Curtin Malaysia lecturer conferred teaching excellence award for innovative use of distributed learning

Miri – 31 January 2018 – Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) senior lecturer Dr. Shamsul Kamariah Abdullah is a proud recipient of the ‘Curtin Award for Programs that Enhance Learning’ from Curtin University along with unit controller Dr. Aneeshta Gunness based at Curtin’s main campus in Perth.

Dr. Shamsul Kamariah, from the Department of Marketing of the Faculty of Business at Curtin Malaysia, and Dr. Aneeshta of the School of Marketing were jointly conferred the award for excellence and innovation in the delivery of their Retail Marketing & Distribution unit using Distributed Learning (DL) pedagogy recently.

Dr. Shamsul Kamariah received her award from Curtin Malaysia Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Beena Giridharan at a ceremony in Miri while Dr. Aneeshta received hers from Provost Professor John Cordery at a Curtin Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching ceremony in Perth. Present to witness the presentation of Dr. Shamsul Kamariah’s award was Acting Dean of the Faculty of Business, Associate Professor Pauline Ho Poh Ling.

Last year, Dr. Shamsul Kamariah and Dr. Aneeshta were awarded the Curtin Business School’s ‘Program That Enhanced Learning Award’ for the same DL pedagogy.

In congratulating Dr. Shamsul Kamariah on her latest award, Professor Giridharan expressed her utmost satisfaction with Dr. Shamsul Kamariah’s outstanding performance throughout her service with Curtin Malaysia and urged other academic staff of the campus to follow her example.

Dr. Shamsul Kamariah has won numerous awards throughout her 18 years at Curtin Malaysia. They include Curtin University’s Excellence and Innovation in Teaching Award in 2005 and in 2007 under the Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning category, Curtin Malaysia Student Choice Award in 2007, and Best Lecturer in Department of Marketing in 2015 and 2017.

Commenting on her latest achievement, Dr. Shamsul Kamariah said that teaching is not just about walking into a classroom and delivering lectures but also being committed to continually improving the student learning experience. She quoted Albert Einstein who said, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”

She thanked her students, colleagues at both the Malaysia and Perth campuses, and the management of Curtin Malaysia for their unwavering support of her efforts, as well as Curtin University for conferring her the prestigious award.

The Faculty of Business at Curtin Malaysia delivers business courses from the highly-acclaimed Curtin Business School, which is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and regarded as being among the elite business institutions in the world. An increasing number of Curtin business units are being delivered using DL, enabling students and staff at both campuses to engage and interact in real time

In the Retail Marketing & Distribution unit, DL provides students from both campuses the opportunity to study the unit simultaneously through live web conferencing. Virtual cross-cultural teamwork is applied in DL where students join as a team across campuses to complete a retail plan as one of the assessments for the unit.

The unit is a core unit of the Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing double majors) offered across the Perth and Malaysia campuses. The Distributed Learning mode which was piloted in 2014 has since become an ongoing initiative.

The use of DL at Curtin University’s campuses is aligned to its belief that the capacity to build bi-directional links in both teaching and research are the hallmarks of a genuine global university.

Curtin University’s new Global Positioning Strategy will see further expansion of its global footprint through strategic international alliances, partnerships and well integrated campuses, including connections and collaborations across its locations becoming more embedded in day-to-day practices.

Complementing the DL pedagogies at Curtin Malaysia is a number of new innovative learning spaces, an ongoing initiative under Curtin University’s ‘Transforming Learning @Curtin’ initiative since 2015.

These vibrant spaces are designed to increase student engagement, foster collaboration between staff and students, and provide flexible, technology-rich environments to support active learning and the development of a digital mindset in students.

Dr.Shamsul Kamariah (right) receiving her award from Professor Giridharan while Associate Professor Ho looks on.

Dr Aneeshta Gunness (2nd right) and other award recipients in Perth.