OUSA Teaching Awards

OUSA Teaching Awards

The annual OUSA Teaching Award was won by Dr. Kristin Hillman, Professor of Psychology for her outstanding contribution to teaching at Otago University

The award was announced at the official OUSA Ceremony on Friday 31st OUSA Recreation Centre.

Dr. Hillman was up against some tough competition with a final pool of ten nominees: Dr. John Guthrie, Tony Zaharic, Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, Dr David Bishop, Ben Varkalis, Associate Professor Peter Whigham, Haruko Stuart, Dr Grant Dick, and Associate Professor Zhifa Sun.

One student who nominated Dr. Hillman commented, “All in all, I am blown away by Kristin's teaching style. She is enthusiastic about her lecture content and effectively passes on this enthusiasm to her students. As an individual that one day hopes to teach and lecture my own classes, I have learnt a great deal from Kristin; especially with respect to engaging students and evoking a desire to learn.”

The nominations are open to all lecturers from every department, the top ten nominees specialise in Geography to Japanese to Physics.

The nominations are considered in relation to class size and the comments received from the students.

This year was also the first year a top tutor/lab demonstrator was been awarded; the recipient was Malcom Smeaton, a PHD student.

The winner of the Inclusive Award for going out of their way to create an inclusive and equal environment for disabled students was Dr Gill Rutherford. A special mention for Tony Zaharic was also made.

OUSA Education Officer Laura Harris was blown away by the number of nominations received.

“We received many nominations for staff who have gone above and beyond in their call of duty. It is a privilege to recognise their contribution to their students’ learning by making it a hugely enjoyable and rewarding experience for all.”

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