A full list of EUSA 2023 Teaching Awards nominations for Centre for Open Learning colleagues. Throughout February and March, students from across the University of Edinburgh voted in the Student's Association Teaching Awards. Thousands of nominations were received in recognition of the teachers, personal tutors, students who tutor and support staff who have made a positive impact on their student's learning experiences. Centre for Open Learning colleagues received a total of 13 nominations. Below is a full list of the nominations received - exactly as they were submitted by students. Outstanding Course Lesley Fraser Lesley is an inspirational and hard working teacher. As well as providing much appreciated stimulation to her students she has inspired several to apply for credits and go on the further university studies. Her classes are interactive and never dull, and she supplies colourful presentations to allow further studies. Her knowledge of her subject is extensive, and she is happy provide extra information to interested students as well as help with assessments. Many COL students have enrolled on multiple courses and most believe that Lesley is the best of the best teachers there. Although I have nominated one of Lesley's courses I have attended several and all are worthy of nomination. Personal Tutor of the Year Robbie Bushe As my professional and personal tutor, I really enjoyed talking to him, it was very lighthearted and made me very outgoing without knowing it. Even if every conversation takes place online, his infectious language always swept away a lot of my confusion about not being comfortable with the environment. Teacher of the Year Jill Haldane Jill deserves to be recognised and lauded for her commitment to student learning on the ALL for SPS module. Jill provided detailed, clear, and timely feedback on assignment drafts for my postgraduate programme. I felt that her suggestions allowed me to reflect on issues that I had in my writing and helped me to improve my final submissions. Additionally, any questions that I had with the Learn site or using the resource was addressed quickly and professionally. Thank you very much Jill for helping me in my academic journey! Neil Buchanan Whenever he speaks, he always makes me think critically. He also has a great teaching style and a lot of knowledge about the subject. Tom Pritchard It is my pleasure to thank them for the amount of time they devote to supporting students and educating them about all things related to the program. It was also the teachers' practice to encourage students to ask questions about any issues that they felt were unclear. David Caulton He is really patient and inspiring teacher which give me a lot of confidence although it is not my compulsory course. Deirdre Macleod Deirdre has been consistently thoughtful, kind, and sensitive throughout our course. I was really nervous about returning to academia as a mature student but she has guided me and my classmates with a perfect balance of understanding, compassion and empathy — pushing us just the right amount to encourage us forward to success. I truly couldn’t ask for a better teacher! Deirdre Macleod Deirdre has been a kind and understanding teacher to all of the class members. She has worked with us individually and as a group. She has been extremely accommodating with regards to my neurodivergency and has pushed us all both personally and academically. Encouraging us to push ourselves without being forceful, she is a great asset to COL. Elizabeth Drummond-Young She is always positive and accepting of student's opinion and ideas. She is always open to questions and makes it easy for students to ask questions. Her answers to questions are also precise and she is attentive to the students find difficult to understand or comprehend. Brian McGrail Dr McGrail has an engaging and entertaining teaching style that helps students realize why the material is engaging and why they should want to learn about it. This quality is particularly valuable when motivating mature students who have less time and outside pressures on them - he makes students really want to turn up to the next week and see what it will bring. Everyone should start their education with a teacher like Brian! Julien Virlogeux Julien is a great French tutor! Every week he's always really encouraging and patient with our questions, he makes sure everyone is involved and he brings a great vibe to the classroom. He always seems flexible with our lessons, so if there are more or less of us in the class he'll make sure we're getting the most of our time there, and it's always a good mix of speaking, reading, writing etc. He also took the time to give feedback on our homework outside of class. Merci beaucoup! Lesley Fraser Lesley is simply outstanding. Her work in COL has encouraged many students to return to further study. Lesley's courses are simply outstanding and must be very time consuming to produce. She encourages interaction, independent thought and further reading and her love of her subject is obvious. Anton Elloway It is my pleasure to thank them for the amount of time they devote to supporting students and educating them about all things related to the program. It was also the teachers' practice to encourage students to ask questions about any issues that they felt were unclear. Publication date 10 May, 2023
