QUT’s robotics vision Distinguished Professor Peter Corke was last night honoured as Australian University Teacher of the Year, the nation’s most prestigious higher education teaching award.
The award, in the Australian Government’s Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT), acknowledges an exceptional record of advancing student learning, educational leadership and scholarly contribution to teaching and learning.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake congratulated Professor Corke, who is also director of the QUT-based Australian Centre for Robotic Vision, for his inspiring and internationally recognised leadership in robotics education.
“Peter Corke’s highly effective and engaging approach to learning and teaching is founded on his deep passion for robotics, his world-class research and a desire to make learning in robotics accessible to all,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“Peter is a champion for the teaching/research nexus, with a deep appreciation of the power of his research to inform his teaching.
“His curricula, classroom and online interactions and guidance in hands-on experiments and robot construction invite students to explore the excitement of robotics, its contributions to our world, and to understand complex concepts, so they are equipped to become the next generation of professional roboticists and leaders.
“He has made an important and significant contribution to learning and teaching at QUT, and globally, and we are thrilled to see him ecognised in this way.”
Professor Corke’s achievements include development of the innovative online educational resource Robot Academy, QUT’s robotics series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and popular textbook Robotics, Vision and Control.
Professor Coaldrake also congratulated QUT’s Associate Professor Laura Gregory, who with Professor Corke, received a 2017 AAUT Award for Teaching Excellence. Seventeen teaching excellence awards across eight categories were presented, celebrating university teachers for their outstanding skills and broad and deep contribution to enhancing the quality of higher education learning and teaching.
for Teaching Excellence winner.
Professor Corke, from QUT’s Science and Engineering Faculty, was awarded in the category of Physical Sciences and Related Studies, while Associate Professor Gregory, from the Faculty of Health, was recognised in the Biological Sciences, Health and Related Studies category.
Associate Professor Gregory has transformed the teaching of anatomy with her inventive and passionate approach and commitment to quality student learning outcomes, inspired by both the origins of anatomy as a science and its reality as a living and evolving field of study.
Her approach maximises students’ engagement, depth of understanding and critical thinking abilities, and, consequently, their employability after graduation. She guides her students to explore and apply contemporary advances in anatomical science research, employs innovative technologies to create original resources for classroom use, such as a lifesize digital Anatomage table, and has developed and adapted an extensive range of interactive activities to engage students and make learning fun.
Earlier this year, three other QUT lecturers were recognised with AAUT awards: Professor Fiona Naumann (Faculty of Health), Associate Professor Nicolas Suzor (Faculty of Law) and Dr Deanna Grant-Smith (QUT Business School) received Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
Since the AAUT’s inception, QUT has received 113 awards across the Citations, Teaching Excellence and Program categories.
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