Teaching and Learning Awards 2022 winners

School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science
Subject: Geography; Climate Change

Jon joined LJMU in 2017 as a Lecturer in Geography, making an immediate positive impact on the subject group. His commitment to the students and their learning experience has been immeasurable, deeply embedded across all aspects of his role. Jon’s passion for providing students with a truly excellent learning experience is commendable. Since he started at LJMU he has kept students at the centre of everything he does: his ability to involve and inspire the students is incredible. He takes meticulous care when designing his teaching, using innovative and engaging methods in the lecture theatre, lab, and field. During the pandemic, he was able to combine technology with the restrictions students had on IT access to deliver excellent teaching, and ensure they received equivalent (or improved) skills compared to previous years. He’s selflessly passionate about improving student employability, embedding it throughout the curriculum in his modules, and helping others to introduce it in theirs.

Liverpool Business School, Faculty of Business and Law
Subject: Business Analytics

Since joining the university Christina has made a significant impact in the teaching of data analytics, building confidence and taking away the fear factor experienced by many students embarking on numerical or technical subjects. Christina embraced the challenge of re-writing a Level 5 module for 300+ students, turning it into a highly practical learning opportunity where students can build technical skills for use in subsequent modules, work-based learning settings as well as in their first graduate role and beyond. Christina actively pursues opportunities to share her practice both within the university and with the wider HE sector to help inform develop of her subject which is fast becoming a cornerstone in business and management education. Her commitment to the student experience extends outside of the curriculum where she has been a keen supporter of the newly formed students’ Analytics Society as well as taking on the role of Disability Co-Ordinator.

Liverpool Business School, Faculty of Business and Law
Subject: Event Management Sports Studies, Leisure and Nutrition

Since being awarded as a Rising Star in 2017, Lindsey has continued to provide significant contributions to both his home programme of Events Management and to the wider Faculty of Business and Law. Along with producing consistently well reviewed modules that place the student at the centre, Lindsey is engaged in the wider Teaching and Learning discussion through his involvement with LBS’s Faculty Education Committee and LBS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion incubator and his own growing research that focuses on the lived experiences of LGBT students in higher education. Lindsey’s high quality of teaching has been internationally recognised when he was asked to be a visiting Professor at Southern Connecticut State University’s Department of Recreation, Tourism and Sports Management to lead their ‘Global Tourism Impacts and Management’ module for two academic years. In addition, Lindsey has taken responsibility for gathering and encouraging contributions from others for a special edition of PRISM particularly involving those without research profiles currently.

School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science
Subject: Microbial Ecology

Komang has made a substantial and sustained contribution to the School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) themes. She supports and mentors her students by developing novel and engaging feedback and feedforward tools. Komang has had a significant impact on feedback within her teaching area, approaching the concept from her disciplinary perspective. Komang encourages students to be active participants in their learning through authentic assessment tasks. As her School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) Coordinator she sits on the Science EDI Panel and reports to SMT. She has led the Decolonising the Curriculum (DTC) agenda for the School, deploying the School’s Programme Leader network to encourage colleagues to critically evaluate their pedagogy. Komang is the Co-Chair of the PBS Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team and is one of the primary personnel responsible for the School’s successful application in 2021. In her external-facing work, Komang is the Lead for a one-year British Council funded (£30,000) Women in Science project. This work allows Komang to further disseminate the good practices that she has established within the Faculty of Science.

School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science
Subject: Vertebrate Biology

Peter is a leading expert in the use of digital techniques to understand animal, particularly dinosaur, movement. He brings this research skills set to his teaching, developing interactive and media-rich resources alongside challenging experimental tasks. A common theme that students praise in their feedback is the passion that Peter brings to his teaching, which is an indispensable aspect of his practice that creates in students the desire and enthusiasm to learn. A trusted colleague within his school, he has shared his approaches to online teaching using digital video. Beyond the University, his teaching has been enjoyed by thousands through podcasts, online magazines and public outreach websites, and by millions through his work with broadcasters, notably Channel 5 and the BBC. A social historian once noted that dinosaurs are intrinsically fascinating because they are both “everywhere and nowhere.” A brief glance at Peter's LJMU profile page confirms that the impact of his teaching is everywhere.

School of Law, Faculty of Business and Law
Subject: Corporate and Financial Law

Alison’s work focuses on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). Since 2020, Alison has led a number of COIL projects with Athena School of Management, India; Durban University of Technology, South Africa; Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), USA and YPC College, Malaysia. Alison utilised Zoom for the COIL projects, as well as Padlet and Google Classroom for sharing teaching and learning materials. In the SCSU-LJMU project, students were encouraged to express their emotions through visual arts on the topic of sustainability. Through her role as Associate Dean Global Engagement, Alison sees COIL as a recruitment tool with international partners. The Faculty of Business and Law is in the process of embedding COIL into the curriculum and Alison continues to support colleagues as they navigate the way to embedding COIL into Business and Law modules. Alison also led several successful COIL projects in the Faculty of Business and Law between 2020-22. The projects involved partners in India, Malaysia, America and South Africa. Students learnt about UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) such as SGD 8 Decent work and economic growth; SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities and SDG 13 Climate Change.

