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Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Finalists for national higher education teaching award announced
Dr Kevin Coward, Director of the MSc in Clinical Embryology at the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Oxford has been shortlisted for The Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award. The Royal Society of Biology offers the annual award to teachers who have shown an outstanding contribution to higher education in the biosciences. The scheme rewards lecturers who have developed innovative and inspirational teaching methods, as well as undertaken professional development and supported colleagues.
Dr Coward commented "I am thrilled to have been selected as a finalist for such a prestigious award and delighted that the innovative teaching styles being developed on the Oxford MSc in clinical embryology are being recognised at a national level.”
The winner receives the Ed Wood Memorial Prize of £1,000 to spend as they wish; one year's subscription to an Oxford University Press (OUP) journal of their choice; and one year's free membership of the Royal Society of Biology. The remaining finalists receive £150 and one year's free membership of the RSB.
Dr. Kevin Coward is one of three shortlisted candidates. The winner will be announced on 4th May, at the Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS) Spring Meeting dinner in Leicester.
Dr. Kevin Coward - profile
Dr Coward graduated from the University of Stirling with a Bachelors degree in Biological Science and a PhD in Reproductive Physiology and Endocrinology. Since then, he has held post-doctoral positions at Brunel University, Queen Mary University of London, Imperial College London and University College London.
In 2002, Dr Coward moved to the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, and in 2008, transferred to the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology as a Research Group Leader and Director of the MSc in Clinical Embryology, a one-year residential course designed to inspire and train new leaders in the diagnosis and treatment of human infertility.
Dr Coward's teaching is informed by the work of his own research team, who collectively aim to enhance various aspects of assisted reproductive technology. His case study describes a new problem-based learning technique to assist and motivate his students to acquire teaching skills in ‘wet’ laboratory scenarios.