An electronics lecturer from Uxbridge College was honoured for his excellent teaching at a national awards ceremony.
Mansour Mohammad received a finalist's trophy at the sixth annual LSIS STAR Awards - the Oscars of the learning and skills sector. He was shortlisted in the category for Teaching Training and Learning Practitioner - Learner Nomination.
The event at Old Billingsgate in London was attended by further education minister, Kevin Brennan MP, and more than 500 learning and skills sector staff, learners and special guests. Uxbridge College's Principal Laraine Smith, and Vice Principal Darrell De Souza were also in the audience.
Mansour was nominated for the award by Laraine for the overwhelming volume and quality of the positive feedback from students about his teaching skills and his caring approach.
Laraine said: "We have so many staff at Uxbridge College who regularly go beyond the call of duty that it was hard to narrow it down. This year our nominees included Mansour who was chosen in particular because of the amazing feedback we get from his students about his caring, supportive approach. It was a real pleasure to see his work honoured at this event - particularly as there were thousands of nominations in the 10 categories available."
Mansour said: "I was happy to know that I was shortlisted by LSIS for a star award which meant for me that my work and effort were recognised. I think that events such as these give something back to FE lecturers who go that extra mile - and I was very pleased to find out that my learners thought of me in that way. Moreover, it can help in bringing expertise from various sectors together which will reflect positively on the overall teaching/learning process."
In 2008 Uxbridge College staff Joyce Amirahmadi and Mike McDermott were also nominated, with Mike chosen for a highly commended prize.
A project set up and delivered by Mansour and his colleague Muhammad Tungekar at Uxbridge College has recently been shortlisted for an award. The Slow & Easy Maths project they designed aimed to make the difficult topic of differentiation (calculus) enjoyable, fun and as easy as possible. This project is shortlisted as part of the Maths Intervention Projects of West London Lifelong Learning Network at the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning Conference 14-16 March 2010 at Oxford University.