School of Engineering
Subject: Engineering

During the past four years, Jack has made an outstanding contribution to the development of digital education in engineering and technology. From teaching undergraduate students to use computer aided engineering software to the thoughtful and accessible design of his Canvas sites, the creation of high-quality recorded teaching materials and his innovative use of online testing platforms for summative and formative assessment, Jack has not only expanded his own practice and shown real innovation but has provided support and advice to colleagues who wish to do the same. His interests extend from teaching students to use digital technologies to enhance their capabilities through to the use of digital platforms to enhance learning, teaching and assessment in more traditional subject areas. The result of his efforts has been to the benefit of students and colleagues alike. He has demonstrated true excellence in digital education.

School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science

Denise is the PA for the Director of Biological and Environmental Sciences (BES). She is the primary point of reference for new PhD and MPhil students within BES, especially in the initial period of their induction and space allocation, always providing a warm welcome to the School. Her prompt and efficient support helps them find a suitable place to start their research and promotes a welcoming, inclusive and friendly environment. Her warm and friendly approach ensures our PGR students receive the very best welcome: they are provided with a dedicated workspace and all the logistical support and advice they require from day one. She provides a triage of support and advice to staff over academic matters and is professional and proactive in all her work. Denise basically ensures that everything runs smoothly and on time –an absolutely invaluable player in our team providing the best student experience we can at all levels. The contribution of behind-the-scenes staff can often go unnoticed, but its impact is no less profound. It is the consistently significant and positive contribution that Denise makes to the student experience, either directly, or indirectly through her support for academic staff, that makes her stand out. She is an invaluable player in our team, providing the best possible student experience at all levels.

Liverpool School of Art and Design, Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies

Kate Hodgson came into post immediately before the pandemic and has transformed the student experience from the Print workshop during arguably one of the most difficult periods the University has had to work through. This year Kate has worked hard to create a sense of place where our students feel they belong. Kate connected with academic staff, understanding their experiences to date with the workshop. From this she looked at remote learning: what types of resources the students had access to at home and looked carefully at what challenges they were facing; what types of assignments, exams and deadlines could be accomplished off-campus with possibly very limited resources. At the same time Kate connected with our students, from her space she gave the students some voice in a time when their lives had experienced massive disruption, she made her workshop their space by providing continued support to ensure her team are delivering the best experience possible.

School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Technology
Subject: Quantity Surveying

Following observations Tom has made of existing apprentices and employers on the Quantity Surveying Degree Apprenticeship BSc (Hons) programme and their engagement in the particulars of the apprenticeship, beyond that of the academic degree, Tom has made a significant contribution to enhance the performance of the programme and the experiences of apprentices. The initiatives also extended to LJMU processes to help manage the apprenticeship characteristics of the programme, as there are features that do not necessarily fit with the existing procedures, which are more aligned to the student full-time and part-time profile. Tom’s initiatives and interventions which have been incorporated to date also contributed to the recent successful Ofsted Inspection. Tom’s intentions for the apprenticeship programme are to strengthen the collaborative links between the associated stakeholders, creating a partnership between those involved to support the apprentice in their journey through the degree and their end point assessment.

School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science
Subject: Evolutionary Anthropology; Primate Behaviour; Decolonising the Curriculum

Nicola is a Reader in Primate Behaviour and has worked within the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences (BES) for almost two decades. She develops assessment tasks that inspire and engage her students while being inclusive of specific needs. However, it is her wider role in leading the decolonising the curriculum agenda within the University that distinguishes her practice. Colleagues from the Teaching and Learning Academy, Registry, Student Futures and the Doctoral Academy attest to the positive impact of Nicola’s work in this area. This work has a developing external profile, the events and resources that she has curated attracting national and international interest.

Liverpool Business School, Faculty of Business and Law
Subject: Business

Lucy has led on the creation of a strong academic team to develop a suite of programmes that are known for a sense of community and an excellent student experience. Taking the lead role on developing the employability agenda across the School, Lucy established a school employability group and led on this in the periodic programme review process. She has made an outstanding contribution towards the social and economic engagement of students through clinical practice modules and use of an extensive and active network. Lucy is making a significant contribution to developing a suite of industry aligned programmes as well as a strong employability lens across all undergraduate and post graduate programmes within the School of Business and Management. Lucy is making a significant contribution to developing a suite of industry aligned programmes as well as a strong employability lens across all undergraduate and post graduate programmes within the School of Business and Management. Lucy is an authentic leader and always leads by example, encouraging staff to step outside their comfort zone and try new practices.

Liverpool School of Art and Design; Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies
Subject: History of Art; Museum Studies

Emma holds three significant Academic Leadership positions of responsibility in the Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies: Associate Dean for Global Engagement (APSS); APSS representative on the LJMU Academic Board; and Programme Leader of BA History of Art and Museum Studies. In each of these roles Emma evinces inspirational and responsible academic leadership and provides staff guidance, support and motivation.

