Presidents Awards for Excellence in Teaching 2015

Academic Category: Dr Brian Harney, DCU Business School

"Brian brought a level of critical analysis to every lecture that really impressed me... He brought theory into the real world with such ease it made lectures double as practical workshops."

"I often took notes during class that were actually  blueprints for my business and other business strategies.  It doesn't get more real that. To put icing on the cake, he was approachable, patient and funny."

"For me personally, it was one of the most enjoyable and engaging topics of the Masters and in my opinion, Brian's expertise and passion is unparalleled in his field.”

Academic Support Category: Henry Barry, School of Physics

“I found the course extremely challenging and the lab work daunting. This was made easier by the hands on approach and dedication of the technical staff and most notably, Henry, the head of 1st and 2nd year labs; a very approachable, likeable and knowledgeable man who was always eager to help and explain difficult concepts in a  tireless and patient fashion. It was Henry who would engage with students in a friendly manner whilst always keeping his professionalism, which made these labs a truly enjoyable, and most importantly, a highly educational experience”

New Lecturer/Tutor Category: David Passmore, School of Health & Human Performance

“David has a very enjoyable and interesting style to his teaching that makes you want to be in his classes. He has massive experience and knowledge from the field of coaching and sport and his enthusiasm is infectious. This makes his classes the ones you want to go to.”

“David video records our group presentations so we can review these ourselves and he has used this to improve presentation skills...so valuable.” 

"To really bring things to life, he has brought in a number of coaches, service providers and top international athletes to give their perspectives of an area which you would expect to experience in the real work of sports science.”

Special Award for Distinctive Teaching Approaches: Anne Kirwan, School of Nursing and Human Sciences

“I find her lectures very interesting as she brings in her own life experiences to some topics which helps me to visualise it just that bit better. She walks around the lecture hall and interacts with the students and is always asking us questions about what we would do in the situation – this captures my attention and really gets me thinking about what I would do if that were to happen to me." 

"I always look forward to Anne's classes, she's really up beat and passionate about her work, her classes are never boring and she has a way of making things stick in your head. She's very patient and helpful always there when I or a fellow student needs help with something.”

Special Award for Distinctive Approaches to Assessment & Feedback: Dr Eric Clinton, DCU Business School

“When receiving feedback you knew that he had spent time reading over every group’s and individual’s work as he took the time to write up roughly two pages on the pros and cons of the assignment."

 "A hell of a lot of work went into our final Business Plan, work which we may not have been so relentless in doing if it wasn't for this area of his teaching ability." 

 "The final presentation for the module involved presenting to a group of venture capitalists ...This was a brilliant experience, one of the most practical of my time in DCU. It stretched me in more ways imaginable, but developed my confidence and tested my nerve.”

The Presidents Special Award : The DICE team

The DICE module exposes participants to multiple modes of learning e.g. team work, online learning, live webinars, project work and mini conferences.

Students are assessed on their individual and group creativity through continuous assessment including the design and development of their own blogs, developing a tourism app for a region, and conceptualising a new innovative cloud-based app. Industry experts  (e.g. Microsoft progra mmers) are part of the assessment process.

The course has its own  email address manned by all staff daily to deal with any issues or questions as well as an anonymous ‘problem log’ that students can fill online.