We are delighted to announce the winner of this year’s annual Exemplary Course Award.

Congratulations to Mari Dunning from Lifelong Learning for the award-winning course: XM18210: Writing Women: Feminism in Poetry and Prose.

The panel noted exemplary practice in the courses’ clear introduction and design, strong support and guidance, active and engaging participatory activities, and creative tasks. This was all achieved through an accessible and enthusiastic online learning environment.

Many congratulations to our highly commended and commended recipients:

• Law & Criminology’s Dr Kathy Hampson for the course LC37120: Critical and Radical Criminology
• Lifelong Learning’s Henrietta Tremlett for the course XM15710: Autobiographical Writing
• Computer Science’s Dr Yasir Saleem Shaikh for the course CSM0120: Programming for Scientists

These 3 courses demonstrated some excellent practices, including: clear and accessible structures, effective use of weekly quizzes, engaging and varied activities, clear marking and feedback processes, creative assessment design, and well-designed learning objectives communicated with clarity.

The award is assessed based on a rubric across four areas:

• Course Design
• Interaction and Collaboration
• Assessment
• Learner Support

The courses were of such a high standard, and we look forward to sharing their practices with you in due course.

Many congratulations to this year’s well-deserved recipients.

We are delighted to announce that the Exemplary Course Award for 2024-25 is now open.

The ECA is judged across 4 categories:

• Course Design
• Interaction and Collaboration
• Assessment
• Learner Support

Applicants are asked to introduce 3 standout practices for their Course to help frame their application before self-assessing their course – this can be a 1,000 word narrative or an 8-minute Panopto recording.

Following the self-assessment, the courses are assessed by a panel of experts.

The changes to this year’s form include:

1. The addition of 1.13 criteria: a Blackboard Ally score of 85% or more.
2. The ability to request reports on your course (Student Engagement and Course Summary). These reports can be requested from the Digital Education Group (elearning@aber.ac.uk).

To help prepare for applications, two workshops are being run by the Digital Education Group on:

• 14 January 2025, 14:10-15:30
• 20 January 2025, 10:10-11:30

Places can be booked via the online booking page.

Application forms can be downloaded from the Digital Education Group’s webpages.

Completed applications need to be emailed to elearning@aber.ac.uk before 12 noon on Friday 31 January 2025.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact the Digital Education Group (elearning@aber.ac.uk).

Lauren Harvey and Caroline Whitby, from the Department of Law and Criminology, have been awarded the Exemplary Course Award for the module LC31520: Dispute Resolution in Contract and Tort

In addition to the winner, the following module achieved Highly Commended:

• Panna Karlinger from the School of Education for the module ED20820: Making Sense of the Curriculum

The aim of the Exemplary Course Award, now in its ninth year, is to recognise the very best learning and teaching practices. It gives staff members the opportunity to share their work with colleagues, enhance their current modules in Blackboard, and receive feedback on to improve.

Modules are assessed across 4 areas: course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment, and learner support. The self-assessed nature of the award gives staff the opportunity to reflect on their course and enhance aspects of their module before a panel assesses each application against the rubric.

The panel and the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit would like to thank all of the applicants for the time and effort that they have put into their applications and modules this year.

We’re looking forward to receiving more applications next year and many congratulations to the recipients of this year’s award.

Anna Udalowska, from Lifelong Learning, has been awarded the Exemplary Course Award for the module XN16710: The Science of Wellbeing.

In addition to the winner, the following modules achieved Highly Commended:

• Alexander Taylor from the Department of Psychology for the module PS32120: Behavioural Neuroscience
• Kathy Hampson from the Department of Law and Criminology for the module LC26120: Youth Crime ad Justice
• Lara Kipp from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies for the module TP30020: Contemporary Drama
• Panna Karlinger from the School of Education for the module ED20820: Making Sense of the Curriculum

The diverse range of teaching and learning styles evidenced in this year’s applications reflects the innovative work that is taking place across the institution.

The aim of the Exemplary Course Award, now in its eighth year, aims to recognise the very best learning and teaching practices. It gives staff members the opportunity to share their work with colleagues, enhance their current modules in Blackboard, and receive feedback on to improve.

Modules are assessed across 4 areas: course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment, and learner support. The self-assessed nature of the award gives staff the opportunity to reflect on their course and enhance aspects of their module before a panel assesses each application against the rubric.

The panel and the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit would like to thank all of the applicants for the time and effort that they have put into their applications and modules this year.

We’re looking forward to receiving more applications next year and many congratulations to the recipients of this year’s award.

We’re really pleased to announce that this year’s Exemplary Course Award is now open for submissions with a deadline of 12 noon on Monday 30 January 2023. 

Continuing with the same process as last year, we’ve got a streamlined approach to the award.

Applicants will be asked to outline their 3 standout practices in relation to their module, before identifying which criteria the module meets. Applicants are welcome to submit a Panopto recording including a module tour.

If you’re considering submitting an award, we’ve got training for applicants on:

• 15 December, 10:00-11:30
• 12 January, 14:00-15:30

You can book your place at these training sessions via the Course Booking page. 

Further information, including the criteria, is available on our webpages, where you can also access an application form.

If you’re looking for ideas, then check out a recording of last year’s winner and highly commended winners.

If you’ve got any questions, then do not hesitate to contact us (elearning@aber.ac.uk).

Dr Laura Stephenson, from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, has been awarded the Exemplary Course Award for the module TFM0120: Gender and Media Production.

In addition to the winner, the following modules achieved Highly Commended:

• Dr Andrew Filmer from the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies for the module TP33420: Performance and Architecture
• Dr Maire Gorman from the Graduate School and Physics for the module PGM4310: Quantitative Data Collection and Analysis
• Claire Ward from Lifelong Learning for the module XA01605: Natural History Illustration: Seed Heads

The diverse range of teaching and learning styles evidenced in this year’s applications reflects the innovative work that is taking place across the institution.

The aim of the Exemplary Course Award, now in its seventh year, aims to recognise the very best learning and teaching practices. It gives staff members the opportunity to share their work with colleagues, enhance their current modules in Blackboard, and receive feedback on to improve.

Modules are assessed across 4 areas: course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment, and learner support. The self-assessed nature of the award gives staff the opportunity to reflect on their course and enhance aspects of their module before a panel assesses each application against the rubric.

The panel and the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit would like to thank all of the applicants for the time and effort that they have put into their applications and modules this year.

We’re looking forward to receiving more applications next year and many congratulations to the recipients of this year’s award.