Anglia Ruskin’s teaching excellence is recognised

Published: 8 December 2016 at 15:34

HEA announce 2016 National Teaching Fellows and shortlist for new CATE award

Anglia Ruskin University is celebrating after the Higher Education Academy named Dr Mark J.P. Kerrigan as a National Teaching Fellow and shortlisted the Lord Ashcroft International Business School for the new Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE).

Dr Kerrigan, Director of Learning and Teaching at Anglia Ruskin’s Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, is one of 55 new National Teaching Fellows announced last night by the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

A National Teaching Fellowship is the most prestigious individual award for excellence in teaching in higher education.  Successful academics were nominated by their institutions and submissions had to show evidence of three criteria: individual excellence, raising the profile of excellence and developing excellence.

Dr Kerrigan, pictured above, graduated with a PhD from Edinburgh University and has worked as a scientific researcher investigating the cellular mechanisms of osteoarthritis and lecturer in physiology, cellular biology and research methods. 

He currently works in the fields of technology-enhanced learning, digital literacy and assessment.  Dr Kerrigan is passionate about research and currently supervises numerous postgraduate students.  His research interests and publications span science and education.

Meanwhile, the new CATE award, being piloted this year, is focusing on the key role of teamwork in promoting student success through learning and teaching. 

Anglia Ruskin’s Lord Ashcroft International Business School is one of 15 institutions to be shortlisted for the award, and six of these will be awarded grants of £15,000, to help share their learning, at a formal celebration event in London next month.

The Lord Ashcroft International Business School’s Student Engagement Team is transforming employability and student engagement through an ambitious approach that sees students working as collaborators and partners. 

The Student Engagement Team of Victoria Dodd, Donna Franklin, Nicola Faulkner and Mandy Shillito, and led by Dr Sally Everett, now delivers an innovative Intern Scheme built on business mentoring, ‘soft-skill’ professional training, and work experience.  

Students also work as Academic Interns (53 co-delivered research projects to date), run an iBuddy Café for international students, act as external ambassadors, and form the Faculty’s Student Advisory Board.

Professor Lesley Dobree, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin, said: