Teaching Excellence Awards
Four Teaching Excellence Awards were conferred in 2017 - to Dr Aisling O'Donnell, Dr Belinda von Mengersen, Ms Elvis Richardson and Dr Robyn Bentley-Williams.
Dr Aisling O'Donnell - Aisling's nomination illustrates her excellent work as a teacher and her work is reflective of an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to teaching, combining contemporary problem-oriented analysis, theoretical rigor and critical pedagogy. Her teaching is strongly student-centred and technologically dynamic.
Dr Belinda von Mengersen - Belinda's award highlights her approach to the development of real-world, high-stakes learning experiences and assessments that are consistently designed to foster multidisciplinary, collaborative solutions to design problems, to inspire in education students deep understanding of textiles' capacity to adapt. Her approach to student learning privileges thoughtful, ethical, and individual responses to complex realities, including inherent environmental and moral concerns.
Ms Elvis Richardson - Elvis demonstrates excellence in the creation of dynamic and authentic assessment tasks that engage students with experiences and outcomes that produce design outcomes beyond the class room. Her approach to holistic assessment draws on her own creative and professional experiences and uses real clients as well as self-generated projects to produce meaningful design outcomes that contribute to our communities and the common good beyond the classroom.
Dr Robyn Bentley-Williams - The strength of Robyn's nomination recognizes a strong strength-based approach where see strives to build a dynamic community of learners' culture where each individual's unique perspectives are encouraged and valued, as a means of developing deep understanding on controversial, diverse socio-cultural issues influencing inclusive practice. Her pedagogical approaches are interwoven with developing productive respectful relationships with students and colleagues.
