Principal’s Teaching Excellence Award 2024-25
Principal’s Teaching Excellence Award is open to individual educators and teaching teams, who are invited to share an example of teaching or assessment practice. All examples are welcome. The application format is as follows:
- Case study title
- Background: Describe the context of your / the project team’s approach to enhance teaching and learning (150 words)
- Project overview: Provide a description of the project and either briefly describe your role as an individual, and if applicable, the role of all other stakeholders involved in the project; or briefly describe the roles of all named above. (150 words)
- Purpose of the project: Give a rationale for your / the project team’s teaching approach or new initiative (150 words)
- Dissemination: Provide details of how your / the project team’s new teaching approach or solution has been / will be disseminated with colleagues and students within and beyond the University. Is the approach transferable to other disciplines? (150 words)
- Key learning points: Identify the key learnings points - what have you / the project team learned from this initiative and how has it further enhanced you / the project team’s practice? (150 words)
- Evaluation: Explain how you have / the project team has evaluated the impact or influence of your initiative (150 words)
Submissions with sections that violate the word limits indicated above will not be considered. Case studies are to be submitted to the Centre for Academic Development (cad@abdn.ac.uk) by Wednesday 12 February 2025.
All submitted case studies will be reviewed by the Dean for Student Support & Experience, along with Senior Educators from across the Institution. The PTEA Panel will select one case study for the Principal’s Teaching Excellence Award. Up to another three case studies will be selected for commendation. All case studies will be considered by the Panel for inclusion in the PTEA webpages. The winner of the award will be expected to contribute to the Annual Academic Development Symposium 2025.
Results will be kept confidential and those shortlisted for the PTEA accolade will be invited to the wider university Excellence Awards ceremony dinner being held on Thursday 17 April 2025.
- How to apply
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Applicants must address and complete all sections of the PTEA 2024-25 proforma. Case studies are to be submitted to the Centre for Academic Development (cad@abdn.ac.uk) by Wednesday 12 February 2025.
Applicants are asked to clarify their role for an individual submission and, if applicable, the role of all other stakeholders involved in the project; or the individual roles for each member of a collaborative teaching team submission. As well as written responses in the text boxes, to reflect creativity, you are invited to (but you don’t have to) insert one artefact (maximum) to help to show how you have worked through your challenge/innovative development. To supplement your written account, you could, for example, insert an extract from your diary, a concept map, a doodle, a drawing, a poem or link to music to help you to tell the story of your teaching, learning or assessment development/initiative. If you decide to take this option, please make the links to your experiences clear within your allocated word count.You are not required to include the words within any such additional artefacts in your word count.
- Selection criteria
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The Dean for Student Support & Experience, along with Senior Educators from across the Institution, meet to review all case studies and agree the winner and up to three commendations. Submissions are considered on the basis of the applicants’ ability to:
• clearly describe the context of the approach to enhance teaching and learning.
• clearly describe the project and the roles of all involved.
• provide the reason for the teaching approach/new initiative.
• demonstrate how the new teaching approach/solution has been/will be disseminated with colleagues and students within and beyond the University.
• identify the key learnings points.
• explain how the impact of the initiative has been evaluated.
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
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Staff can apply at any stage of their career and may be employed on any type of contractual arrangement; for example, part-time, full-time or non-permanent (fixed-term). Staff must be teaching and/or supporting student learning, including for instance teaching, research and/or learning support.
The application process is confidential.In particular, we would like to encourage applications from staff at an early stage of their career.
- Information session
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An information session for the 2024-25 Principal's Teaching Excellence Award will be held at 10:00 on Wednesday 27 November.
Professor Jason Bohan (Chair of Principal's Teaching Excellence Award (PTEA) Panel) will remind potential PTEA applicants of the PTEA criteria and offer the opportunity to ask any questions.
Professor Derek Scott, PTEA 2023/24 winner, will also be joining the session to provide his advice and expertise.