College Teaching Awards

• Nominations must reach the College Student Administrative Office by 4.00pm Tuesday 9th October 2007.
• Address nominations to:
  Shufen Lin
  College Administrative Office
  ANU College of Business and Economics
  Australian National University
  Canberra ACT 0200
• Nominees will be contacted in October to confirm their nomination and applications from nominees are due by 4.00pm Tuesday 6th November 2007.

1. Introduction

The ANU College of Business and Economics (CBE) is committed to recognising, rewarding and encouraging teaching excellence by its academic staff.  The College makes available an annual award to one or more of its members to recognise excellence in teaching and to promote the value of teaching to members of the College.

Past winners of the award are:

2006 - Mr Christopher Nailer, School of Management, Marketing and International Business, and
           Dr Steven Roberts, School of Finance and Applied Statistics

2005 - Dr Jane Golley, School of Economics

2004 - Mr Seng Teh, School of Business and Information Management

2003 – Ms Jacqueline Birt, School of Business and Information Management

2002 - Mr David Pitt, School of Finance and Applied Statistics and Dr Paul Chen, School of Economics

2001 - Dr Steven Stern, School of Finance and Applied Statistics

2000 - Dr Pierre van der Eng, Department of Economic History

1999 - Ms Natalie Buckmaster, Department of Commerce

1998 - Professor Michael Martin, Department of Statistics and Econometrics

2. Aims

The award seeks to create a culture in the College supportive of good teaching.  Specifically, it seeks to:

• Signal to students, staff and the community that the College values good teaching practice;
• Reward good teaching practice;
• Assist excellent teachers who receive rewards in applying for confirmation of appointment or promotion;
• Encourage winners to promote good teaching practices;
• Over time, teaching award recipients seem likely to become useful, readily identifiable mentors for other staff (especially those who are new or inexperienced) to consult about teaching issues and strategies.

3. Eligibility

3.1 Any person who has been teaching in the ANU College of Business and Economics for at least two full semesters within the two years immediately preceding the closing date for nominations [and including any person within the College who has a fractional, adjunct, visiting or casual teaching appointment] shall be eligible  for nomination.  Nominations from teams of teachers are encouraged also.

3.2 Previous recipients of the awards will not be eligible to be re-nominated in the three years succeeding the year in which they have been an award recipient.

3.3 Teachers who have been awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award in the current or preceding three years will not be eligible for the award.

3.4 Members of the committee appointed to select the award winner(s) will be ineligible for nomination during the period of their tenure on the selection committee.

Note: The eligibility criteria for the Teaching Excellence award are intended to be encompassing. They seek to include as many academic staff as reasonably possible while ensuring that awards are for sustained excellence of performance rather than excellent performance in a single course.

4. The Awards

4.1 Award types:  there will be two types of award:

4.1.1 Award for Teaching Excellence  to be known as "ANU College of Business and Economics Award for Teaching Excellence (Year)".

4.1.2 Award for Tutoring "ANU College of Business and Economics Award for Excellence in Tutoring (Year)".

4.2 There will be up to two awards for excellence in teaching and one award for tutoring each year.

4.3 In any one year, no awards may be made.

4.4  The award for Teaching Excellence will be in the form of a plaque plus an amount of $2,000, whereas the award for Excellence in Tutoring will be in the form of a plaque plus an amount of $1,000.

4.5 The awards will be presented each year by the Dean of the ANU College of Business and Economics at the last College Advisory Board meeting of the year. Wider publicity of the award and its recipients (eg. ANU Reporter) is desirable.

4.6 Winners of the awards will be asked if they are willing to have their nomination portfolio, or part thereof, made available for interested colleagues and students.

5. Nominations

5.1 Nominations require signed endorsement by two persons who are either staff of the ANU College of Business and Economics or by students, either currently enrolled in a relevant College course taught by the nominee or else have been taught by the nominee within the last three years.

5.2 Nominations should be lodged with the College Administrative Office by the due date and must be in writing.

5.3 Nominees will be subsequently contacted by the College Administrative Office to determine whether the nominee wishes to accept nomination.

