Purpose

The SMAANZ Learning & Teaching Creativity Award recognises educators who apply creative, intentional, and reflective approaches to sport management education. It is designed to celebrate individuals or teaching teams who reimagine how students learn, whether through creative assessment design, engaging delivery methods, thoughtful use of theory, or new ways of structuring content and curriculum.

Award Criteria

The award highlights learning and teaching practices that:

• Respond to educational needs, challenges, or opportunities
• Demonstrate creativity in concept, design, or facilitation
• Are pedagogically informed and intentionally structured
• Show evidence of reflection, adaptation, and/or impact

This award is open to a wide range of approaches from classroom-based experimentation to curriculum redesign, digital innovation, student-led projects, or industry collaboration. It is designed to recognise contributions that extend our understanding of what meaningful and effective learning can look like in the sport management context.

While many teaching awards emphasise student evaluations or large-scale institutional outcomes, this award values creativity as a driver of change, highlighting educators who are advancing learning through new thinking, informed practice, and clear educational purpose. Applications from all career stages including early career academics are strongly encouraged

Eligibility

The learning and teaching creativity award is open to any applicant who is a current SMAANZ member. Applications may be submitted by individuals or teaching teams and we encourage applicants across all career stages, practice-based, casual, or adjunct educators to apply, ensuring that sufficient evidence of teaching impact and alignment with award criteria is met.

Submission Guidelines

Applicants must submit a written application that:

• Is no more than two A4 pages, addressing all four criteria listed below
• Uses Times New Roman, size 10 font, single spacing, with standard 2.54cm (1 inch) margins
• Integrates evidence throughout the written narrative (no appendices or external files)
• Includes up to 4 academic sources
• Submissions must be provided in PDF format.

Deliverables:

Applicants for this award must submit no more than 2 A4-pages that addresses the following criteria:

a)    Insight & Intent (25%): Demonstrates a clear understanding of the teaching or learning opportunity the initiative aimed to address. This may include a response to student needs, curriculum challenges, discipline-specific developments, or broader sector trends. Submissions may reference relevant theory, institutional priorities, or student voice.

b)    Creative Approach (25%): Explains the pedagogical design or innovation and how it introduced a new or adapted approach to teaching and learning. Emphasis is placed on originality, intentionality, and how the approach extends or reimagines conventional practice.

c)    Execution & Delivery (25%): Describes how the initiative was implemented, including how it was structured, facilitated, and experienced by learners. Demonstrates thoughtful planning, responsiveness, and pedagogical alignment in delivery

d)    Reflection & Impact (25%): Offers critical reflection on the effectiveness and influence of the approach. This may include impact on students, peer learning, curriculum development, personal teaching practice, or future iterations. A range of evidence should be drawn upon.

Types of Acceptable Evidence

Applicants are encouraged to embed diverse forms of evidence within their two-page submission. While university-driven student evaluations may be included, they should not be the sole form of evidence. Examples may include:

• Teaching artefacts (e.g. assessment briefs, learning activities, LMS screenshots)
• Student-created content (e.g. anonymised samples, outputs, or quotes)\
• Feedback from peers, collaborators, or external partners
• Narrative reflection on implementation, change, or lessons learned
• Analytics or engagement data
• Evidence of uptake by other educators, programs,
• Public dissemination (e.g. presentations, blogs, features)

Award & Recognition

The recipient of the SMAANZ L&T Creativity Award will receive:

• The winner must attend the conference and present either a 20-minute presentation or a 60-minute interactive teaching workshop as a standalone session at the SMAANZ Conference
• The award will consist of (AUD) $1000, free registration for the SMAANZ Conference in the year of the award, and a certificate presented during the SMAANZ Conference.
• Recognition on SMAANZ digital platforms and the opportunity to contribute a blog post or teaching spotlight piece via SMAANZ platforms