Applicant Guidance for Early Career Citations

The Citation for Outstanding Early Career Contribution to Engineering Education recognises and rewards the diverse contributions made by individuals working within the Australasian context to the quality of engineering student learning and teaching at the early stages of their career, preferably sustained over a period of 12 months minimum or equivalent.

Successful applications will be posted on the AAEE website as a way of disseminating the work that has been recognised by an award. Examples of previously successful applications are available on the AAEE website here. Award winners will be invited to produce a video presentation and/or present at the AAEE Awards Roadshow to showcase their work to the AAEE community.

Eligibility

This award is intended to encourage early career academics to pursue a sustained interest in engineering education research and/or scholarship.
Applicants must:

Have held contracted fractional, full-time, or ongoing academic position(s) with a teaching component for a maximum of five years, as at the time of application. Any career interruptions during this time period does not count in the five years. Similarly, casual positions or contracted positions of less than 12 continuous months in duration do not towards the five years. The five years can be non-sequential and should be calculated based on your first fractional, full-time, or ongoing academic appointment. Casual appointments do not count towards the five years.
Be a member of AAEE at the time of application.
Base their application on a body of work in Australia and/or New Zealand.
Declare a time period for which the body of work was undertaken.
Base their application on a body of work that is demonstrably different to work used for any previous successful Technical Society award(s).
Not have previously won the AAEE Early Career award.
If successful, attend the Annual AAEE Conference Dinner to accept the award.
If successful, have their application made available on the AAEE website
Not be academics who are at the level of Associate Professor or Professor (or equivalent).

Any queries regarding your eligibility should sent to aaee@engineersaustralia.org.au

Instructions to check your membership status or to join are here (note that staff and students of Australian and New Zealand universities or polytechnics can join at no cost).

Criteria for the award and weightings will be published on the AAEE website. The same criteria and same weightings will be applied to the judging of all applications. Scores within criteria can be adjusted, based on a comparison of applicants.

Application Details

Applications open April 1, 2025 and should be submitted via the form linked below by 5pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time), September 15, 2025.

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Criteria for Framing Application

To apply, nominees must select ONE (1) of the following criteria for assessment, as appropriate to their particular contribution. Nominations will be assessed on evidence provided in relation to the selected criterion (adapted from the Australian Awards for University Teaching – Citations).

Criterion 1 - Approaches to teaching and the support of learning that influence, motivate and inspire engineering students to learn

This may include

Fostering student development by stimulating curiosity and independence in learning.
Assisting students from equity and other demographic subgroups to participate and achieve success in their courses.
Inspiring and motivating students through effective educational design and delivery.
Enabling others to enhance their approaches to learning and teaching.
Developing and/or integrating assessment strategies to enhance student learning

Criterion 2 - Development of engineering curricula, resources or services that reflect a command of the field

This may include

Developing and presenting coherent and imaginative resources for student learning.
Implementing research-led approaches to learning and teaching.
Demonstrating up-to-date knowledge of the field of study in the design of the curriculum and the creation of resources for learning.
Providing support to those involved in the development of curricula and resources.
Contributing professional expertise to enhance curriculum or resources.

Criterion 3 - Evaluation practices that bring about improvements in engineering teaching and learning. Evaluation comprises making judgements about the quality of programs and activities that are part of the academic, cultural and social experience of higher education.

This may include

Showing advanced skills in evaluation and reflective practice.
Using a variety of evaluation strategies to bring about change.
Adapting evaluation methods to different contexts and diverse student needs and learning styles.
Contributing professional expertise to the field of evaluation in order to improve program design and delivery.
Dissemination and embedding of good practice identified through evaluation.

Criterion 4 - Innovation or leadership that has influenced and enhanced engineering learning and teaching and/or the engineering student experience

This may include

Innovations in service and support for students
Innovations in coordination, management and leadership of courses and the student learning experience.
Demonstrating leadership through activities that have broad influence on the profession.
Providing innovative learning and teaching for different contexts, including technology enhanced environments, for large and small class sizes and/or to meet the needs of a diverse student cohort.
Influencing the overall academic, social and cultural experience of higher education.

Criterion 5 - Engineering education research/scholarship of learning and teaching, that has contributed to student learning, the engineering education community, and the research literature

This may include

Evidence of novel contributions to the research literature based on sound research design
Quality of research processes, analysis, and publication
Relevance of this research to student learning and the broader engineering education community
Impact on student learning, the broader engineering education community, and the research literature
Dissemination within the AAEE community, and beyond
Research collaborations beyond discipline, institutional, or national boundaries
Enabling others to enhance their approaches to engineering education research
Using research to bring about educational change

Submission Requirements

Submissions are limited to THREE (3) A4 pages (minimum 12 point font and 2 cm margins) and must describe the nominee’s contribution to student learning in line with the selected criterion, providing evidence to support claims. It should comprise the following elements presented in order.

State the citation criterion addressed by the application.
Overview of the contribution and its context.
Statement addressing the selected assessment criterion and providing evidence of the contribution and resulting impact.
Reference list: nominees should use their preferred recognised reference style throughout and include a reference list within the three (3) pages. Links to reference lists online will not be reviewed by assessors.

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated according to the following:

Focus and relevance – state clearly the initiatives addressed and the outcomes achieved, focusing on the significance of the work.
Context – situate the work within relevant bodies of knowledge and describe how it draws on this to address our understanding of teaching and learning in your context.
Evidence of impact and/or outcomes. Evidence should be compelling and supported by clear reasoning.
Clarity and readability – exhibit clear, concise, and precise exposition of engineering education research and/or scholarship, and provide tables and figures, as needed, that meaningfully add to the narrative (useful illustrations).

Scoring rubric

Prize

$500 plus a framed certificate (up to 2 citations will be awarded).