5.4 Nominees wishing to accept their nomination must do so by submitting an application by the due date.

5.5 The names of nominees and nominators will be kept confidential. However, as a reasonable part of the selection process and in seeking peer review, the selection committee may need to divulge the names and some of the nomination materials of short-listed candidates. If nomination materials are shared with an additional peer reviewer (such as someone experienced in the teaching of particular subject matter) that reviewer will be urged to maintain confidentiality.

6. Closing Date

6.1 Early in second semester of each year, a call for nominations will be circulated to all staff of the College. The attention of students will be drawn to the call for nominations through appropriate communication channels (e.g. student notice boards in the College precincts, e-mail lists, various student representatives, and promoted in lectures).

6.2 The closing date for submission of nominations shall be in late September or early October each year.

6.3 The closing date for acceptance of nomination and submission of the application shall be in late October or early November each year.

7. Content of Applications

7.1 Nominees should provide a Nomination Portfolio consisting of essential documentation and optional supporting material as described:

7.2 Nomination Portfolios is to contain the following essential components which are discussed in more detail below.

• A cover /contents page
• A written statement of up to eight pages, including an overview & argument addressing each of the five Teaching Award selection criteria
• Two references
• Curriculum vitae
• Evaluation information

7.2.1 Cover page/contents page: to include

• Nominee preferred name details, with title
• School or centre details, plus ANU phone and email details
• a contents list

7.2.2 The core element of a nomination is a written statement in which nominees describe their teaching activities and achievements, and specifically address each of the selection criteria. Nominees have the option to participate in a small-group advisory and discussion session on the criteria to be offered by the ANU Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods (CEDAM).

The written statement should be presented under the following six headings, in order.

• Overview
• Approaches to teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn
• Development of curricula and resources that reflect a command of the field
• Approaches to assessment and feedback that foster independent learning
• Respect and support for the development of students as individuals
• Scholarly activities that have influenced and enhanced learning and teaching

The overview provides the opportunity for nominees to commence the written statement with a focus on the specific character of their teaching and achievements. It is recommended that the overview be no more than one page and that it include the nominees’ educational philosophy and beliefs, a description of the teaching context and an integrated summary of the claims relating to the selection criteria. The majority of the written statement should be devoted to addressing each of the five criteria in turn. Nominees must provide evidence in support of their claims against these criteria.

The written statement is limited to eight A4 pages in total.

7.2.3 Two references, of no more than one A4 page each, must be provided by people who are able to comment on the nominee’s teaching against the selection criteria. One of the referees must be the Head of the nominee’s School. Heads of Schools will be requested to provide comparative comments that enable a ranking to be made within a department in cases where there is more than one applicant from a department. Consequently, potential applications are strongly encouraged to discuss their application with their Head to School before submitting their application. If the nomination is from a team, the references should apply to the team.

7.2.4 The curriculum vitae should outline the nominee’s educational qualifications, career history, teaching positions and teaching experience. The curriculum vitae is limited to three A4 pages for nominations from individuals. Teams may extend this limit, but a limit of one page per team member is recommended.

7.2.5 Evaluation information, evidence of teaching achievement, is required. This should include a summary of evaluation results, as is appropriate. For example, this would usually include a summary of ANUSET ratings on all survey items for all relevant undergraduate teaching and graduate coursework over two years. For more information on the teaching evaluation service offered by the University visit the relevant CEDAM website.

7.3 Nominees must submit five copies of their application.  Optional supporting material can be submitted in addition to the essential documentation, and is discussed below.

7.4 Selection is based primarily on the written statement addressing the selection criteria. However, nominees may include selected teaching materials supporting their claims against the selection criteria. The relevance of any such material must be made clear in the written statement.

Supporting materials are limited to a maximum of two of:

• website (URL)
• CD ROM or DVD
• video or audio tape
• 10 pages of printed material.

Please note: 

• Nominees are encouraged, where possible, to provide digital material via a single URL.
• Depending on the nature of the supporting material, you might provide five copies, or only one copy.

8. Selection Criteria

8.1 For the Award for Teaching Excellence: All nominees will be assessed by the Selection Committee on evidence provided in relation to the five selection criteria. The five selection criteria will be given equal consideration by the Selection Committee.

The Selection Committee will take into account:

• the extent to which the claims for excellence are supported by formal and informal evaluation;
• the extent of creativity, imagination or innovation, irrespective of whether the approach involves traditional learning environments or technology-based developments; and
• the information contained in student evaluations, references and selected teaching materials submitted by the nominee. The Selection Committee may contact nominees and/or referees for clarification or further information.
• outstanding performance over a sustained period in either, or both, large group and small groups teaching.

