In this blog Callum Paterson, Academic Engagement & Policy Coordinator at the Students’ Association, turns the spotlight to the winners of this year’s Outstanding Courses and Teachers of the Year in the Students’ Association’s 2024 Teaching Awards. This post belongs to the Hot Topic: EUSA Teaching Awards 2024↗️.
teacher of the year
Our three Teacher of the Year awards are consistently the categories where we see the largest number of, and often most detailed, nominations. This year, around half of our nominations came for just these awards!
These awards recognise staff who engaged students in their learning, supported and challenged them academically, and placed their learning in wider contexts. We always love hearing about the excellent teaching happening right across the university, which is why we have three Teachers of the Year, with one winner from each College.
College of Science and Engineering
This year’s Teacher of the Year is Dimitrios Gerogiorgis, from the School of Engineering. Dimitrios was praised by students for being not just a skilled educator, but an inspiring one. His teaching style is personal and engaging, and making sure he knows all his students’ names is a priority, which helps to create a warm and inclusive classroom. Dimitrios made complex concepts in Oil and Gas Systems Engineering interesting and accessible, in part by using the flipped classroom concept to create dynamic spaces for discussion and ensuring everyone was able to input. He also put their learning into perspective and considered contemporary global challenges throughout his teaching. Students also appreciated his humour, and occasional self-deprecating joke!
Our runners up in this category are: Carole Morrison from the School of Chemistry, whose students said she helped turn a quiet class into a beacon of collaboration and was described as a “real gem”; and Dan Swanton from the School of Geosciences, whose knowledge and innovative teaching and assessment style earned him a spot on the list.
College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Our winner this year is Dawn Livingstone. Described as not just an educator, but variously as an icon, legend, beacon of inspiration, and the embodiment of women in STEM, Dawn stands out for her unwavering support and approachability. Dawn takes time to record videos explaining topics before classes to ensure everyone is prepared, and doesn’t pressure anyone to speak up, reminding them that getting something wrong is not a problem. Creating such a supportive space has led to more engagement, questions, and discussion. Add to this the little touches like getting to lecture rooms early to check the heating is on during colder months, and it’s clear that Dawn does everything to make sure her students succeed.
The runners up in this category are: Gurå Bergkvist, who was nominated for her clear and detailed teaching as well as her dedication to ensuring her students truly learned about their subject rather than just memorising it for assessments; and Paula Smith, who was nominated for creating a genuine sense of community with her online SLICC cohort through her teaching and support.
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
By far our biggest category, the university’s biggest College received over 600 nominations for Teacher of the Year! Our winner is Inma Sanchez-Garcia. Inma teaches on the MSc Intermediality programme and has consistently gone above and beyond for her students academically and personally. From day one, she took time to learn about her students – their names, backgrounds, and research interests helped to inform her teaching and contributed to creating a warm, tight-knit, engaging class where her students felt supported and valued. Inma took time to guide her students through Intermediality, a topic that many were new to and found complex due to the variety of mediums the course covered. For example, Inma highlighted the similarities and differences of Shakespeare adaptations, encouraging students to build theories to develop a greater overall picture. Inma also encouraged her students to pursue their own research interests, often sourcing and organising workshops and field trips, as well as finding materials that she thinks relate to each students’ individual interests. We heard from multiple students that there is a collective love for Inma amongst her cohort.
This category was so competitive that we had to make an exception and have three brilliant teachers on the shortlist! Our runners up are: Sakie Chiba-Mooney, who was nominated for boosting the confidence of her students learning Japanese by challenging them and supporting them when they were unsure; Mariya Levitanus, nominated for creating a safe, inclusive, and engaging teaching environment and her commitment to social justice that shines throughout her teaching; and Hannah Simpson, whose teaching was described as a highlight by her students, with one saying, “Hannah embodies the qualities of an exceptional educator: approachability, accessibility, dedication, expertise, and passion”.
outstanding course
I am slightly shoe-horning this category here, but the thousands of courses on offer at Edinburgh are inextricably linked to the excellent teaching detailed above, so I believe it’s right to do so!
Our Outstanding Course award recognises courses which introduced students to new topics and perspectives; were delivered in new or innovative ways; and helped students develop personally or professionally. With over 200 courses nominated, our student panel had a tough task to choose our winner.
This year’s winner of Outstanding Course goes to Radical Harvest. Based in the Edinburgh College of Art, this course focuses on a new take on traditional architecture. Taught by Simone Ferracina and Asad Khan, the programme and associated studio has given students a whole new perspective. From giving them the opportunity to explore traditional construction techniques alongside modern ones, students have been able to flex their creativity while developing academically and professionally. They even had the opportunity to create projects for social enterprises and charities across Edinburgh using repurposed and reclaimed items. Alongside this, the course was credited with being a comfortable space for students to share ideas and get support, and the Radical Harvest studio was commended for its collaborative environment with new research and learnings shared across groups of staff and students.
Our runners up are: Immunology 3, organised by Jenny Regan and Alan Hayes, which was praised for balancing the needs of students with and without lots of background knowledge of the subject and for considering assessments carefully so students could focus on their learning and not constant assessment; and Music in the Community 4, organised by Dee Isaac, which is a course that has a goal of connecting the university with the Edinburgh community through music workshops and performances that allow students to work with adults with additional support needs, children with profound and complex learning difficulties, and socially isolated and homeless communities, among others.
Another huge round of congratulations to everyone nominated in these four categories, and of course to our very deserving winners. In different ways, everyone nominated in these categories embodies what it means to be an excellent teacher in 2024, and we know that this makes all the difference to our students during their time here.
Join me next week to hear about the winners of our final awards of the year: Outstanding Commitment to Social Justice and Sustainability, and our brand-new Sabbatical Officers’ Student Voice Award.
Callum Paterson
Callum Paterson is the Academic Engagement & Policy Coordinator within the Student Voice team at the Students’ Association. Alongside coordinating the Teaching Awards, he works with Programme and School Representatives as well as the Vice President Education, supporting and empowering them to make their voices heard on the issues that matter most to them.
