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Media Release

October 15 2009

UniSA scoops two national teaching awards

Mahfuz Aziz has won a teaching and learning awardUniSA staff have won two of the highly competitive Australian Awards for University Teaching from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
 
The awards, worth $25,000 each, recognise the nation’s top university teachers and most outstanding programs and services that are aimed at improving the quality of student learning.  There were only 24 awards across Australia.
 
Associate Professor Mahfuz Aziz won an award in the Physical Sciences and Related Studies category and a team from the Division of Business was a winner in the category of Law, Economics, Business and Related Studies.
 
Prof Aziz, who currently leads first year engineering programs across the Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment, was recognised for his sustained contributions in teaching and learning, locally and internationally, over the past 10 years.
 
Prof Aziz used his experience of teaching in a new context when he moved to Australia in 1999, to create programs that help students adapt to the new social and educational environment that university provides.
 
“As an academic in engineering I have always realised how important it is for our future engineers to develop lifelong learning skills in the context of rapidly advancing technologies,’ Prof Aziz said.
 
“I feel overwhelmed and very pleased indeed to win this award. The culture within the University that promotes scholarship of teaching has greatly contributed and a lot of the credit goes to everyone who I have worked with.”
 
Martin Shanahan, Paul Kershaw and Ken Adams (Erik Meyer absent) have won a teaching and learning award.The Division of Business team of Martin Shanahan, Ken Adams, Paul Kershaw and Erik Meyer has been working on its ‘learning to learn’ program for economic students for more than 12 years, and also encourages students to engage in lifelong learning.
 
“Our motivation has been to try and help students learn better,” said Dr Shanahan. “Many students find the first year of university quite difficult and economics is a common first-year subject in many business programs with lots of students from a wide range of courses.
 
“Students often find the combination of learning tasks, an isolated learning environment, and limited learning experiences, daunting. They often try to learn by attempting to memorise rather than by understanding.

“Seeing the frustration of students, we help them to understand their individual approach to learning and assist them in taking control of their learning. This improves their approach to study, equips them for life-long learning and lowers their stress levels.”

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Høj said it was a great achievement for UniSA to receive two awards within the one year in this highly competitive program.
 
“These two awards are a testament to the dedication of our teaching staff and an indication of the importance that UniSA staff place on delivering a high-quality learning experience for our students,” Prof Høj said.
 
“I am delighted with the continuing success of UniSA staff in Australian Learning and Teaching Council awards.”


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