University Education Awards
Dr. Peter Klaren, lecturer in Animal Ecology & Physiology at the Faculty of Science won the University Education Award. Students and colleagues describe him as approachable, engaging and always eager to help with education.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Klaren’s teaching focused more on Team Based Learning (TBL); learning in interaction with others. By applying this method of teaching, Klaren encouraged his students to answer questions together and discuss matters with each other. One added benefit was that it also meant he was able to encourage contact between students during this period.
Peter used the discussion forum in Brightspace to get students to work together. By using this tool, he encouraged his students to discuss the material with each other and learn from one another.
Dr. Stefanie Sonner, lecturer in Mathematics at the Faculty of Science received the University Education Award for her role as an initiator and her focus on society, interdisciplinary teaching and attention to individual students.
Within the Mathematics Master’s programme, Sonner has initiated a mentor programme to better guide and prepare students for their theses. She has also been at the helm of the committee that restructured the Master’s programme. In this, Sonner has developed a curriculum combining mathematics with other disciplines, such as physics and computer science, to connect it more closely with societal and scientific needs. Sonner is the coordinator of the Master's programme in Mathematics. In this role, she is committed to fostering greater diversity in the study programme’s student population by focusing on female and international students.
Honourable Mention
Dr. Giulio Mecacci, lecturer in Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Social Sciences received an honourable mention. During the coronavirus pandemic, he asked his students how he should arrange education given the circumstances. He switched to a different method of assessment during this period; conducting large scale oral exams. He has been very committed to organising this form of assessment in a fair, safe, verifiable and transparent manner. He was inspired by the idea that being able to have meaningful conversations about a course’s topic is a better academic assessment than taking an exam or writing an argumentative essay.
He has also managed to engage students who are more interested in the technology behind artificial intelligence than in the ethical issues it raises. He has done this by explicitly linking technical applications to ethical issues and, in doing so, has also encouraged these students to see the importance of ethics within the study programme.