Professor Jo Rushworth named HE Biosciences Teacher of the Year

Professor Jo Rushworth, Director of Education and Students in the University’s College of Science, has been named HE Biosciences Teacher of the Year by the Royal Society of Biology for her inspiring approach to inclusive teaching.

Jo won the award for her transformative work on curriculum co-creation with students in bioscience disciplines. An advocate of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Jo’s pedagogic practices focus on ‘flip-flopping’ the student-lecturer relationship to support collaborative learning – encouraging students to act as lecturers and vice-versa, even inviting undergraduates to co-design learning materials and assessments. This included going back to being a student herself by enrolling on a Mandarin Chinese language course – an experience she says ‘changed her life’.

Originally a secondary school chemistry teacher, Jo completed her Wellcome Trust-funded PhD in the structural biology of Alzheimer’s Disease at the University of Leeds in 2012 and then took up a lecturing role at De Montfort University in 2014, progressing to become Professor of Biosciences of Education. She won an AdvanceHE National Teaching Fellowship in 2018 and the Biochemical Society’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2020. Jo joined Lincoln’s College of Science earlier this year from DMU, and explains she was particularly drawn to Lincoln by the Student as Producer ethos, which engages students in all aspects of the University’s activities.

“Coming out of the pandemic has been a massive catalyst for reassessing how we teach,” says Jo. “It’s such an exciting opportunity to make a difference for every single student – to make them feel welcome, valued and that they belong. That’s literally what Lincoln has been doing!”