Curtin University’s outstanding teaching staff have been recognised at the 2018 Curtin Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Teaching (CEIT), including 18 recipients of a prestigious international fellowship.
The staff were recognised during Curtin’s annual Festival of Learning, which runs until Friday, November 9 and has a particular focus on incorporating Indigenous knowledge into the curriculum and the future of learning through innovation, featuring distributed and flipped classrooms.
Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Professor Jill Downie congratulated the recipients of the Curtin Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Teaching and Excellence in Research Supervision, the HEA Fellowships, and the 2018 Curtin Academy Fellows.
“The Festival of Learning presents the ideal opportunity to recognise our outstanding teaching staff who are working every day to ensure the leaders of tomorrow are learning in the most innovative way,” Professor Downie said.
“I would like to acknowledge the incredible achievements of the staff members who received Curtin Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Teaching, in recognition of their commitment to thinking ‘outside the box’ when it comes to higher education.
“Curtin University is a global university committed to excellence in learning and teaching, and I am delighted that 18 staff members have been awarded HEA Fellowships to increase the international mobility of our workforce and validate their achievements in supporting student learning.”
At the CEIT, among the winners of the Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning were Curtin Malaysia’s Dr Anita Jimmie Jemut and Mr Kamaroizan Mohamad, for their work in empowering students through a community and outreach program.
Other winners in this category were Dr Sumaiya Islam, also from Curtin Malaysia, for inspiring, motivating and influencing students to become independent problem-solvers, and Dr Rachna Aggarwal, from Curtin’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies, in recognition of providing culturally appropriate learning and teaching and exceptional pastoral care.
Dr Toni Dobinson, from the Faculty of Humanities, for her approach to applied linguistics, literacy and English language teaching, Dr Ajanthy Arulpragasam, in recognition of her commitment to human biology teaching, and Dr Emily Castell, for her transformative philosophy to foster a fair society, both from the Faculty of Health Sciences, were presented Awards for Teaching Excellence.
The Curtin Awards for Excellence in Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Supervision recognise those with outstanding practice in research supervision who have contributed to enhancing the quality of supervision. Those awards were presented to Professor Hongwei Wu, from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and Professor Jaya Dantas, from the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Four Curtin staff were awarded Senior HEA Fellowships from the UK-based Advance Higher Education, including Dr Helen Flavell and Associate Professor Phillip Clark, both from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr Katharina Wolf, from the Faculty of Business and Law, and Ms Lai Zhenyue, from Curtin Malaysia.
Five staff – Mr Leigh Smith, from the Faculty of Business and Law, Dr Khyati Shetty, from Curtin Dubai, Ms Raelene Tifflin, from Curtin Learning and Teaching, Dr Magdy Elnashar, from the Faculty of Health Sciences, and Dr Vicky Barnett, from the Faculty of Science and Engineering – were recognised with HEA Fellowships.
Another nine staff members were acknowledged as Associate HEA Fellows including Ms Amanda Smith, from Curtin Library, Ms Natalie Beard, from the Faculty of Humanities, Dr Shi Yee Wong and Mr Ing Ming Chew, both from Curtin Malaysia, as well as Ms Tara Binnie, Ms Kristen Seaman, Mr Milo Radunski, Ms Martyna Bendlin, and Mr Leon Booth, from the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Five new Curtin Academy Fellows were also inducted in recognition of exceptional leaders committed to collaboration and teaching excellence. These included Dr Susan Blackley, from the Faculty of Humanities, Ms Sonia Ferns, from the Office of the DVC Academic, Associate Professor Jennifer Howell, from the Faculty of Humanities, Associate Professor Sandra Kemp, from the Faculty of Health Sciences, and Associate Professor Craig Zimitat, from the Office of the DVC Academic.
The 2018 Curtin Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Teaching were celebrated this week at the University’s Bentley Campus.
For more information about the Festival of Learning, visit: https://clt.curtin.edu.au/festival_of_learning/
