An electrical tutor at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic is one of 12 educators to be awarded a prestigious 2014 Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award in Wellington this week.

Minister of Tertiary Education Steven Joyce awards BOP Polytechnic tutor Mike Scott with Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards.

Mike Scott was presented his award by Minister for Tertiary Education Hon Steven Joyce at the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards that celebrate New Zealand's finest tertiary teachers as recognised by their organisations, colleagues, learners and broader communities.

Mike has worked at the Polytechnic for eight years and has introduced a number of innovative teaching methods to increase student engagement and success.

His latest endeavour is the introduction of the flipped classroom. This idea moves away from traditional teaching and involves the students watching videos he produces as homework before completing tasks in the classroom. These tasks range from completing an activity pack of questions to producing a room-sized picture of a circuit on the floor using masking tape.

Mike is overjoyed with his award and thoroughly enjoyed the night hosted by Ako Aotearoa – The National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.

'It was a great event. I was really nervous, but winning the award was absolutely fantastic. 'It has given me the confidence to carry on with my slightly ‘unconventional' teaching style.”

Polytechnic chief executive Dr Alan Hampton says Mike's award is a well-deserved recognition for a superb educator.

'Mike has the special capability to understand opportunities and technology to improve the learning experience and outcomes for our students. More importantly, he is able to stand in the students' shoes and understand their perspective and needs.

'He's also motivated his colleagues to critically reflect on their practice and has supported and mentored their own journey of change and development.”

This is the fourth time BOP Polytechnic staff have received one of the prestigious Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards in six years.

Mike intends to invest his prize money in setting up an audio visual studio to produce videos and other interactive material to enhance his students' learning.

'I've always enjoyed working with technology and it's great to be able to integrate that into my teaching.” says Mike.

'I don't believe we'll ever better the concept of a teacher within a classroom, but I do see a revolution in the role that they play and the activities the students carry out.

'I think the next big step will be augmented reality in the classroom and I want to be at the forefront of that movement.”

Ako Aotearoa aims to recognise and celebrate excellence in tertiary teaching and share good practice that has a proven benefit for learners.

Twelve awards for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching worth $20,000 each were presented, including ten in the Generalcategory – and a further two awards presented to teachers in the Kaupapa Maori category.

The $10,000 Prime Minister's Supreme Award is an additional award presented to one of these 12 awardees.

The 2014 Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence went to Dr Karyn Paringatai (Ngati Porou) a lecturer at Te Tumu – School of Maori Pacific and Indigenous Studies at University of Otago.

The Supreme Award, considered the pinnacle of this annual event, recognised Dr Paringatai's 12 years of teaching learners from a wide variety of backgrounds to become a family of champions for the revitalisation of te reo Maori.

The Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards recipients for 2014 are:

Twelve awards for

Kaupapa Maori category:

• Enoka Murphy

Pakenga, Te Pua Wananga ki te Ao

Te Whare Wananga o Waikato / The University of Waikato

• Takuta (Dr) Karyn Paringatai (also Prime Minister's Supreme Awardee)

Pakenga, Te Tumu – School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies

Te Whare Wananga o Otago / University of Otago

General category:

• Bachelor of Culinary Arts Teaching Team: Stephen Ellwood, David Gillespie, Antony Heptinstall, Daniel Pfyl, Adrian Woodhouse

School of Hospitality

Otago Polytechnic

• Andy Ballard

Senior Lecturer - Management, AUT Business School

AUT University

• John G Davies

Senior Lecturer, Department of Performing and Screen Arts

Unitec Institute of Technology

• Professor Charles Fleischman

Undergraduate Coordinator – Civil and Natural Resources Engineering

University of Canterbury

• Dr Rainer Hoffman

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Lincoln University

• Caro McCaw

Principal Lecturer and Academic Leader, Communication Design

Otago Polytechnic

• Kyhlee Quince

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law

The University of Auckland

• Judith Roddick

Principle lecturer, School of Nursing

Otago Polytechnic

• Mike Scott

Academic Staff Member and Programme Coordinator

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic

• Teresia Teaiwa

Lecturer, Pacific Studies

Victoria University of Wellington