Imperial academic recognised with prestigious national fellowship.

Giskin (second left) with Imperial Horizons students

Giskin Day has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

Giskin Day, Principal Teaching Fellow in the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication (CLCC), is one of fifty-five new National Teaching Fellows and only the third member of Imperial staff to have received the award.

Medical Humanities sculpture workshop

The award recognises Giskin’s role in the development of humanities teaching at the College in her role as Field Leader for the Imperial Horizons programme and her use of ‘playful learning’, using games to unlock students’ creative thinking.

As well as teaching science communication, she designs and delivers medical humanities teaching for medical students and staff.

An example of her approach of ‘playful learning’ is the game of medical Monopoly she has created to introduce medical students to London’s rich culture, and get them thinking about medicine from different perspectives.

Giskin is also the Co-Course Director for Imperial’s new intercalated BSc programme in Medical Sciences with Humanities, Philosophies and Law which integrates approaches from ethics, law, philosophy, history and the arts to explore the cultural contexts of medical science. 

A National Teaching Fellowship is the most prestigious individual award for excellence in teaching in UK higher education, recognising outstanding achievement in learning and teaching. Recipients become part of a community of over 750 National Teaching Fellows representing more than 40 discipline areas from institutions across the country.

Commenting on her award, Giskin said:  “It’s great to be recognised in this way as it gives you the confidence in your teaching ability. I’ve come to my role through the practice route rather than the qualifications route so it’s nice to have that formal accreditation.

“There are so many unsung heroes who allow me to do what I do. The managers in the CLCC take care of the mechanics that allow these courses to run. It’s the admin staff whose support really allows you to fly.”

Giskin, who was also one of the 2015 Imperial President’s Medal for Excellence in Education recipients, will also receive a cash prize to support professional development or fund education research projects, programmes or initiatives.

Team Collaboration

Imperial were also named as finalists in the HEA’s new team award for teaching in higher education, the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE).

Kate Ippolito, Pietro Spanu and Moira Sarsfield

Professor Pietro Spanu, Senior Tutor in the Department of Life Sciences, Moira Sarsfield, Senior Learning Technologist in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Kate Ippolito, Senior Teaching Fellow in the Educational Development Unit, have been nominated for their use of peer assessment, personal tutoring and team-based learning at the College. 

The CATE award, being piloted this year, recognises teaching excellence by teams in higher education.  The collaborative award was created to reflect the key role that teamwork has in promoting student success through learning and teaching.

Innovative Teaching

Professor Simone Buitendijk, Imperial’s Vice Provost (Education) said: “Since I arrived at the College in August I’ve been struck by the commitment and dedication of our teaching staff. Giskin Day’s work, and that of our CATE nominated team, are examples of leadership in innovative and transformative teaching that we love to see thrive here at Imperial. I’m sure the whole College will join me in agreeing that we are very proud of these achievements.”

The Fellowships will be officially presented at the formal celebration event to be held at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London on 25 January 2017, which will also include the announcement of the winners for the CATE award.

On announcing this year’s Fellowship recipients, Professor Stephanie Marshall, Chief Executive of the HEA, said: “I am so pleased the HEA has the opportunity to run these awards, and to help to disseminate the best practice they reveal. Celebrating great teaching, whether by teams or individuals, is really important and highlights just some of the great work in the sector to improve the student experience. 

“All the awards provide compelling case studies of best practice which we can share around the sector.  It’s also an opportunity for all of us to reflect on our own work, individually and as teams – what are we getting right, what can we learn, what could we do better?“

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Top image: Thomas Angus