ENroute Yearbook 2015-16
Ten Years and Counting... William Surradge, School of Applied Sciences, Associate Fellow
Come 1 October 2016, I will have been at Edinburgh Napier for 10 years. Starting as an undergraduate on the Forensic Biology programme, an MRes in Biochemistry, volunteering as a Demonstrator and now as a Lab Technician, I have been passionate about Edinburgh Napier ever since I walked through the doors.
Throughout my undergraduate programme, the lecturers who stood out were the people who took the time to get to know me as a person, and would give me the benefit of their experience. So upon completing my degree, I asked to be a Volunteer Demonstrator, knowing exactly how I wanted to present myself.
Safe to say, I really enjoyed giving the students the benefit of my experience. I quickly gained more experience in a variety of different roles, all of which were involved with assisting students, leading to my role as a Lab Technician, where I work with academic staff to develop and update lab protocols and practical sessions, with the aim of allowing our students to gain the absolute most they can from their time here.
I was asked if I wanted to apply for accreditation through ENroute last year, and I’ m very pleased that I did. I’ d never heard of the term‘ pedagogy’ before the process; it was language that I never used as a technician. However, on reflection, I realised that I had spent my entire career looking at how students learned and how I could tailor my approach towards them. I was practising pedagogy and I didn’ t even know it!
Quickly, I was looking at what I had done over those years from a new viewpoint, making the process enjoyable and enlightening as I gained a better appreciation of the skills I’ ve learned, and a better understanding about how to improve my professional practice.
Collecting DNA from banana for visitors’ group
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