An economist, a marine researcher, a curative educator and a musicologist: the university has honoured four lecturers for their outstanding achievements with the "Teaching Award". The Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Equal Opportunities, Prof. Dr Sabine Kyora, honoured Pia Lehmkuhl, Susanne Mischo, Clemens Schneider and Dr Oliver Wurl at a ceremony. The award winners each receive 1,000 euros in prize money for teaching.
With this award, the university recognises outstanding university teaching and encourages students to engage with teaching and learning processes at the university. In the 2016/17 academic year, students were once again invited to nominate particularly successful courses. "Good teaching is based on successful interaction between teachers and students. Creating an activating and motivating learning environment requires subject-specific and didactic expertise as well as creativity and courage. With this award, we want to make exemplary examples of this visible," explained Kyora at the award ceremony.
This year's prize in the "Best Event" category went to Clemens Schneider from the Institute of Music. He was nominated by his students for three courses: "Music-related activities in the classroom", "The piano in school practice" and "Music and movement". The diverse and differentiated practical approach also impressed the jury of teachers and students. Schneider incorporates current developments such as digital music-making into lessons in a theoretically sound way and using special learning environments. The type of examination was also harmoniously integrated into the course.
In the "Research-based learning" category, the jury recognised the didactic concept of Susanne Mischo from the Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation. According to the jury, the participatory, inclusive research approach of the course "Projects of research-based learning in the specialisation area of intellectual development" opens up a new perspective on research for students.
The students' vote counted in a different way for the "Special Course Evaluation Award": Lecturers were able to apply themselves with the results of their course evaluation. Pia Lehmkuhl from the Institute of Educational Sciences with her course "Personnel Management in Educational and Scientific Institutions" and Dr Oliver Wurl from the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment with his course "Introduction to Marine Chemistry" came out on top.
The university has been honouring outstanding achievements by university lecturers since 1998. The prize is sponsored by the Universitätsgesellschaft Oldenburg e. V. (UGO). This year, the award ceremony marked the end of the first "Day of Teaching and Learning" at the university. The focus was on current issues in university teaching: together, the Schools and the Department for Study Affairs presented a varied programme of activities for students, teaching staff and interested members of the public to watch and take part in.