School of Engineering and Computer Science Victoria University of Wellington

“Caring is at the core of my teaching philosophy. When you care, you prepare your teaching as best you can.”

Dale works to understand and engage learners. He provides continuous feedback to guide learning, and encourages excellence. His greatest satisfaction comes when he is able  to “inspire a failing student and see the light come on and grades lift from D’s and C’s to high B’s and A’s. Equally rewarding is to take a good student and help them to become the best they can be – hopefully to eventually outperform me.” In the words of his students he is “very passionate (slightly nuts)” and “he takes pride in students doing well”.

His caring attitude and holistic approach are evident whether he is teaching undergraduates or postgraduate research students. He is an innovative leader in developing bridging mathematics courses, building learning communities, devising strategies to prevent student attrition (a 138% increase in retention rates since 2010) and promoting engineering as a career.  In the words of one of his colleagues: “Dale is an outstanding teacher, an effective and passionate lecturer, a leader of curriculum development and an excellent education researcher”.