Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award for Dr Mark Coldwell
Lecturer Dr Mark Coldwell has been awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award for his work in co-ordinating all third and fourth year projects within Biological Sciences.
Around 250 students undertake individual or group projects with a supervisor each year and administering and supporting them can be challenging. To improve the administration and make it more efficient, Mark successfully introduced a new electronic system to deal with applications, and moved marking onto the university e-assignments platform.
“The projects represent a large percentage of the students’ marks so it is important that they run smoothly,” he explains. “I have also introduced workshops to support the third and fourth years during their research to help them with report writing and presentation so they gain the practical skills they need to succeed.”
Every year, the University recognises innovative and inspirational teaching and activities that benefit students. Awards are made across all Faculties. Former Director of Programmes in Biological Sciences Professor Keith Fox nominated Mark for the 2014 award.