Belinda Mulcahy and Dr Dean Biron are recipients of a new Open Universities Australia (OUA) teaching award, created to recognise course convenors who receive outstanding student satisfaction ratings.
The awards covered six subjects in the Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice degree available through OUA and delivered by Griffith University in 2018.
Ms Mulcahy was recognised for her work on Psychology of Crime, Evolutionary Criminology, Offender Profiling, and Social Science Research Methods, while Dr Biron was awarded for his work on Youth Justice and Homicide.
Dr Biron, a former police detective and child death analyst with a PhD in music criticism, is pleased that his students are getting value out of the courses he convenes. He hopes it inspires them to make a difference.
“My main aim is to make students feel like they have a stake in improving society through their accumulation of knowledge, as well as hopefully also in their future careers and endeavours,” he said.
Since 2017, OUA has recognised subjects with outstanding student satisfaction ratings and provided recognition letters to the subject convenors to acknowledge the achievement.
The Teaching Excellence Award is a new award for convenors who have been recognised on multiple occasions in the previous year.
Professor Nick Barter, Academic Director Griffith Online, said the awards were well-deserved recognition for the pair.
“It’s fantastic that students have provided Belinda and Nick with such excellent feedback. Griffith University prioritises high-quality online teaching that meets student expectations, and awards like this show we are achieving that goal,” he said.