presented by the Vice Chancellor at the University Awards ceremony, together with a certificate.

Staff are nominated and asked to apply for the TEx Awards. Nominations are given to staff who have Student Survey of Teaching results in the top 10% of surveys conducted in the previous 12 months (2 semesters or 3 trimesters). Staff interested in being eligible for the TEX Awards should ensure they have surveys of their teaching conducted in at least one unit, but may wish to have surveys conducted in several units, as the staff member's best survey results will be used in the selection process. Details on how to request Teaching Surveys are sent out in mailbombs to academic staff several times each semester. For further details go to: http://www.tlc.murdoch.edu.au/eddev/evaluation/survey/teachsurvey.html

The initial list of nominees is then scrutinised to eliminate any staff who have won a TEx award in the past five years. The eligible nominees are then asked if they wish to proceed with the next stage of the process. Faculty and School Deans are also notified of the staff in their areas who have been nominated.

Those staff who elect to proceed are invited to prepare an application against one of the four categories for the awards, which align with those used in the national ALTC Awards:

• General Teaching Excellence in their Discipline;
• Early Career Teaching (not more than 7 years experience);
• Team Teaching (not more than 5 team members);
• Indigenous Teaching (contribution to indigenous education).

Eligible staff are also invited to attend an information session and workshop about the selection process and the genre of award writing.

The Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Awards parallel the ALTC's Teaching Excellence Awards.

For more details, download the TEx Application Guidelines and Application Form.

2009 Selection Committee

The Selection Committee comprises one Educational Development staff member, a nominee from each faculty, and a student representative. The current Selection Committee is:

Rob Phillips (Chair) – Educational Development (on leave)
Andrew Webster (Acting Chair) – SSH, FAE
Mike van Keulen – Biological Sciences, FSELS
Jenny Mills – Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, FHS
Brenton Clarke – Energy Studies, FME
Sharon Delmege – MCC, FCTM
Augusto Zimmerman – Law, FLB
Bhavani Paramswaran – Guild Representative

The Selection Committee meets to assess the submitted applications against the selection criteria, and recommends up to four awards to be presented, preferably one in each category. The results of the selection are forwarded to the Vice Chancellor for endorsement, and a certificate and cheque are presented to the recipients at the appropriate University Awards Ceremony.

Timetable for 2009

Nomination Documentation

An electronic copy and eight hard copies of applications need to be submitted to Karyn Barenberg (K.Barenberg@murdoch.edu.au) in Educational Development by the due date specified above.

Applications must include:

1. Nomination form
2. Written statement, including a synopsis (150-200 words) and discussion addressing each of the five selection criteria (8 A4 pages)
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Two References
5. Supporting teaching materials. Maximum of two from website (URL), CD/DVD, or 10 pages of printed material, such as student feedback questionnaires.

Selection Criteria for the Application

All applicants for Teaching Awards will be assessed on the evidence they provide in relation to the following five criteria.

1. Approaches to teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn
   

2. Development of curricula and resources that reflect a command of the field
   

3. Approaches to assessment and feedback that foster independent learning
   

4. Respect and concern for the development of students as individuals
   

5. Scholarly activities that have influenced and enhanced learning and teaching
   

In assessing applications against the five selection criteria, the TEX Awards Committee will take into account the:

1. extent to which the claims for excellence are supported by formal and informal evaluation
2. extent of creativity, imagination or innovation, irrespective of whether the approach involves traditional learning environments or technology-based developments
3. information contained in Student Surveys of Teaching, references and selected teaching materials submitted by the applicant.