For International Women's Day we are celebrating the contribution of some inspirational St George’s women, Georga Longhurst, Dr Síle Molloy and Dr Louise Hill, who have recently been awarded Education Excellence Awards for their work to enhance student learning at the university.
“Small changes in how we deliver content can make a very positive impact for students”
Georga Longhurst
Georga Longhurst, Lecturer of Anatomical Sciences, has been recognised for her creative and transformative approach to delivering remote anatomy teaching within Year 1 of the Medicine programme.
When teaching moved online, Georga embraced a range of learning tools to keep more than 170 students engaged when studying remotely. She used a diverse range of materials which allowed flexibility in different learning styles. This included bespoke dissection videos, short lecture recordings with embedded quiz questions and assessments, and interactive 3D models.
Commenting on her award, Georga said: “It feels extremely humbling to win this award. The pandemic was a rollercoaster and involved a serious amount of hard work from both students and staff alike.
During the pandemic, one of the things that struck me was some of the difficulties students with visual and hearing impairments faced during online learning.
"Simple changes, such as adding audio captions and enlarging images can make the world of difference.”
This work has inspired Georga to form a research group investigating how online resources can be more accessible for students with sensory impairments.
Feedback from Georga’s students recognised the high levels of interactivity and engagement of her teaching. In addition, Georga’s Canvas pages are used as exemplars by the Learning Technology Services Team, and she has been asked to share her practice through the Online Education Exchange.
Despite the return of face-to-face teaching, Georga will continue to use a variety of methods with her students:
While I absolutely cannot wait to return to teaching in the Dissecting Room, I will continue to use 3D digital models, video and interactive quizzes in my teaching.
“We all get so much more out of the learning experience if everyone is engaged and feeding in”
Dr Louise Hill
Dr Síle Molloy and Dr Louise Hill, co-leads for the Clinical Trials module (part of the MSc in Translational Medicine), won a Team Award alongside Jack Adams (Clinical Trials and Data Manager), for their innovative approach to student learning and engagement. Originally conceived as a face-to-face programme, the Clinical Trials module was quickly transformed into a completely online format for the autumn 20/21 term, in response to the pandemic.
Síle and Louise incorporated a range of teaching methods including live online interactive lectures and practical sessions, pre-recorded lectures and bite-sized practicals, guest lectures from external experts, quizzes, podcasts and YouTube videos .
Each week students received an email outlining what was required for the coming week – such as tasks for completion prior to the lectures, information on live sessions, and details of follow-up activities. This ensured that students knew what they needed to do in advance, and helped increase engagement in the live interactive sessions.
Dr Sile Molloy
Síle said:
“The pandemic helped us all to get first-hand experience of what it is like for some people on a day-to-day basis: not being able to be physically present, struggling to focus on 1- or 2-hour long lectures, inability to access certain content or needing more time and flexibility to revise educational resources.”
Having seen the impact of the different teaching and engagement activities, the Clinical Trials module will continue to develop a very strong online virtual learning environment.
Síle added: “At St George's we have always aimed to maintain an inclusive environment but I do feel that techniques to promote inclusivity are used more universally now. Clearly, one size does not fit all and we can all benefit from different strategies and techniques to ensure all students are included in the learning journey."
With an inclusive approach we can ensure that each student has the support they need to reach their full potential.
About the Excellence in Education Awards
The annual Awards and Prizes are designed to recognise and celebrate the contributions made by individuals and teams to enhance the student educational experience at St George’s. They are intended to encourage inquiring, reflective and evidence-informed approaches to educational excellence, including a commitment to inclusive practice. They recognise excellence and endeavour in all the dimensions of education, from teaching and course design to learner support, supervision and resources development.
Find out more about International Women's Day and read more stories from the St George's community.