Teaching Excellence Award Selection Criteria

8.1.1 Approaches to teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn

Which may include: fostering student development by stimulating curiosity and independence in learning; contributing to the development of students’ critical thinking skills, analytical skills and scholarly values; encouraging student engagement through the enthusiasm shown for learning and teaching; inspiring and motivating students through high-level communication, presentation and interpersonal skills.

8.1.2 Development of curricula and resources that reflect a command of the field

Which may include: developing and presenting coherent and imaginative resources for student learning; implementing research-led approaches to learning and teaching; demonstrating up-to-date knowledge of the field of study in the design of the curriculum and the creation of resources for learning; communicating clear objectives and expectations for student learning.

8.1.3 Approaches to assessment and feedback that foster independent learning

Which may include: integrating assessment strategies with the specific aims and objectives for student learning; providing timely, worthwhile feedback to students on their learning; using a variety of assessment and feedback strategies; implementing both formative and summative assessment; adapting assessment methods to different contexts and diverse student needs.

8.1.4 Respect and support for the development of students as individuals

Which may include: participating in the effective and empathetic guidance and advising of students; assisting students from equity and other demographic subgroups to participate and achieve success in their courses; influencing the overall academic, social and cultural experience of higher education.

8.1.5 Scholarly activities that have influenced and enhanced learning and teaching

Which may include: showing advanced skills in evaluation and reflective practice; participating in and contributing to professional activities related to learning and teaching; coordination, management and leadership of courses and student learning; conducting and publishing research related to teaching; demonstrating leadership through activities that have broad influence on the profession.

8.2 For the Award for Tutoring the Nomination Portfolio is to be no more than 6 pages and address all the criteria.

In assessing nominations against the five selection criteria, the Selection Committee will take into account:

• the extent to which the claims for excellence are supported by formal and informal evaluation;
• the extent of creativity, imagination or innovation, irrespective of whether the approach involves traditional learning environments or technology-based developments; and
• the information contained in references and selected teaching materials submitted by the applicant.

The Selection Committee may contact applicants and/or referees for clarification or further information.

Award for Tutoring Selection Criteria

8.2.1 Approaches to teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn in small group settings

Which may include: fostering student development by stimulating curiosity and independence in learning; contributing to the development of students’ critical thinking skills, analytical skills and scholarly values; encouraging student engagement through the enthusiasm shown for learning and teaching; inspiring and motivating students through high-level communication, facilitation, presentation and interpersonal skills.

8.2.2 Command of the subject matter and incorporation of developments in the field of study within the teaching environment

Which may include: demonstrating up-to-date knowledge of the field of study in the approach to classes and in the creation of resources or activities for learning; communication of up-to-date implications for subject matter and incorporation of these ideas into the learning environment created; communicating clear objectives and expectations for student learning.

8.2.3 Approaches to feedback that foster independent learning

Which may include: providing timely, worthwhile feedback to students on their learning; developing and/or using a variety of feedback strategies; implementing both formative and summative assessment and feedback approaches;

8.2.4 Respect and support for the development of students as individuals

Which may include: participating in the effective and empathetic guidance and advising of students; assisting students from equity and other demographic subgroups to participate and achieve success in their courses; influencing the overall academic, social and cultural experience of higher education, especially in a small group setting.

8.2.5 Scholarly activities that have influenced and enhanced learning and teaching

Which may include: showing advanced skills in evaluation and reflective practice; participating in and contributing to professional activities related to learning and teaching; conducting and publishing research related to teaching; demonstrating leadership through activities that have broad influence on the profession.

9. Selection Committee

9.1 The Selection Committee will comprise four members. One member will be a student appointed by the Dean after consultation with the elected student members of the College. The Dean, ANU College of Business and Economics, will appoint the other three members also. They may be experienced staff of the University and should normally include one non-CBE member who may be, in order to add further expertise and balance, a member of staff of another institution. Gender balance should be observed.

9.2 Staff members, and where possible student members, of the Selection Committee shall serve terms of two years.

10. Disputes

10.1 In the event of any dispute concerning interpretation of the Award conditions, the Dean will have the right of final decision.