As part of our Centre of Engineering Education blog takeover, Gemma Gibson, the GTA Coordinator for Multidisciplinary Engineering Education (MEE), shares how we celebrate the achievements of our GTAs.
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The department of MEE was formed to teach practical lab skills to undergraduate students within the Faculty of Engineering (over 5000). Students often engage in our labs in large numbers, sometimes up to 140 in a session at one time; to ensure these students receive the best possible learning experience, we employ around 230 GTAs per academic year to aid in teaching our sessions - they are essential to the successful running of our department.
To ensure they are recognised for this, each year we plan an event to celebrate our fantastic GTAs, giving us all the opportunity to come together as a team for something really positive. This is the third year we have run the event (you can read about our first event here!) and its reputation amongst GTAs has meant this year was our best attended, with over 100 GTAs present on the night. For context, usual correspondence with GTAs results in an approximately 15-20% response rate, so having approximately 45% of GTAs turn up is something incredibly positive.
We set up the awards in response to both GTAs and staff feeling like there was no avenue that would allow our GTAs to receive recognition on a scale we felt they deserved. We were able to nominate them for the University awards, however as this usually involved both teaching staff and other GTAs from around the University, the chance of them being recognised was not as high as we would have liked.
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Additionally, any ceremonies involved were usually for those shortlisted, rather than for the whole cohort. We wanted to make sure that all our GTAs had a chance to celebrate together and a reasonable proportion of them were recognised for their achievements while working with us. We believe that in taking this route of recognition, we have bolstered the feeling of GTA community and a sense of camaraderie, as even those who have not been nominated come along to celebrate their colleagues' success.
There is also a real sense of pride in their nominations and victories, with some posting their achievements to Linked-In or on their social media. In a feedback form, many also identified that something they have particularly enjoyed about GTA work in MEE has been the sense that they are valued, citing being nominated for a GTA award as the catalyst for that feeling.
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The format is always evolving to represent the work we do and the achievements the GTAs have made. This year we included a section to recognise all their outstanding work in achieving HEA status - 10 people achieved this in the last calendar year, 7 achieving AFHEA and 3 of them achieving FHEA, an incredible accomplishment for anyone completing their GTA work alongside their PhD. Despite the evolving format, the central focus is celebrating GTA achievement and creating a fun event for all attendees, whether they were nominated or not. We look forward to celebrating with our GTAs in future years!
2024 GTA Award Winners
Impactful Newcomer
Winner: Lucas Biazon Cavalcanti
Highly Commended: Diane Lefley
Technical Skills
Winner: Rassell Carl D Silva Green
Highly Commended: Robert Douglas
Cross-Curricular
Winner: Karim Elamawy
Highly Commended: Ludovico Fossa
Digital Innovation
Winner: Guanyu Huang
Highly Commended: Ankan Dey
Creating a Positive Learning Environment
Winner: Chin Tze Ng
Highly Commended: Furkan Tokgoz
Commitment
Winner: Mahmood Jamali
Highly Commended: Erendira Merlos Garza
Teaching Innovation
Winner: Fayyadh Ahmed
Highly Commended: Adrien Gallet
Proactivity
Winner: Matina Moraiti
Highly Commended: Areli Munive Olarte
Outstanding Teaching Delivery
Winner: Veysel Yildiz
Highly Commended: Rahima Babayeva
GTA Excellence
Winner: Kyle O'Donoghue
Highly Commended: Seyedmilad Kazemisangdehi
HEA Awardees
Adrien Gallet (FHEA)
Bingxue Wu (AFHEA)
Jixin Qu (AFHEA)
Lucy Farquhar (FHEA)
Nestor Sanchez Arriaga (AFHEA)
Stanley Obilikpa (FHEA)
Xin Dong (AFHEA)
Ya He (AFHEA)
Yanheng Xie (AFHEA)