Edinburgh University Students' Association has launched its Teaching Awards for the 2009/2010 academic year.

This year’s launch took place last Wednesday in the Teviot Debating Hall after EUSA’s Inspiring Teaching Conference which showcased the best in innovative teaching from across the University.

Evan Beswick, EUSA’s Vice President for Academic Affairs told The Student:  “I’m really glad to have launched the second outing of the EUSA teaching awards, and nominations have started coming in already.

“Both last year’s awards, and the Inspiring Teaching conference last week demonstrated not only that there’s some great teachers at the University of Edinburgh, but also that students are engaged and interested in celebrating those teachers’ work, and in pushing for the recognition and prestige they deserve.

“Last year we had more than 2700 students coming forward to nominate staff and show their appreciation for lecturers who dedicated real effort to teaching. I hope this valuable campaign continues to grow this year.”

This year the awards have been expanded with one for ‘Postgraduates who Teach’, which recognises the work postgraduate tutors do for their students on top of their own degrees.

There will also be three college-wide prizes which are designed to recognise teachers with ‘outstanding commitment’ across the three major disciplines.

Last year’s awards were well-received by students and staff at the University of Edinburgh and as a result other Students’ Unions including St Andrews, Sheffield Hallam, Liverpool and Swansea are set to introduce their own Teaching Award schemes this year.

Elizabeth Bomberg, a Politics lecturer, received the coveted ‘Best Overall Teacher’ award at last year’s ceremony. She spoke at the Inspiring Teaching Conference along with fellow award-winner Richard Milne.

Bomberg emphasised the need to engage students fully in their subject area and stressed the point that research and teaching are not mutually exclusive. Milne told staff and students of the need to make Powerpoint fun. In an entertaining presentation, he advised on the ways to get the most out of lecture slides, incorporating whizzing arrows and Gok Wan pollinating a plant.

The conference, held at Teviot, was attended by over 250 students and staff members. Attendees were invited to take part in a series of workshops aimed at improving teaching including, “Why lecture when everything is online?” and “Encouraging a questioning attitude in first year students.”

However, of the current teaching staff at the University, relatively few attended the conference, but Beswick hopes that the conference will generate more interest.

Students can nominate their teachers on the EUSA website. The awards will take place in April after a shortlist has been announced.

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