ANU academics from law, sciences recognised at national university teaching awards

18 September 2017

Our award recipients not only bear testimony to the breadth and depth of our commitment to innovation in education across ANU; they also bear the hallmark of our dedication to nurturing the next generation of researchers.

ANU academics from law and across the sciences have been recognised for outstanding contributions to student learning in 2017 at the Australian Awards for University Teaching.

The academics were awarded for their efforts at a recent awards ceremony in Sydney hosted by the Federal Department of Education and Training.

The ANU winners of the AAUT Awards:

Professor Emily Banks - Research School of Population Health; for outstanding leadership within epidemiology and public health, most notably through the development of an innovative team- and systems-based approach to student supervision.

Dr Matthew Brookhouse - Fenner School of Environment and Society; for overcoming barriers to statistics education through the design and implementation of immersive and transformative curricula and resources that have real-world relevance.

Mr Timothy Hatfield - Research School of Psychology; for inspiring psychology students by engaging them as fellow explorers, and implementing creative learning activities that promote self-reflection, playful competitiveness, and deep engagement.

Dr Ryan Goss - ANU Law School; for empowering students to engage with some of the most significant questions for our democracy, through the development of innovative and stimulating curricula and resources.

Training and Inspiring Educators in Research (TIER) -  Ms Estee Tee, Dr Su Yin Phua, Dr Kai Xun Chan, Mr Diep Ganguly, Dr Peter Crisp, Dr Xin Hou, Professor Barry Pogson - Research School of Biology; for influencing the personal development, career prospects, and learning experiences of students at all tertiary levels through a dynamic and sustainable multitier-mentoring program.

Timothy Hatfield said the award acknowledges his enthusiasm for teaching psychology and motivates him to continue to elevate his approaches to teaching.

"I owe a great debt to those teachers who have greatly inspire my own learning and I can only hope to influence my students in the same way," he said.

Professor Banks said teams are the basis of excellence and innovation in research and students form a key part any team.

"Receiving this recognition for our novel approach to supervision, acknowledging the centrality of teams and research systems, means an enormous amount to me and to my colleagues and we are hopeful that it will support great research and student experiences into the future," she said.

Dr Brookhouse said the AAUT formally acknowledges the contribution he is making to the lives of his students and will help to accelerate development of resources that promote quantitative skills in environmental and social research.

Estee Tee, from the ANU Research School of Biology, said being part of the team receiving the TIER award acknowledges the value of teachers in the impact they have on their students.

"This is a wonderful reflection on our own past and present mentors, and we dedicate this award to them because of how they influenced our own careers and outlook on teaching," she said.

The University's Law recipient, Dr Ryan Goss, who is a Senior Lecturer with the ANU Law School, said constitutional law and human rights law deal with fundamental questions that affect all citizens in a democratic society.

"And it's very rewarding to be able to discuss those questions with the ANU Law School's talented and motivated students."

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington congratulated each of the recipients.

"We are immensely proud of another strong showing for ANU in these prestigious national citation awards," she said.  

"Our award recipients not only bear testimony to the breadth and depth of our commitment to innovation in education across ANU; they also bear the hallmark of our dedication to nurturing the next generation of researchers."

Check out photos of the event here.