Awards and prizes

Members of IELLI staff and previous students have been awarded various awards and prizes. Notable examples are listed below.

British Council ELT Masters Dissertation Award

• Paul Robertson (MSc TESOL with a Specialism in Technology for Teaching 2021-2023) won the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes masters Dissertation Awards 2024 for his dissertation entitled 'Student and staff perceptions of student digital competencies on an English-Medium international foundation year programme in Europe, with reference to the EU "Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp)".
• Peter Bannister (MSc TESOL with a specialism in Assessment and Evaluation 2019-2022) won the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes Masters Dissertation Awards 2023 for his dissertation entitled 'Exploring the Critical Listening Assessment Conundrum on Pre-Sessional EAP Programmes in Higher Education'.
• Mairi Canning (MSc TESOL 2020-2021) was commended at the British Council ELT Masters Dissertation Awards 2021-2022 for her dissertation entitled 'The Value of Co-teaching in Teacher Agency: A Focus on ESL Teachers in South Korea'.
• Allison Crum (MSc TESOL 2019-2020) was commended at the British Council ELT Masters Dissertation Awards 2020-2021 for her dissertation entitled 'Introducing standards for evaluating enrichment materials (SEEM): Testing the modern framework with football-themed materials'.
• Yin Lijun (MSc TESOL 2017-2018) was commended at the British Council ELT Masters Dissertation Awards 2018-2019 for her dissertation entitled 'An investigation of experienced EAP teachers' marking processes'.

McCall MacBain Foundation Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Excellence Awards 2020

In 2020, the International Educational Institute was the recipient of a McCall MacBain Foundation Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Excellence Award:

• Mark Carver was awarded for his work on assessment and feedback scholarship. 

University of St Andrews Golden Dandelion Awards

Mark Carver was awarded a University of St Andrews Golden Dandelion Award for ET5524 and ET5624 English Medium Instruction in recognition of the considerable contribution to education for sustainable development that it makes.

University of St Andrews Teaching Excellence Awards 

• Kirsty Duff was awarded one of five annual Teaching Excellence Awards in 2023 for her excellent teaching and curriculum development at the International Education Institute.
• Lori Leigh Davis was awarded one of six annual Teaching Excellent Awards in 2022. Lori was recognised for the energy and enthusiasm she brings to her classes, her commitment to embedding sustainability within her teaching, as well as her work mentoring colleagues and contributing to University widening access programmes.
• Paula Villegas Verdu was awarded one of five annual Teaching Excellence Awards in 2024 for her significant contribution to curriculum design within the Institute, and her leadership of the Institute’s Academic English Service. Her development of new provision to support students across the University with academic literacy development was particularly commended.

University of St Andrews Students’ Association 1413 Teaching Excellence Awards

• Lesley Thirkell was nominated in the category of outstanding academic mentorship, which acknowledges the way a member of teaching staff influences students' personal and academic development, and in the Outstanding Innovation in Teaching category, which celebrates creativity in the classroom.
• Paula Villegas Verdu was nominated for a Students' Association Excellence Award for outstanding commitment to inclusivity, for her work on the Online Programme Design module, and in the Postgraduate Taught Dissertation Supervisor category, which recognises excellent guidance and support offered to a dissertation student.
• Alison Malcolm-Smith was nominated in the Outstanding Innovation in Teaching category, which celebrates creativity in the classroom.
• John Hughes was nominated in the Outstanding Innovation in Teaching category, which celebrates creativity in the classroom.
• Lori Leigh Davis was nominated in the categories of Outstanding Teacher (Arts and Divinity), Outstanding Innovation in Teaching, Outstanding Academic Mentorship, and Outstanding Commitment to Academic Inclusivity.

University of St Andrews Start-Up Challenge

Cameron Wren (MSc TESOL with a specialism in Technology for Teaching 2022-2023) won the Start-Up Challenge at the University's Entrepreneurship Centre with his business proposal for an online curriculum subscription service for online and offline English language teachers.

Elsevier-Stanford List 2023 and 2024

• Sin Wang Chong was included in Top 2% Scientists in Education on the Elsevier-Stanford List

TOEFL New Scholar Award 2024

• Stefan O'Grady was awarded the 2024 TOEFL New Scholar award in recognition of the breadth and quality of his publications, and service to the field of language testing.