It’s all about meeting students at eye level Interview with Teaching Award winner Till Hagemann

Till Hagemann was awarded the TU Teaching Award 2025 for his teaching style. In this interview, he talks about why enthusiasm can be contagious, why failure is part and parcel of university life — and why, although artificial intelligence can explain a great deal, it cannot replace human connection.

Sometimes good teaching starts with a simple sentence: “I’ve been there too.” Till Hagemann knows what it’s like to sit in a tutorial and not quite get it straight away. Perhaps that is precisely why he teaches in such a way today that others find it easier to catch up. In his Control Engineering tutorial, he combines theory with examples, encourages questions and shows that learning does not mean understanding everything straight away.

Tell me briefly who you are and what you do at the university?

I’ve been studying here since 2018/19; I’m in the Master’s programme in Aerospace Engineering and am currently focusing on finishing my Master’s. At the moment, though, I’m more involved in teaching and actually enjoy it more. I’ve worked at three departments and run four tutorials.

How did you get into teaching? How did you realise you were good at it?

That was really down to my former students. I taught for the first time in 2021. At the start, I had a lot of doubts and was quite unsure. I’ve been doing this for five years now, and it’s got better bit by bit. I was just aware of the problems I’d faced in my own lectures and assumed that my struggles reflected those of others too. So I tried to address them.

What sort of problems are those?

I think many students often feel lost when it comes to the subject matter. Especially when you look at first-year students. Most of them feel overwhelmed straight after leaving school and find it hard to settle in. I try to step in here.

What makes for good teaching?

For me, good teaching means being on the same level as the students. I love being there for my students. Many of them have since become good friends, and that’s something I value immensely. If I manage to put a smile on the face of someone who’s struggling with a subject because they’ve done better in an exam, then that’s the most important thing for me. And ultimately, that’s what I’m really passionate about.

What do you consider to be poor teaching?

No interest. No eye contact. And not engaging with students, who are then simply left to their own devices.

Would you say that AI has given good teaching a whole new significance?

Yes, definitely. Many people use AI to have topics explained to them. I do that too. But in the end, it often remains superficial. AI can help scratch the surface of a topic. But it doesn’t replace having to grapple with it yourself. What AI also can’t provide is connection, approachability. Having someone there who says: I know what that’s like. I didn’t always breeze through this degree either.

How do you create that atmosphere of equality?

By being open. For example, I spoke openly about my third attempt at Mechanics. A student later said that had given her hope. I’ll be completely honest: I didn’t breeze through my Bachelor’s degree. I had gaps in my knowledge. That only changed later on. It’s important to talk about it and remain human: it’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to fall down. Ironically, for me it’s now teaching itself that is my path — in other words, exactly what I struggled with so much at the start.

What do you think is important if we want to take teaching further?

We need to rethink teaching, try things out and see which approach works. The internet is here, digital teaching is possible — the pandemic has shown that a lot can work. So: try things out, be creative, take on board what helps.

Has the teaching award changed anything for you?

The teaching award has certainly boosted my motivation even further, and I’ve really stepped up my game in my tutorials. The award has somehow helped me integrate well into the Institute for Intermodal Transport and Logistics Systems (ITL). Hopefully, this means I now have a supervisor who will guide me through my Master’s and then my PhD.

Thank you, Till, and all the best!