Purpose

To stimulate scholarly teaching and teaching related activities, and to recognize a relatively new lecturer who is an exceptional teacher in his/her discipline.

Eligibility

This award is open to staff with ten or fewer years’ experience of teaching in higher education.  Nominees need to have been in full-time employment at Rhodes University for three years prior to nomination.  

Criteria

In addition to evidence of inspiring and enthusiastic teaching, the following criteria, which are not seen to be either exclusive or exhaustive, will be used as guidelines by the Committee evaluating candidates for the award. 

-Learning facilitation

The candidate provides evidence of teaching practice which:

• creatively and effectively addresses the challenges of diversity in terms of students’ socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds and learning styles;
• uses a wide range of teaching methods appropriate to the discipline (including technology);
• demonstrates mastery of disciplinary knowledge and of the way research in her/his discipline can inform teaching;
• where appropriate incorporates interaction with learners into his/her teaching on a regular basis by, for example, instigating question and answer sessions and/or discussions in class;
• provides opportunities for students to learn how knowledge is constructed in the discipline;
• encourages and supports learners to be autonomous.

-Curriculum & assessment

The candidate provides evidence of course design which

• is relevant to and up-to-date with local, international, global and disciplinary contexts;
• creatively and effectively responds to the diverse needs of a diverse student body;
• is internally aligned with respect to purpose, outcomes, teaching & learning activities, assessment methods and criteria;
• includes assessment activities aimed at enhancing student learning (including constructive and developmental feedback) and which are accountable and transparent
• incorporates assessment as an integral part of the teaching and learning process.

-Critical Reflection

The candidate:

• collects evidence from a variety of sources in order to evaluate his/her teaching and course design;
• provides evidence of using information from evaluation to promote critical reflection on his/her teaching;
• articulates clearly the link between teaching and research in his/her discipline. 

Evidence for having met the criteria for the award could be collected from a relatively narrow range of teaching across year levels and subject specialties.

Last Modified: Thu, 15 Oct 2020 09:08:26 SAST