Teaching Awards for dedicated university teachers Students honour inspiring teaching

They inspire students and impart knowledge in a very lively way: dedicated teachers have now been honoured for their outstanding and exemplary teaching in six categories with the Teaching Award of Technische Universität Braunschweig. The award ceremony took place on 15 October as part of the final event of the Studium Generale.

The prizewinners Florian von Malottky, Dr. Mehdi Maboudi, Prof. Markus Gerke, Prof. Marc Walter, Hazal Kutluk, Dr. Arne Schmidt, Tobias Rahm and Prof. Knut Baumann were delighted to receive the award for best teaching. Photo credits: Silja Klemenz

Teaching Award underlines the importance of teaching

“The large number of 291 courses with more than 300 lecturers nominated shows that students highly value teaching at TU Braunschweig. We are delighted that the outstanding achievements of our lecturers are being honoured with the Teaching Award and that good teaching at our university is being recognised,” said Professor Knut Baumann, vice president for Learning and Teaching, who opened the event, which was organised by the Learning and Teaching Department. “Teachers and students alike benefit from the Teaching Award because it helps to create an inspiring learning environment and to further improve the quality of teaching at TU Braunschweig. ”

Courses in which students participated during the past winter and summer semesters were eligible for the award. Students had the sole right to nominate and select the winners. The pre-selection was made by the student councils of the six faculties, each of which could propose up to ten nominations. A jury of twelve students then made the final decision. The jury based its decision on the students’ justifications, the reports of the faculty and student councils, the evaluation results of the courses or teaching concept, and criteria such as teaching methods and professional competence.

Overview of award winners

Best undergraduate course

Dr. Arne Schmidt was honoured for his lecture ‘Programming I’ at the Institute of Operating Systems and Computer Networks, Algorithms Division. The lecture is mainly attended by over 500 first year Computer Science and Business Informatics students. Arne has restructured the course and made it more goal-oriented. He has managed to make the lectures clear, understandable and interactive. Despite the size of the lecture, he encouraged active student participation through interaction and created a pleasant learning atmosphere. “The lecture was redesigned in such a short time and the lecturer put so much love, sweat and heart and soul into it,” was one student’s reason for nominating him.

Best lecture

Professor Marc Walter from the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry has succeeded in imparting knowledge to more than 250 students and creating an excellent basis for exam preparation with his well-structured and comprehensibly presented lecture ‘General and Inorganic Chemistry for Chemistry, Food Chemistry and Natural Sciences’. The clear structure and systematic preparation of the material makes it easier for the students to learn and repeat the content. The logical sequence of topics and continuous repetition ensure that the material is firmly anchored in the long term. Students explained the nomination: “Thanks to the interactive design of Professor Walter’s lectures, they were never boring and helped to consolidate the knowledge”. “Very well structured and a great way of involving students. Excellent rhetoric, good exam preparation”.

Best seminar

The seminar ‘Positive Psychology – Introduction to Theory and Practice’ by Tobias Rahm from the Institute of Educational Psychology received the award for its activating and motivating design as well as its practical happiness exercises. The structure of his seminar is well thought out and tailored to the students. Students praise: “Overall, I have learned more here for my own well-being, my professional future and my work-life balance than in any other seminar. The lecturer treats the students with understanding and respect and meets us at eye level”. “Top seminar, very friendly and harmonious atmosphere. The structure of the seminar is well thought out and tailored to the students. It should be a must for everyone!”

Best tutorial/best laboratory

In the category ‘Best Laboratory’, the course ‘Introduction to BioMEMS’ by Professor Iordania Constantinou and research associate Hazal Kutluk from the Institute of Microtechnology was awarded. Their course was particularly praised for its strong encouragement of independent work and its success in getting students excited about research. “The lab course was not strictly scripted; it was about experiencing the research process, constantly considering what the next steps are, where mistakes are made and how they can be corrected. Students were required to think on their feet and learn how to deal with setbacks,” they said.

Best student tutorial

In his tutorial ‘Numerical Engineering Methods’, student tutor Florian von Malottky from the Institute of Applied Mechanics was outstanding in imparting knowledge complementary to the lecture. The award recognises his special commitment and the mixture of independent calculation and joint solution development in plenary at the blackboard, as well as the production of teaching materials. “Florian von Malottky taught us the material in an optimal way. His interactive and insightful approach to designing the tutorials enabled him to convey the course content to the students in a way that everyone could understand. He was always approachable and answered all questions comprehensively,” said the students.

Best international teaching

The English-language lecture and tutorial ‘Deep Learning’ from the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry won the award for best international teaching. The students praised the course, taught by Professor Markus Gerke, Dr. Mehdi Maboudi and Dr. Pedro Marco Achanccaray Diaz: “The course is really effective. The lecture series, lab sessions, and assignments provide a comprehensive overview of various topics in training ML algorithms. The bonus exercises bring out our competitive side.”