2013 Sessional Staff Teaching Award recipient – Ms Helena Harrison

At the recent awards ceremony, Ms. Helena Harrison was awarded a sessional staff teaching award for “Outstanding Contributions to Student learning” for 2013 within the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition. Helena has played an active and enthusiastic role teaching into, and coordinating, both Undergraduate and Postgraduate nursing subjects for a number of years.  From February 2009 – February 2010, she was employed as a sessional tutor at the School of Nursing in Cairns campus. More recently, in 2012, she undertook an extensive revision of the School’s Postgraduate Certificate of Clinical Education, and re-wrote two of the on-line, Clinical Teaching subjects in this degree program. In 2013 she has coordinated both these subjects from her home in South Korea, ensuring that she engages frequently with students, responds promptly to any inquiries, and provides comprehensive feedback when marking assignments. She liaises with the Postgraduate Coordinator regularly via Skype and ensures that any High Distinction and Fail assignments are cross marked.

At the Undergraduate level, Helena wrote the new level 2 subject NS2215 “Specialist Nursing in Northern Australia”, and this semester she is the subject’s inaugural subject coordinator.  She has engaged students over the past ten weeks via LearnJCU with weekly modules, notices and announcements, and has delivered video-conferenced ‘lectorials’ for  Cairns, Mackay and Mt Isa and recently travelled from South Korea to conduct tutorials in Townsville during a week-long teaching block (including the public holiday).  Helena is responsible for the written assignment, written end of semester exam, and oversees their 2 week clinical placement attached to this subject. NS2215 had over 100 students enrolled over 3 sites. She is a passionate educator, proactively seeking out the best materials, and working above  and beyond what was expected of her. Helena is in the process of giving subject feedback to improve the subject for next year.

Helena has demonstrated, over a number of years, the capacity to make a significant contribution to student learning at both the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels. She is considered to be an expert teacher and facilitator, capable of engaging with students in a variety of teaching and learning settings including as a clinical educator whilst students are on clinical placement, developing and delivering on-line and face to face lectures and tutorials, coordination of subjects, re-writing of existing subjects and writing of new ones, and undertaking all the process and evaluation activities associated with these roles. She has a wealth of experience gathered over many years of nursing education within the tertiary and TAFE sectors, and has demonstrated her flexibility and capability by coordinating both Undergraduate and Postgraduate subjects despite relocating to South Korea with her husband’s work.

Congratulations, Helena!