National Teaching Fellows 2012

His success brings our total number of awards to 17 – that’s more than any other higher education institution in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The Higher Education Academy (HEA) grants the Fellowships, which are the most prestigious awards for excellence in higher education teaching and support for learning, with successful nominees being judged on individual excellence, raising the profile of excellence and developing excellence.

Morris’ current research interests are in educational technology and blending learning and at present he chairs the University of Leeds blended learning and technology innovation group. Former director of the Undergraduate School in Biological Sciences, he has led implementations of the virtual learning environment, student voting handsets, lecture audio recordings and generic video feedback within the faculty. Most recently, he published a study investigating the potential usefulness of tablet devices for enhancing undergraduate students’ learning opportunities.

Neil has already won a number of awards for teaching excellence, including the Society of Biology Bioscience Teacher of the Year award, the Otto Hutter Teaching award from the Physiological Society and the Most Innovative Teacher award in the Leeds University Union Student Choice awards.

Chief Executive of the HEA, Professor Craig Mahoney, said: ‘Students deserve – and expect – the best possible learning experience during their time in higher education, and fantastic staff, such as National Teaching Fellows, help to deliver this experience’.