Dr Suzanne Fergus

Dr Suzanne Fergus is exceptionally passionate and has an undeniable talent for teaching. In 2016, she received the Royal Society of Chemistrys Higher Education Teaching Award for her sustained innovations and pioneering endeavours in chemistry education. Suzanne obtained her MA in Education focusing on student engagement in chemistry and has obtained recognition as a Senior Fellow of the HEA for her leadership and support to colleagues enhancing the student learning experience. Suzanne joined the University of Hertfordshire in 2006, where she is now a Principal Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. She completed her BSc in Chemistry at University College Dublin and continued there to attain her PhD and undertook post-doctoral work at the University of Milan and University of Cambridge. In 2011, Suzanne was appointed to a secondment at the University's Learning and Teaching institute where she led key initiatives across the institution to enhance teaching, learning and assessment. Impact of work Suzanne has transformed and enhanced the chemistry learning experience through innovative learning activities that support the full diversity of students' learning needs. An online collaborative tool with student-generated content resulted in increased student engagement and 8% improvement on coursework scores. Her context-based case studies including the published classroom activity incorporating the psychoactive substance mephedrone, inspired students to integrate and apply their chemistry learning. Her published work on a novel method of authentic laboratory assessment entitled SChemEs (Structured Chemistry Examinations) is now incorporated within a biochemistry programme at the Dublin Institute of Technology. Plans for the future Suzanne's future developments include PhD supervision on the pedagogic challenges of learning chemistry with a focus on understanding particularly for applied chemistry programmes of study.