Faculty of Medicine staff awarded for student learning resource
At a recent ceremony the Faculty of Medicine’s Dr Judith Holloway and Dr Veronica Hollis from the MSc Allergy programme were presented as one of three winners of a 2015 University Blackboard Award.
The Blackboard Awards is an annual competition organised by the University’s Institute for Learning Innovation and Development which recognises staff who are making innovative use of Blackboard, a web-based resource, to enhance their students’ learning experience.
Up to three courses can be nominated by any University of Southampton student which are then judged in terms of best practice in course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment and learner support.
The judging panel looks for a site with clear content, which is easy to navigate; uses multimedia in an engaging way; encourages collaboration; provides opportunities for feedback and makes a student feel supported.
Seventy modules were nominated by students, 18 shortlisted and three awarded. Alongside the Faculty of Medicine, the two other winners came from the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities.
The Blackboard Awards judging panel cited that MSc Allergy represented the gold standard for Blackboard module design and delivery at the University, and demonstrated what can be achieved with faculty investment and additional support for academics.
The citation continues to praise the overall appearance of the module design as one of a professional website with excellent navigation and visual presentation and a good range of multimedia. The panel also praised the effective use of discussion boards, induction information, glossary and eLearning materials.
Dr Judith Holloway, programme leader for MSc Allergy, said: “I was so surprised and delighted to have won and I still am, but also quite humbled that our students voted in the first place. I am proud that the experts liked our course so much.”
Judith and Veronica both attended the award ceremony and were there to collect their accolade from the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Education, Alex Neill.
Notes for editors
The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities.
With over 23,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of £435 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.
The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centres including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Web Science Trust and Doctoral training Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus.