At the CETL-MSOR Conference in the University of Limerick, Professor Michael Grove, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham, announced that Dr Ciarán Mac an Bhaird was the recipient of 2024 international award 'The Lawson-Croft Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics and Statistics Support'. The full text of the judging panel's commendation is listed below.
Award commendation:
This prestigious annual award, named after Professor Duncan Lawson MBE and Professor Tony Croft in recognition of their work in the initial set up of the UK-wide mathematics and statistics support community, is to be awarded to a member of the community for outstanding achievement and excellence across a sustained period.
The 2024 winner was appointed in the 2000's as a university lecturer and manager of a mathematics support centre of a large institution, and latterly was appointed its Director.
Under their stewardship, the MSC has grown exponentially to be one of the busiest (in terms of student visits) in Ireland or the UK, celebrating its 200,000th student visit in 2022. They created a space where students can avail of non-judgemental friendly support, which allows them to explore the boundaries of their knowledge and helps them realise that making mistakes is a natural part of their educational journey.
They have a track record of championing access to higher education (HE) and they co-developed and trialled bespoke teaching and learning resources for MSC managers and tutors to support students with dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
They place great emphasis on appropriate and regular tutor training. Recently, he was part of an international collaboration that contributed to the development of MSC tutor competency training which is mapped to leading frameworks for HE pedagogy. This training provides tutors with a tangible record of their participation in the form of digital badges.
They are an accomplished researcher, recognising the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of every MSC initiative, with outcomes disseminated amongst the MSC community.
Their prestige within the wider mathematics learning support (MLS) community is evidenced through an extensive, and growing, publication record. Specific aspects of their research have enabled them to have a tangible influence on policies and practices, for example, they were co-author of perhaps the first published report on a large-scale multi-institutional student evaluation of MLS. This was a piece of work that Duncan Lawson described as ‘…a hugely significant piece of work, a whole nation study which is unique in its extent. It is of huge value, certainly in Ireland but also internationally’.
They are a founding member of the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network (IMLSN), a member of the sigma network for excellence in mathematics and statistics support since 2008. They are also the Irish representative on the steering committee of the annual CETL- MSOR conference.
In 2010, they won the Network for Excellence in Mathematics and Statistics Support ‘Rising Star’ award for early career MSC academic staff. In 2016, they won a ‘Teaching Hero’ Award from the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and the Union of Students in Ireland. In 2018, the received an individual Maynooth University Teaching Award and in 2024 the MSC received a Maynooth University Team Teaching Award.
And in August 2024, they now win the Lawson-Croft Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics and Statistics Support. The winner, Dr Ciarán Mac an Bhaird.