The department’s Dr Matthew Worley was one of only six university staff members selected for a Gold Star Award by Reading University Students Union for 2011.  The award is for outstanding contributions to teaching and learning.  There were 365 nominations for the awards, with some members of staff being nominated by as many as 19 students.  Amongst the student comments about Dr Worley were ‘he makes the subjects that he teaches interesting and engages the group with humour and a good level of discussion’ and ‘he is always willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for his students.’