Uni tops National Teaching Fellows
Thu, 27 Jun 2013 15:57:00 BST
Rupert is the Uni’s NTFS winner for 2013
THE University of Huddersfield’s nation-leading run of success in a prestigious teaching awards scheme continues. Its Head of Informatics, Dr Rupert Ward (pictured), is the latest in an unbroken eight-year sequence of staff members to receive a National Teaching Fellowship.
The University has won more NTF awards than any other university in the country in the six years since the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan, came to Huddersfield - see table below.
Funded by official bodies that include the Higher Education Funding Council for England and administered by the Higher Education Academy, the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme recognises and rewards excellence in learning and teaching. Every year up to 55 awards of £10,000 are made. The money enables recipients to enhance their professional development.
This year’s University of Huddersfield National Teaching Fellow, Dr Ward, joined its School of Computing and Engineering in 2005 and when he became Head of Informatics in 2009, he was, at age 34, the youngest ever head of department at the University.
The holder of many qualifications, his PhD was in atomic physics, but when he launched his teaching career he moved into the field of computers and software.
Now he combines his expertise in computing, physics and education in order to incorporate a broad range of educational perspectives into student-focused initiatives in virtual environments, mobile applications and web-based development in areas such as personal development, multimedia production, entrepreneurship, assessment and feedback, study planning and academic resourcing.
He has also contributed to improvements in a broad range of processes at the institutional, national at international level. These include quality enhancement procedures, assessment and feedback, student satisfaction and engagement, employability and private sector involvement in higher education.
Dr Ward works collaboratively with students and colleagues and has been part of teams recognised nationally for assessment and feedback. He has also been appointed one of the Higher Education Academy’s first Principal Fellows, for his strategic impact and wider commitment to academic practice and enhancing the student learning experience.
