Portsmouth Business School
1,000 students praise first-rate maths teacher
Wed, 13 Jun 2012 11:12:00 BST
Mathematics lecturer Ann Heal has won the top award in Portsmouth Students’ Union ‘Golden Apple’ awards for having the most outstanding positive impact on students.
Nearly 100 members of staff were nominated in seven categories to honour and recognise excellent teaching and support across the University, with 1,000 students turning out to vote for their favourite.
Mrs Heal won the majority of votes across all categories to be crowned Overall Outstanding Positive Impact winner.
She said: “I’m delighted. It’s very humbling, especially when you consider how busy students are at this time of year with their exams.”
Mrs Heal’s head of department, Andrew Osbaldestin, said: “Ann is loved and respected by students. She is the most diligent of lecturers and has led our efforts on employability. She champions novel approaches to lecturing and is heavily engaged in schools outreach activities. She has particularly led on all matters concerning student welfare and has helped literally hundreds of students through time of distress. I wish I could clone her.”
Runners-up for the Overall Outstanding Positive Impact on Students award were James Kirby (Law) and Katie Lenton (Textiles).
The awards were announced by Godfrey Atuahene Junior, former student and course representative who currently serves on the students’ union committee and who is in-coming president of the union for 2012-13.
He said: “With significantly increased student fees there is a temptation for students to see themselves as consumers. But the relationship between students and staff is and should continue to be a partnership. These awards help to reinforce this ideology.”
The golden apple for Most Inspiring Teacher went to Rich Boakes (Computing), and runners up were David Laight (Pharmacology) and Ian Tapster (Humanities and Social Sciences).
The golden apple for Best Personal Tutor went to Murad Banaji (Mathematics), and the runner up was Colin Sharpe (Biological Sciences).
The winner of the golden apple for the Postgraduate Choice Award was Liz Meech (Human Resource and Marketing Management), and Sherria Hoskins (Psychology) was runner up.
Anne Worden, faculty librarian, won the golden apple for Outstanding Learner Support, and the runner up was Katherine Ross, senior course administrator in European and International Studies.
Ian Toon (Accounting and Finance) won the lion’s share of the vote for Best Feedback, and the runner up was Jan Sieber (Mathematics).
The Outstanding Department vote was split evenly between two departments, with Accounting and Finance and the School of Languages and Area Studies sharing the golden apple.
Awards organiser Godfrey said: “The awards are an opportunity for students to identify individuals, departments and practices which enhance their learning and hopefully highlight areas of best practice which can be shared throughout the university.
“The process is completely student-led from nominations to voting and recognises people who may not otherwise be noticed. As a union we recognise how important it is for students to have a voice in their learning experience.”