The Good Teacher -awards presented by the Student Union of Tampere University were announced in the award ceremony organized by the University of Tampere Foundation and Industrial Research Fund at Tampere University of Technology yesterday, 10 April 2025. This award is our way, as students, to express our gratitude for the work done by the teaching staff. The awards are given based on student nominations. A total of 35 nominations were given for the award and from among these, the coordinating committee recommended three award recipients to TREY’s Board. TREY’s Board decided on the award recipients in its meeting on 4 December 2024.
In the year 2024, TREY has decided to award the Good Teacher -award to the following members of the teaching staff:
- Tuula Juvonen (Faculty of Social Sciences)
- Ida Roivainen (Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences)
- Jarkko Isotalo (Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences)
The award recipients were honored with stipends of 2000 euros each and additionally, caricatures of these teachers were created and displayed on the “Good Teacher” walls across campuses.
TREY’s Vice-chair’s Sanni Tyynismaa’s speech at the award ceremony can be read below.
Good Teacher -award ceremony speech
Dear distinguished guests, what a joy it is to be here today celebrating our community!
One of the university’s missions is to provide the highest level of education. Education that is based on research and fosters students into critical thinkers, prepared for both academic roles and service to society. Education that creates cultured and innovative experts to meet the needs of the workforce and society. Education during which every student goes through at least one of life’s major transitional phases — and likely also periods of crisis. In this mission of highest level of education, every teacher is essential: not only as a producer and provider of knowledge but also as a link to the community, a role model, and a human being to another.
Universities, just like the members of our university community, navigate through a multitude of demands in an ever-changing and increasingly rapid operational environment. It is not easy to care for this highest level of education, nor is it straightforward to define what constitutes good teaching or a good teacher at the university. However, the significance of a good teacher is clear: the impact of a good teacher is profound and far-reaching. A good teacher is irreplaceable and deserves our gratitude.
We students value the quality of teaching, the teaching staff’s interest in developing education, and the emphasis on student-friendliness in instruction. That’s why the Student Union of Tampere annually awards the Good Teacher Award as a token of appreciation for outstanding teaching and its development. The award has been given at Tampere University since 2020, but its roots run deep: it has been a tradition at both of the former universities, and the former student unions Tamy and TTYY played a significant role in organizing the award. Today, the award is presented in collaboration with the Tampere University of Technology Support Foundation and the Tampere University Support Foundation.
Each awarded teacher receives a €2,000 scholarship granted by the support foundations and the Student Union. In addition, award recipients receive a dinner invitation to TREY’s annual celebration and a caricature drawing, which is also displayed on the university’s Good Teacher Wall. Both individual students and TREY’s member associations are eligible to nominate candidates for the award. TREY collected nominations at the end of last year and received a total of 35 proposals.
The TREY Executive Board grants the Good Teacher Award annually to three teachers. The general criteria for the award include diversity in teaching methods and tools, accessibility of teaching, motivating students, and interaction during teaching situations. In addition, the selection is influenced by a special criterion that changes each year. This time, the focus was on inclusion in the academic community.
The first award recipient comes from the Faculty of Social Sciences. This teacher’s teaching was described as versatile, and students especially appreciated the interactive nature: classes include small group discussions and offer plenty of opportunities to ask questions. The teacher provides comprehensive feedback on assignments and dedicates time to student guidance. Notably, the teacher was also praised for supporting the development of students’ critical thinking. This teacher always offers a wide range of supplementary materials, and sometimes even lends books from their personal library! Furthermore, they highlight academic organizations and communities that students can join, thereby also helping them to network.
The first award goes to Tuula Juvonen, a teacher in Social Research.
The second award recipient comes from the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences. This teacher was especially recognized for supporting students in becoming part of the academic community. They are known for encouraging students to challenge themselves academically—as well as to challenge the teacher, their words, discourses, phenomena, and assumptions. They emphasize the equal status of students alongside researchers and teachers as members of the university community. This teacher’s teaching was also described as versatile: courses make use of preparatory materials and small group discussions, and scientific texts are connected to real-world media examples. The teacher takes individual student needs and accessibility into account and promotes diversity through learning materials. According to the nominator, many students feel that thanks to this teacher, their academic insecurity diminishes and their self-confidence grows. For this reason, they are an excellent candidate for the Good Teacher Award.
The second Good Teacher Award is presented to Iida Roivainen, a teacher in Communication Studies.
The third award recipient also comes from the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences. This teacher is said to fulfill the award criteria exceptionally well: they use a variety of teaching methods, make teaching accessible and motivating, and foster an interactive and encouraging learning atmosphere. Their teaching and guidance are considered highly influential in the development of students’ academic identities. The teacher encourages students to develop their academic skills both in their courses and more broadly within the university community. They are also known for providing students with opportunities to deepen their expertise through practical projects and interdisciplinary environments.
The third Good Teacher Award is presented to Jarkko Isotalo, a teacher in Statistics.
Congratulations to all the awarded teachers! We would like to thank you again for your contribution to quality teaching and support for all of us students. The efforts of our teaching staff in maintaining the high quality of education are vital to the whole community and we students will continue to highlight these heroes of teaching.