EVERYONE remembers a good teacher…and GCU gave students the chance to reward theirs with the very first Student-led Teaching Awards held on May 4.

Five teaching staff were presented with their awards by NUS Scotland President Liam Burns. They were joined by students who were named as Class Representatives of the Year.

The joint initiative between the Students’ Association and the University, which enabled students to nominate lecturers for their teaching performance, was created to raise the profile of effective teaching, and address areas where student satisfaction was rated low in the National Student Survey results.

Economics lecturer Jim McGrath, who won the award for helping to make sense of the subject, said: “I am absolutely delighted. It’s wonderful to get such great feedback from students and to know that I have managed to demystify what is essentially quite a complex subject.” 

He added: “In some ways the recession has done us a huge favour - providing a case study that has piqued everyone’s interest in the subject.”   

Nursing lecturer Mary Ballentyne, who won the award for making best use of technology to support learning, added: “It’s always good to give student feedback so it was nice to get some positive feedback for ourselves!”

Class representatives play a vital part in the student experience, representing their peers and helping to bring about student-informed change. The awards were introduced to encourage further interest in the class representative scheme and reward existing dedication.

Nursing student Andrew Craib, who was named one of the five Class Representatives of the Year, said: “I’ve loved being a class rep and have especially appreciated the ongoing support that we are given by the staff.”

In her closing speech, Principal and Vice Chancellor Professor Pamela Gillies told the audience: “This is a real celebration of what we’re extremely good at.”

The winners

Here is the list of winners from GCU's first Student-led Teaching Awards.

Effective teaching that helps make sense of the subject

Jim McGrath, Caledonian Business School

Effective teaching that inspires and motivates learning

Fiona Macluskey, School of Health

Effective teaching that offers support and recognises students as individuals

William McDonald, School of Health

Effective teaching that offers timely and constructive feedback

Keith Halcro, Caledonian Business School

Effective teaching that makes best use of technology to support learning

Mary Ballentyne, School of Health

Class Representatives of the Year

Maxine Dadd, Occupational Therapy
Ashley McClathcey, International Tourism Business Marketing
Andrew Craib, Adult Nursing
Emma McLeod, Business Management
Kay Morill, Nursing Studies