Senior Lecturer Dr Susanne Voelkel from the School of Life Sciences has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Susanne has developed and pioneered a number of teaching innovations that have now been adopted by various departments within the University and other UK HE institutions. These innovations include a formative-summative online test design and an audience response system based on mobile phone polling.
Both technologies were judged to have had a significant effect on student engagement and learning. HEA also noted that Susanne’s work has led to a transformation of the assessment culture in the School of Life Sciences, affecting 1200 students per year.
Receiving the recently awarded Learning and Teaching Fellowship has enabled Susanne to embark on a project aiming to improve feedback in the School of Life Sciences by developing resources for staff in collaboration with students.
In the future Dr Voelkel is hoping to expand on collaboration with students to work on a number of issues, including transition from secondary into higher education.
Quality Enhancement and improvement
Professor Blair Grubb, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (APVC) for Education at the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences said: “I am absolutely delighted to learn that Susanne Voelkel has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship. Susanne has been at the forefront of Quality Enhancement and improvements in assessment practises in the School of Life Sciences at Liverpool and has led the highly respected Life Sciences Educational Research Group.
“Susanne’s impact on the quality of Life Sciences teaching at Liverpool is remarkable and I am sure that all of her colleagues will join me in offering her our warmest congratulations.”
Fifty-five new National Teaching Fellows (NTFs) were revealed by the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
The University’s Central Teaching Laboratory (CTL) were also Finalists for a new team award for teaching in higher education, the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE).
Further information
For the full list of 2016 National Teaching Fellows please visit: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/national-teaching-fellows-2016
More information on the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/recognition-accreditation/national-teaching-fellowship-scheme-ntfs