The National Forum is delighted to announce that teams from two Irish higher education institutions have recently been awarded the Disciplinary Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Assessment (DELTA) Award. This prestigious national award, co-ordinated through the National Forum, is granted to discipline groups who demonstrate a record of excellence in teaching and learning enhancement and who commit to an ongoing, clearly articulated, shared process of sustained achievements and continued enhancement in teaching and learning.
The successful teams are:
- First Year Chemistry Team, School of Science and Computing, ATU, Galway, led by Dr Cormac Quigley
- Department of Hospitality Studies, School of Business and Humanities, DkIT, led by Brianain Erraught.
Applications were considered by an international review panel of experts and a student representative. The review panel remarked on the discipline teams’ collaborative and practical solutions to address challenges, highlighting their outstanding impact on teaching and learning in higher education. Teams were commended for their vision, innovation, and strong student-centred approaches demonstrating disciplinary excellence in learning, teaching and assessment.
Dr Lynn Ramsey, Chair of the National Forum, said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for discipline teams, who have been central to the response in their institutions. The DELTA award recognises the importance of discipline leadership and the partnered approach to teaching and learning. We celebrate the commitment and positive impact of these discipline teams in supporting student success, particularly during this time, working together to support each other and their students. Warmest congratulations from the National Forum to the latest awardees.”
The latest award winners bring to 26 the total number of teams who have been successful in their applications since the DELTA Awards were first established in 2018.
All discipline groups across Irish higher education who can demonstrate specific achievements in teaching and learning enhancement and a clear commitment to future enhancement of teaching and learning are eligible to apply for the DELTA Award. A discipline group can be a school, department, a programme team or any established collaboration/group of teachers within a subject/discipline recognised by their home institution. The DELTA Awards form an integral part of the overall teaching enhancement approach of the National Forum, recognising the value of teaching at a national level and highlighting the quality of higher education in Ireland.
The next deadline for expressions of interest in the DELTA Awards is 6 July 2022. See more details here.
