Sessional Academic Teaching Award Finalists
Awarded to an individual sessional academic, or team of sessional academics who have made an outstanding impact and contribution to student learning outcomes.
Ebon Baxter Menzies
Ebon genuinely cares about teaching students. He is patient, approachable, passionate, and able to explain the technical aspects of the course in a way that students easily understand. His philosophy on teaching is grounded in leading students through the content so they themselves come to understand the concepts involved. This approach as resulted in excellent feedback and teaching scores across nine offerings of STAT1070, reaching approximately 575 students in that time.
Dr Geoffrey Hookham
This award nomination focuses on Geoffrey’s development and delivery of CMNS3560 Interactive/Gamified Media since 2021. This course builds upon ludology and project-based-learning to develop skills for designing and creating interactive and gamified experiences spanning physical and digital spaces. This is supported by a gamified lecture series demonstrating game elements and theories surrounding communication and design by playfully incorporating and subverting polls, pop culture references, branching narratives, random and targeted trivia, and hidden item games.
Zlata Johnson
Zlata is a sessional academic in Pathways and Academic Learning Support (PALS) who has already shown exceptional teaching practices. Upon becoming a course coordinator, Zlata has been inspiring, engaging and breaking down barriers to her enabling students. Her commitment to the students’ is a credit to PALS and the University as a whole. Zlata’s passion for promoting equity, diversion and student success makes her a well deserving candidate for the Teaching Excellence Awards.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.