Furthermore, in 2021-22, Emma made a particularly significant advance for LJMU by curating the highly acclaimed Jamaica Making exhibition, leading the way in introducing and shedding light on one of the most important issues of current time. This event, focussing on Jamaican art since Independence, introduced hundreds of people in the Liverpool City Region to the themes and issues explored by Black artists from Jamaica, and enabled meaningful connection with LJMU, for the first time. Emma worked to provide a robust sequence of opportunities for the public to engage with LJMU and the exhibition. This encouraged new audiences to interact with the University and provided an excellent example of LJMU leadership in terms of civic engagement.

School of Law, Faculty of Business and Law
Subject: Law

Rachel has grown the Legal Advice Centre (LAC) from an extra-curricular activity in 2014 with a handful of students, into a nationally unique, fully curricular clinic teaming hundreds of students with local solicitors and specialist staff to advise and represent hundreds of clients who cannot afford to pay for legal advice. Now one of the largest clinics in the UK, the LAC curriculum is based on best practice from across the globe and allows all LLB Law students to obtain in-house work experience at every level of their studies. This is a key driver for social mobility and access into the legal profession for our principally first-generation university students. The LAC curriculum is a unique response to the recent changes in professional qualification, which require candidates to have qualifying work experience, as well as a vehicle for enabling access to justice across the Liverpool City Region.

Adam Vasco and Graham Downes, School of Education, Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies
Catherine Shillito, Outreach Team, Student Recruitment and Admissions
Subject: Education; Outreach activity

Adam, Graham and Catherine have contributed in an outstanding way to open up opportunities for underrepresented young people to engage and flourish in education. LJMU has a low representation of students from black and multi-heritage backgrounds. Initiating a partnership with a local Secondary School, Archbishop Blanch - which has a high number of pupils from the global majority - projects have involved campus-based learning with academics, technical staff and existing students across the Faculty. The purpose has been to ‘light the way’; increasing wider representation of young people from diverse backgrounds to experience university and recognise that they can and should have a place as part of our learning community. The team’s ‘Everyday Heroes’ project recognises the agency young people bring and is having a measurable impact on aspirations; including the intention to come to university. They act as true partners in their own educational journey.

Liverpool School of Art and Design
Subject: Fashion

The EDI agenda has been at the top of Andrew’s priorities for a number of years. Ever since entering the Fashion Industry and long before he was an academic.

Andrew is a leading commentator on Black Fashion Culture and has continually actively challenged an outdated, unrepresentative and biased industry and education system.

Andrew co-founded FACE (Fashion Academics Creating Equality), which is a progressive and active alliance of Black and Brown members of fashion staff and academics and regarded as a leading EDI thinktank in education practice. FACE and Andrew work with academic institutions supporting practice and curriculum development. Their work has also led to the creation of the Black Excellence Student Prize, open to all Black and Brown students across all UK Fashion programmes.

Within LJMU’s Fashion programmes, Andrew has introduced a number of new curriculum initiatives to ensure greater representation of marginalised voices. Through open discussion, he facilitates current students and alumni to contribute to the creation and development of future EDI material. Alumni are encouraged to maintain contact with the department and return to talk about their experiences as marginalised students through discussion on industry topics.

Sean Mackay and Ebenezer Banahene
School of Nursing and Allied Health
Subject: Nursing

Refugees who qualified as nurses in their home countries are being supported into work in the NHS as part of a pilot programme being run by Liverpool John Moores University, RefuAid, and NHS Trusts across the country. Backed by Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, the Refugee Support Pilot scheme is a first-of-its-kind collaboration, which supports refugee nurses with the process of becoming registered nurses in the UK and gaining employment commensurate with their skills and experiences. This initiative offers the opportunity, not only to have a career in nursing, but the chance to be included in a community, society and a profession. This offers refugees nurses the tangible chance of a life free of fear, exclusion and marginalisation.

Libby Mitchell, Ellie Glover, Kamran Sheikh, Tori Sprung, Lee Graves, Milly Blundell, Cath Walker, David Tod, Ian Sadler
School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Science
Subject: Sport and Exercise Sciences; EDI

The SPS inclusive curricula team have undertaken an extensive and thorough audit of the curricula across three of the school’s undergraduate programmes and conducted supporting focus groups with key stakeholders (programme staff, student representatives and senior management representatives) to contextualise their findings. As a direct result of this, an EDI enhancement theme has been created to inform the curricula in the school. In early 2022, the school revalidated five undergraduate programmes (including their flagship and largest course, BSc Sport and Exercise Science) all of which embedded EDI into the development of the programmes. Utilising current University programmes and competitors as a point of reference, this practice was deemed innovative and sector leading. This school enhancement theme has empowered programme staff to design more inclusive curricula underpinned by programme and module level learning outcomes related to EDI and thus sustainably embed EDI into the curricula.

Liz Jones, School of Law, Faculty of Business and Law

Jason McIntyre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health

Mary Mullin, School of Law, Faculty of Business and Law

James Schofield, Liverpool School of Art and Design, Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies

Ariyan Ashkanfar, School of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Phil Kelly, Liverpool Business School, Faculty of Business and Law