In 2008 the National Academy for the Integration of Research & Teaching & Learning (NAIRTL) introduced a programme of awards honouring exemplary teachers who are also innovative researchers in higher education in Ireland.
Teaching and research are both central to the role of academic staff, and excellence in teaching and in creative and scholarly work go hand in hand. The NAIRTL Awards aim to acknowledge and reward academic staff who are successful in uniting these two roles. The awards are intended to recognise teaching accomplishments and to promote public recognition and celebration of the teaching profession.
Download podcast of last year's award ceremony here.
The standard of applications received was very high and the selection committee had a difficult task. The selection committee unanimously agreed that a NAIRTL Award for Excellence in Teaching be made to each of the following applicants:
Dr Peter Cantillon, Department of General Practice, NUIG
Professor Cantillon is a general practitioner with a passionate interest in health care education. His research focuses on teachers in the health professions. He is exploring the relationship between teachers' pedagogical and subject matter knowldge and the quality of their teaching. He hopes that a deeper understanding of how teachers' knowledge influences teaching will lead to new and better faculty development approaches.
Professor Sylvia Draper, School of Chemistry, TCD
Professor Sylvia Draper has been working as a lecturer in Trinity College Dublin for the last 15 years. She is Head of Inorganic and Synthetic Materials in the School of Chemistry and is passionate about the subject of Chemistry and its communication. Her research involves the synthesis and investigation of novel materials and in particular species that are molecular models of graphite. These molecules interact with light and energy and demonstrate tunable luminescent properties e.g. on the addition of acids or metal centres. Sylvia has devoted her working life to the promotion and understanding of Chemistry and teaches it with great effect at all levels, from demonstration lecturers to primary-school children right through to the presentation of cutting-edge innovative research to specialist audiences. She currently supervises and supports an active team of 18 postdoctoral and graduate researchers. She believes that Chemistry research is profoundly important to world development and in the protection and health of future generations.
Ms Irene Hartigan, Ms Angela Flynn, Ms Siobhan Murphy & Ms Nuala Walshe, School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC
Recipients (from left to right): Angela Flynn (MSc. PG Dip Ed. BSc. RGN) ; Nuala Walshe (Dip in Higher Education, RN, MN) Clinical Skills Manager, Siobhan Murphy (MSc BSc RNT RGN), and Irene Hartigan (MSc. RNT, Dip in H&S, BSc. RGN) College Lecturers at the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing & Midwifery, University College Cork. This research team introduced and designed a module for final year nursing students, incorporating innovative strategies such as simulation and PBL, to embrace student-centred teaching and learning. This project was theoretically grounded in the concepts of Problem Based Learning, Critical Thinking, and Teaching for Understanding. This team endeavoured to deliver theory to meet practice needs, and they have individually and collectively demonstrated their ongoing efforts to enhance practice-linked learning to enrich the learners’ experiences. The team have been actively involved in teaching and research, and regard this as intrinsic to supporting an evidence-based teaching approach for practice disciplines.
Dr Ray Murphy, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUIG
A specialist in peace support operations, Dr Murphy founded and directs the master's level programme in the area of peacekeeping, which has been in place at the Centre since September 2002. Dr Murphy lectures in International Peace Support Operations and International Humanitarian Law. He has published widely in these fields. He lectures on international humanitarian law for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Dr Murphy was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 2006 and worked with Human Rights Watch in New York as a resident scholar. He is a former Captain in the Irish Defence Forces and he served as an infantry officer with the Irish contingent of UNIFIL in Lebanon in 1981/82 and again in 1989. He has also worked on short assignments in west and southern Africa and the Middle East for Amnesty International, the European Union, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Irish Government.
Mr Sean O’Leary, School of Mechanical and Process Engineering, CIT
Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology, Bishopstown, Cork. Lecturer in Advanced Elasticity, Fracture Mechanics/ Fatigue and Mechanics of Materials to Final / Third / Second Year Degree Classes in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Chemical and Process Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology. Joint Author of Ground-Breaking First Successful Engineers Ireland Accreditation Submission for Cork Institute of Technology. Master of Engineering Degree ( Mechanical Engineering ) Director of Funded Research Projects and Master Degree Student Superviser. Devisor of First Funded Research Project and Supervisor to First Master Degree Graduate from Department of Mechanical Engineering, CIT. Innovative Product Development Module Devisor - Developer of CIT IPD1 and IPD2 Modules – producing many National and International Student Award Winners. Founder and Organiser of Annual Sharman-Crawford Memorial Lecture. Founder and Organiser since Inception of Cork Mechanical. Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering Exhibition – Ireland’s Largest Educational Engineering Exhibition.
Congratulations to all. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on 15th December.
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