Awards salute UQ’s teaching prowess

The University of Queensland has maintained its position in the Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT), with the 2016 presentation in Canberra this month confirming that UQ has garnered more national teaching awards than any other university.

UQ has received a total of 122 awards since the awards’ inception in 1997, including eight in 2016.

UQ ranked equal first in 2016, with two other universities that also won eight awards this year.

 UQ received five Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, two Awards for Programs that Enhance Learning and one Teaching Excellence award.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Joanne Wright said UQ’s teachers should be proud of the quality education they provided.

“UQ invests heavily in supporting its teachers to deliver the best possible education for our students,” she said.

“UQ is delivering innovations and initiatives in graduate employability, new student facilities, integrated digital learning technologies, more flexible study options, and broader support for students and graduates, including for those who wish to start their own business.

“It is immensely gratifying that UQ remains at the top of the ladder in a cumulative tally of the national teaching awards since their inception.”

Professor Paul Mills of UQ’s School of Veterinary Science, a Pro Bono program run by the School of Law, and UQ’s Three-Minute Thesis program were all recognised at the national awards.

UQ Union President Gabii Starr said the awards were a coup for UQ.

"It’s great to see recognition for the tireless work of UQ teaching staff,” she said.

School of Veterinary Science head Professor Glen Coleman said Professor Mills, who won an Award for Teaching Excellence, was an internationally recognised leader in innovative veterinary education.

“Paul is shaping the field of veterinary education at institutional, national and global levels, ensuring sustained learning outcomes for students in the School of Veterinary Science while also establishing strong pathways for career development for both graduates and veterinary educators,” Professor Coleman said.

Professor Mills is a veterinary pharmacologist and a UQ veterinary science graduate (1987).

The UQ Pro Bono Centre won an Award for Programs that Enhance Learning, under the Educational Partnerships and Collaborations with Other Institutions category.

Pro Bono Centre Director Monica Taylor said her team was delighted to be recognised as a national leader delivering structured law student pro bono work in close partnership with the legal profession.

“UQ is the only Australian university to coordinate and resource law student pro bono work,” she said.

“Our students assist community legal centres, law firms, barristers and community agencies, and receive enormous educational benefits.  They appreciate first-hand the impact of the law and apply their emerging legal skills to improve access to justice.

Ms Taylor said this year more than 100 law students had undertaken pro bono legal activities across a spectrum of legal issues.

UQ’s Three-Minute Thesis competition won an Award for Programs that Enhance Learning, under the Postgraduate Education category.

The Three-Minute Thesis, also known as 3MT, has been supported by the UQ Graduate School since it began in 2008.

The 3MT requires students to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in language suitable for a non-academic audience. It aims to cultivate students' academic, presentation, and research communication skills.

3MT was developed at UQ and has grown to become an international competition, with competitions now held in more than 400 universities across 42 countries.

Five UQ teachers to receive AAUT Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, announced in September, were:

• Dr Saiied Aminossadati, for creating enhanced learning environments that engage engineering students in meaningful tasks which emphasise the link between education, research and industry
• Dr Lance Newey, for transforming business school students into agents of social change and impact: connecting business pedagogy with community wellbeing
• Dr Phil Orchard, for inspiring and engaging political science students with an experiential learning curriculum including simulations which are designed to prepare them for real world challenges
• Professor Kenneth Pakenham, for “Caring for Self to Care for Others”: scholarly leadership in integrating self-care into a psychotherapy curriculum that builds resilient clinicians able to relieve human suffering
• Dr Judith Seaboyer, for developing sustainable, feedback-rich, technology-assisted assessment strategies that markedly increase pre-class reading, engagement and learning, and foster pleasure in literary studies.

Media: communications@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 1120.