I have been teaching Mathematics at Massey University in Albany since 2004 and this is where I received all my degrees – Honours, Master and PhD. I am deeply honoured to receive the LOTY award in 2016. I would not be here, accepting this award, without a group of great colleagues and administrative staff. I am passionate about teaching and Mathematics (love it so much) and I am lucky enough to do a job that I love. I always try to generate a love and passion for learning, and motivate students to share that passion. I have high expectations for my students and I never feel more energized than after a class that has gone well. I would like to thank you the ASA (especially Penny) for their hard work in ensuring that the LOTY awards continue on the Albany campus. A very special thanks to the students who nominated me. And, of course, thank you to my family for always supporting me.

I always encourage my students to ask questions during my lectures. This elevates them from being mere observers to active participants. Effective learning requires not only a capable and enthusiastic lecturer but also a group of interested students. I believe that it is very important to contextualize the subject you are teaching in order to motivate a student. If a student knows the relevance and the importance of the topic to engineering, s/he will be an enthusiastic participant. Engineering is a “difficult” discipline. However a motivated student can easily achieve his/her academic goals. Our school has always placed a high degree of priority on teaching and learning and I am glad that I was able to contribute towards that. I am happy that my efforts were acknowledged by my students. But my true reward is arriving for an early morning lecture and finding the whole class waiting for me!

Chemistry is often perceived as a difficult subject and students needing to include it for degrees such as nutrition or biology can find the task quite daunting especially if they have had little previous chemistry experience. So the attitude I have taken is that if students do badly in the subject it is my problem as I am not explaining it properly. How then do we properly explain chemistry? The first point is that there are no silly questions. Ask what you like. Secondly, if you are not sure you have got the concept then it will be explained as many times as is needed. Let’s talk about it. Thirdly, chemistry is a highly exciting subject but you do need to spend an appropriate amount of time learning and understanding the concepts. Let’s get to really like chemistry. It is very pleasing to see that students appreciate the way they have been taught chemistry at the Albany campus and have given me recognition in the way of the LOTY award. I would also like to thank the ASA for continuing with these awards and particularly Penny Lyall for her dedication in seeing that lecturer’s endeavours are recognised.

I am committed to providing students with a solid foundation in the first year of computer programming because this enables them to build on that knowledge and move into the challenging areas of graphics, mobile software application development, web site construction and many more.

Our graduates have secured excellent positions in the software industry and regularly contact us to let us know how useful our programming foundation was to their current career. And our current students, from first-year to PhD, are also very appreciative of our approach towards their professional development.

It is extremely rewarding and satisfying to be recognised by students in this way and I would like to thank and commend the ASA for their initiative and hard work in ensuring that the LOTY awards continue on the Albany campus.

It has been my privilege to teach mathematics at Massey University in Albany since 1995. I was truly honoured to receive the LOTY award in 2012. I love working with students at all levels and especially enjoy face-to-face classes with large groups of first year students with diverse backgrounds. One of the greatest responsibilities of a teacher is to inspire. I am never satisfied with just preparing students for an exam – although I do that, too! – my real objective is to convince every student that mathematics is the most interesting subject in the world, both on its own account and because of its many and diverse applications. I make every effort to communicate clearly and strive to provide a supportive and rigorous learning environment – expect plenty of homework if you take a course with me!

I am passionate about teaching and have made it my career so it is wonderful to be acknowledged as Lecturer of the Year. After a few years teaching in secondary schools I moved to the university sector and in 1997 to Massey University. I teach financial accounting which lends itself to the use of mini-case studies and problem solving. Thus I use an interactive approach that draws on student discussion of theoretical and practical problems. There is not always one correct answer to the treatment of an accounting event and there are some interesting stories to tell (sometimes from court cases) of different interpretations (some of them fraudulent or ‘creative’). My objective is to make accounting understandable, interesting and fun and to be readily available to answer questions and discuss ideas.

As a part-time lecturer I get the opportunity to teach a range of subjects (management and international business). I believe that students learn more enthusiastically if they are able to apply what they have learned in meaningful ways. I am delighted to be able to integrate relevant theories into the more than 20 years of corporate experience that I have accumulated. In that sense, I am able to ‘practicalize’ the theory as well as theorize the practice – and students tell me that this approach has made their learning interesting, enlightening and readily applied. It is a privilege for me to teach in Massey University as this is where I received my PhD. I really do enjoy teaching and interacting and always look forward to meeting the students inside and outside the lecture halls. I am very honored to be able to work with such great colleagues in the department. I wish all our students in Massey the very best for their future and have this little piece of advice for them – carpe diem! I thank all the students for taking the trouble to vote for me.

I have been teaching computer science at Albany Campus since 1996 and enjoy starting off a new group of students in Programming 101 each year. It was heartening to receive this award but really I get my rewards from seeing my students learn new concepts and skills, become adept at problem solving and gain confidence in tackling new projects. I like to be involved in student progress and have an open door so that anyone can come and chat about their learning. Teaching and learning is a two way process, and I benefit as much from meeting such diverse and interesting people as I hope they benefit from my love of educating active minds.

I am a senior lecturer in clinical pharmacology teaching postgraduate nurses at the School of Health and Social Services. I try to nurture a sense of professional respect among the students for each other – something that can be undermined in the workplace through stress and competition. I also try to be fair and open, and not just pay attention to the bright students as each student is equally deserving of my time and attention. It’s my belief that for adult learning all knowledge should be applied immediately. It is wonderful to have my efforts acknowledged by students in such a meaningful way as the Lecturer of the Year Awards. I particularly like the fact that all nominees receive recognition as the day is a celebration for all of us that have a passion for teaching.

I have a BA in History from State University of New York at Stony Brook, A Juris Doctorate from Union University, Albany Law School and MBA from the University of Auckland. I enjoy teaching and have taught at Massey University for over ten years. The areas that I have taught are Law and Finance. I was surprised when I was nominated for Lecturer of the Year and very surprised to have won. It is nice to know that one’s efforts are appreciated by the students. It is important to note that I would not be able to do what I do without a great support team – Mary Dawkins, Liz Stewart, Sharon Henderson, Cathy and Rochelle. These are very important people to the Commerce Department.

I teach Computer Science at Albany. I enjoy teaching and believe that it is the most important link between the university and the wider community around us. It was very fulfilling to receive the Lecturer of the Year Award in 2005 as it meant that my students had decided that I was a help and an inspiration to them and that they had gone to the trouble of voting for me. The Albany staff really look forward to attending the Lecturer of the Year Award Ceremony as we get to meet others who also enjoy teaching but who work in very different academic disciplines. My thanks to ASA and the students at Albany for recognising their lecturers in this way.