Awards
What we offer
The Awards, Grants & Fellowships Office offers support for two award schemes: UTAS Teaching Awards and National (Office for Learning & Teaching - OLT) Awards.
Click here for more information about UTAS Teaching Awards
Click here for more information about National Awards
Peer Professional Learning Program (PPLP) for Awards
The PPLP for Awards is a new professional learning program aimed towards developing quality teaching award applications. The program utilises the UTAS Peer Learning Framework (Skalicky & Brown 2009) as the basis for staff to engage in peer-based professional learning, whilst also providing access to peer leadership and mentoring opportunities in a group supported environment.
Mentors
There are four PPLP for Awards mentors for 2012.
Associate Professor Sharon Fraser - Launceston
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Sharon is the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) for the Faculty of Education in the University of Tasmania and as such is responsible for the leadership and coordination of the quality assurance and enhancement of teaching and learning within the Faculty. Previous to taking up this position in March, 2008, she was the Program Director of the (e)Learning and Teaching Development Program at the Centre for Professional Development (CPD), a senior lecturer in the Institute of Higher Education Research and Development (IHERD), Australian Centre for Educational Studies and Academic Coordinator of the Teaching Evaluation for Development Service (TEDS) within CPD at Macquarie University.
She began her academic career as a scientist and after a number of years working in related fields, proceeded into the area of science education research in 1992, a research area which continues to be of interest today. Her more recent research focuses on the nature of innovation and curriculum change in higher education, particularly in relation to professional and organisational development needs. Whilst her current research relates to the ways in which university science academics understand their role as a teacher, and how they enact their teaching and how these relate to Shulman’s (1986) concept of pedagogical content knowledge. She is a published author in science education, education and science research.
Sharon has a particular interest in curriculum development with regard to the understandings of, implementation and use of innovative pedagogical strategies. She has widespread experience in developing professional development activities and resources for academic staff within tertiary settings, and teaching into postgraduate coursework programs and supervising postgraduate research students.
For the last 12 years, Sharon has been involved in working with staff as they reflect upon their teaching for the purposes of improvement and for the development of applications for teaching excellence awards. She has been an assessor with Australian Learning and Teaching Council (and its predecessor institute) since 2004, participating in the assessment of applications for national citations, teaching excellence awards and awards for programs that enhance learning throughout that time.
Professor Susan Jones - Hobart
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Susan (Sue) Jones is Professor and current Head of the School of Zoology. She is also ALTC Discipline Scholar for Science, and very much enjoyed the challenge of working on the ALTC Learning and Teaching Academic Standards (LTAS) Project with co-Discipline Scholar Brian Yates.
As UTAS Learning Outcomes Professors, Sue and Brian continue to collaborate in leadership roles.
Sue’s personal contributions to the enhancement of student learning have been recognised at both university and national levels. She was awarded the 2008 ALTC National Award for Teaching Excellence (Biological Sciences, Health and Related Studies) and a Carrick Citation, as well as two UTAS Individual Teaching Excellence Awards, and one Team Award. Sue is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Research and development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), an honour that is awarded on the basis of a peer-reviewed reflective portfolio.
She therefore has considerable personal experience in applying for awards and for teaching development grants. She also has substantial experience as an assessor or reviewer of award and grant applications to schemes including Carrick, ALTC, and HERDSA.
Sue is passionate about supporting and encouraging her colleagues, both inside and outside our University, on their journeys of professional development. She sees this both as “giving back” and as “sharing the passion”.
Sue has diverse experience of both formal and informal mentoring, ranging from working one – one with an assigned mentee, providing written critical feedback on draft applications, through to encouraging a school culture that values and celebrates the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Associate Professor Justin Walls - Hobart
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Justin is currently the Associate Dean Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Health Science at the University of Tasmania and has gained postgraduate qualifications in medical education at the University of Dundee.
He is responsible for the organisation and delivery of key Medical and Health Science Units in the school of Medicine and is playing a key central role in the design and implementation of a new five-year undergraduate medical curriculum in that School.
Over the last ten years he has received a number of teaching merit certificates and teaching development grants from UTAS and in 2011 was awarded the VC's award for Teaching Excellence.
His teaching related related interests are in interprofessional education, evaluation and assessment.
Professor Brian Yates - Hobart
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Professor Brian Yates has been awarded a number of competitively funded learning and teaching projects at the national (CAUT/CUTSD, ALTC (Zhang 2007, Bedgood 2008) and state (UTAS) levels.
He has been rewarded with seven Teaching Merit Certificates, a Teaching Excellence Award (2005), and a Vice-Chancellor's Individual Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2010) from the University of Tasmania, and at the national level the 2006 Carrick Australian Award for University Teaching Excellence in Physical Sciences, and the 2007 Medal of the Chemical Education Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI).
He is currently a Professor in Chemistry, a Learning Outcomes Professor and Deputy Chair of Academic Senate at the University of Tasmania, and an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Discipline Scholar in Science.