Top teaching prize for Uni of Adelaide anatomist

Associate Professor Mounir Ghabriel flanked by students Luke Vater and Louis Shuo Xu, demonstrating the kind of innovative tools Dr Ghabriel uses in his teaching. Dr Ghabriel is a winner in the 2012 Australian Awards for University Teaching.
Photo by Mike Annese, Blink Productions.
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Tuesday, 20 November 2012

A University of Adelaide staff member who uses body painting and digital animation of body parts to teach anatomy to students has been named as one of Australia's best university teachers at an awards ceremony in Canberra.

The Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator the Hon. Chris Evans, has announced that the University of Adelaide's Associate Professor Mounir Ghabriel has won a prestigious Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) Award for Teaching Excellence.

Associate Professor Ghabriel, from the University's Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology in the School of Medical Sciences, has won the $25,000 award in the category of Biological Sciences, Health and Related Studies.

Associate Professor Ghabriel uses multiple approaches to engage students' interest and help them to learn complex human anatomy. This includes body painting (to give students a 3-D appreciation of what's beneath the skin), layered colour-coded diagrams, interactive 3-D models, and digital animation.

Associate Professor Ghabriel is a previous winner of the University of Adelaide's top teaching prize, the Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

"Mounir has an outstanding reputation as an educator at the University of Adelaide and we are thrilled that his work has been recognised with this well-earned award," says the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Warren Bebbington.

"For almost two decades, Mounir has shown an ongoing commitment to improving the quality of anatomy teaching at our University, and he is highly regarded by his students and colleagues alike. He epitomises the University of Adelaide's belief that students deserve a high-quality and engaging educational experience."

Comments from students about Associate Professor Ghabriel's work include: "Mounir's unique use of sketches and coloured diagrams has created its own legend within the Medical School", and: "It is difficult to sum up exactly how Dr Ghabriel's teaching affects you, it simply must be experienced."

While at the University of Adelaide, Associate Professor Ghabriel has been awarded the Dean's Prize for Excellence in Teaching 2006, the Richard Pellew Prize for 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Stephen Cole The Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching 2011, the Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Teaching 2011, and an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Citation in 2011.

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