Dr Timothy Hodgetts, Dr Avidesh Seenath, Dr Jonathon Turnbull and Dr Raffaele Ippolito win Divisional Teaching Excellence Awards 2025

The Divisional Teaching Awards formally recognise the outstanding contribution to teaching and learning and the academic development of students shown by colleagues across the Social Sciences Division.

Over the past three years, Dr Timothy Hodgetts has led a comprehensive review and redesign of the MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance programme, focusing on creating a more inclusive summative assessment framework and course design. His innovative approach has significantly enhanced student engagement and inclusivity whilst ensuring a sustainable student workload.

By replacing traditional written examinations with diverse coursework tasks, including written and oral assignments, Dr Hodgetts has ensured that the assessment structure supports students to demonstrate a variety of graduate skills. The new framework also includes formative tasks that scaffold skills development, supporting students in completing summative tasks and ultimately the dissertation. Dr Hodgetts also introduced grade marking for lower-weighted coursework tasks, which provides clarity to students regarding expectations and improves the provision of feedback.

Dr Hodgetts' efforts have not only improved the MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance programme but have also inspired similar reforms across other MSc programmes within the School of Geography and the Environment. His commitment to inclusivity, knowledge sharing and collaboration has made him a deserving recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award. 

"I am delighted to receive this award and would like to thank all the wonderful colleagues across the University who have helped re-design our MSc programme, especially at SOGE, CTL and SSD. It is great to work with people who are so committed to effective and inclusive learning!"

Dr Avidesh Seenath has been recognised for his inclusive approaches to teaching and student support as Course Director (CD) for the MSc in Environmental Change and Management (ECM), such as introducing weekly one-to-one CD hours that students describe as vital for academic and pastoral support, restructuring weekly class meetings to focus on skills development, community-building, and career preparation.

He also launched the ECM Brown Bag Seminar Series, which features talks from external experts on topics not explicitly covered in ECM, broadening students’ knowledge and fostering collaborative networks. Dr Seenath has also transformed the GIS and Remote Sensing components of the ECM Research Skills module, making them significantly more accessible through intuitive, applied instruction using open-source software.

His structured, self-guided labs and flexible support options have been consistently praised by students for their clarity and structure, enabling students to build both competence and confidence in these technical areas.

Furthermore, Dr Seenath led a comprehensive curriculum redesign for the MSc ECM that prioritises student-centred assessments and inclusive, applied learning. This redesign has been commended for its alignment with current environmental challenges and its focus on enhancing employability.  

"Teaching is incredibly rewarding. It sharpens my science communication, keeps me current in my field, and helps me stay structured. My MSc ECM students - who come from across the world - bring energy, insight, and inspiration to every class, creating an intellectually rich space of shared learning and growth. They go on to become world leaders, and being part of this small chapter in their journey means that I get to leave a lasting mark on the world."

Dr Jonathon Turnbull has been recognised for his innovative teaching practices through the development of the elective course 'Digital Ecologies: Mediating More-than-human Worlds'. This course, designed for students across all five MSc programmes at the School of Geography and the Environment, encourages students to explore how digital technologies mediate human-nature relations in various contexts such as environmental governance, conservation, surveillance, art, and entertainment.

Dr Turnbull's course integrates perspectives from human geography, anthropology, new media studies, political ecology, and the environmental humanities to critically challenge commonly held assumptions that digital technologies separate humans from nature; that they will solve socioenvironmental crises; and that digital mediation is immaterial.

The course involves a series of experimental informal assessments including a handwritten assignment (to invoke the materiality of digital technologies) and a student-led public exhibition called ‘Nature Buffering’, which have been positively received by students.  

'Experimental approaches are central to my teaching. Collaboration is thus essential for my teaching success. I’m grateful to the brilliant cohorts I’ve had the pleasure of working and learning with on my “Digital Ecologies” MSc module at the School of Geography and the Environment. This award is as much theirs!' 

Dr Raffaele Ippolito's approach to tutorial teaching is inspired by his own experiences as a university student, where he found that the most memorable tutorials were those that facilitated debate and peer learning. Dr Ippolito has successfully implemented this horizontal approach to knowledge sharing in his tutorials and seminars, encouraging students to reflect on class content and reading materials based on their own positionality and experiences.

This method has been particularly effective in diverse cohorts, where students from various academic backgrounds and nationalities engage in critical discussions, enriching the learning environment. Dr Raffaele Ippolito has sparked engaging conversations by collating the main arguments from students essays and demonstrating where these arguments aligned and departed. This has helped students develop a greater awareness of their own views and the perspectives of their peers. 

In addition to his tutorial teaching, Dr Ippolito has excelled in delivering lectures and supervising graduate students. His seminars often alternate between traditional teaching and breakout sessions, where students discuss key issues introduced in the lectures. This dynamic approach has been praised for fostering student-led conversations and enhancing the overall learning experience.

Dr Ippolito's supervision of master's students has also been noteworthy, as he uses tangible examples from his doctoral work to illustrate research processes, creating an environment where students feel comfortable making mistakes and learning from them.

His dedication to mentorship and pastoral support has been instrumental in helping students achieve academic success. 

"This Teaching Excellence Award is incredibly meaningful as it recognises my commitment to inclusive and peer-centered learning. Teaching excellence, to me, means creating spaces where diverse student perspectives drive meaningful discussions. I find this approach particularly empowering those new to academia and the UK, supporting both academic growth and personal confidence."

Further information

• 2025 Divisional Teaching Excellence Awards