UWS awarded OLT citations and grants

UWS was again very successful in the national Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) Awards and Grants scheme, receiving five citations in the School of Education, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, and School of Nursing and Midwifery.

UWS was also successful in the OLT Round One Grants Scheme, which involves working with partner institutions in a national context.

Dr Lucie Ramjan, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, was awarded a citation for contextualising nursing concepts within the classroom – Lucie recreates a realistic clinical practice for her students.

"My teaching philosophy is focused on narrowing the theory-practice gap and contextualising students' learning so that it's relevant, realistic and inspiring," Lucie explains. "I influence, motivate and inspire students to learn by establishing a rapport with them and showing them the clinical relevance of their learning (now and for their future career as nurses)."

Lucie says this way of teaching makes the lessons more memorable and she recognises that catering for different learning styles is important and implements a variety of teaching styles, including hands-on approaches and multimedia formats.

Lucie explains that winning this citation means further developing these learning strategies "to assist our diverse student needs within the School of Nursing and Midwifery, and to further strengthen quality teaching and learning within the School".

Gwyneth Howell, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, won a citation for the design and implementation of pedagogies that develop students' understanding of crisis communication practice.

"In my units, students engage with content through a variety of teaching methods blending my innovations with sound pedagogical advice," explains Gwyneth. "Student needs are supported through the incorporation of technologies such as the University's Blackboard interface (vUWS); social media engagement; email messaging; intense, small group workshops; seminars; and traditional lectures, appealing to the various learning styles."

Winning the citation cements Gwyneth's position as a national leader in blended-learning teacher delivery. 

Congratulations to all the recipients of the OLT citations and grants. To view a full list of the fellowship and grant recipients, visit the OLT Grants and Projects website (opens in a new window).