Prestigious National Teaching Award: Today, Advance HE announced that Associate Professor (Reader) Dr. Elena Riva of the University of Warwick has been awarded a 2023 National Teaching Fellowship.
Dr. Riva is the department head at the University’s Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning and is one of 55 new National Teaching Fellows and 15 teams receiving the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE).
The honours recognise and honour those who have an exceptional impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Riva has been recognised for her leadership in the development of institutional, national, and international strategies to enhance the learning experience of students, particularly in the areas of interdisciplinary education and curriculum-based wellness.
Elena develops novel modules, events, and activities that investigate complex topics and issues, thereby establishing connections between the scientific and humanities disciplines.
Consequently, students of any disciplinary background and level (from ‘freshmen’ to post-graduates) feel empowered to engage with global topics such as well-being, genetics, and water, developing an understanding of the critical role of interdisciplinarity in addressing the issues of our time and expanding their own learning horizons and practises.
Elena plays a crucial role in the Higher Education sector, creating and promoting interdisciplinary education, facilitating the expansion of interdisciplinary programmes at Warwick, and providing assistance to UK and international colleagues in this endeavour. In doing so, she is also committed to cultivating learning experiences and environments that support the well-being of students and faculty.
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Her work, which has been funded by a number of UK organisations, demonstrates how to best support students’ wellbeing throughout their learning experience, enabling them to realise their full potential, and how to effectively integrate wellbeing into the curriculum. Several UK and international institutions have adopted her multiple-award-winning wellbeing teaching practises devised at Warwick University.
Elena received the Warwick Teaching Excellence Award in 2018 and again in 2020 for her contributions to the disciplines of well-being and inter-disciplinary teaching practises.
She stated, “I am ecstatic and incredibly honoured to have received the National Teaching Fellowship.
“I would like to praise my Academic Development Centre mentors; without their support and guidance, I never would have won this award.
“Becoming a National Teaching Fellow will provide me with an incredible platform to share my pedagogical vision for the higher education sector with a broader audience, and it will enable me to celebrate and renew my dedication to learning and teaching.
Her Statement
“I’m excited to join the larger community of National Teaching Fellows and to be further inspired by this wonderful network of colleagues.”Despite the fact that this award recognises my teaching strategies and strategic pedagogical impact, I recognise that much of what I have accomplished would not have been possible without the guidance and support of many generous and inspiring colleagues, as well as the collaboration with many talented students.”
Professor Lorenzo Frigerio, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the University of Warwick, remarked, “I would like to offer Elena my heartfelt congratulations on this wonderful news. “Elena’s dedication to interdisciplinary and inclusive learning experiences is a fantastic example of the teaching excellence occurring at Warwick, and we are all very proud of her accomplishments.”
The new National Teaching Fellows this year represent all four UK nations and a wide range of disciplines, including Nursing, Medicine and Paramedic Science, Sports Science, Architecture, Art and Design, Marketing, Music and the Performing Arts, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Degree Apprenticeships, Careers and Employability.
Alison Johns, Chief Executive Officer of Advance HE, remarked, “Congratulations to all of the new National Teaching Fellows and CATE teams on this prestigious award, which recognises and rewards their dedication to teaching and learning and its impact on student success.
“It is with great pride that we administer these awards for the United Kingdom’s higher education sector to recognise these devoted individuals who make such a difference in the education of students and the practise of their colleagues. We look forward to collaborating with the newly awarded NTFs and CATEs and disseminating their exemplary practises to counterparts throughout the sector.”
 Dr. Elena Riva.){kind=link}