TREY’s Good Teacher award is a way for us students to thank the teaching staff for the work they do. In 2020, we pilot the award and together with the Universities’ foundations we award three members of the teaching faculty. The awards are given out based on students’ suggestions. We collected proposals from both students and associations, and in 2020 we received almost 20 nominations. The recipients of the Good Teacher award receive stipends from the Universities’ foundations, and TREY will commission their caricatures for the University’s Good Teacher walls.
In 2020, TREY has decided to award the following members of the teaching staff with TREY’s Good Teacher award:
Hasse Nylund, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Maiju Paananen, Faculty of Education and Culture
Kirsi Granberg, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology
The awards were announced today, 23 September, in an award ceremony of The University of Tampere Foundation, the Industrial Research Fund at Tampere University of Technology and Tampereen kaupungin tiedeapurahatoimikunta (a committee under the City of Tampere with the purpose of supporting research in Tampere and providing grants and awards for dissertation research). In the ceremony, TREY’s chair of the board Annika Nevanpää, got to give out the awards and to deliver a speech on the development of teaching and why it is so important to us students. You can read Annika’s speech below.
The Good Teacher award will be a way in which we students show our thanks towards the teaching staff and the work they do. The award will be given out yearly in cooperation with the Universities’ foundations.
Annika’s speech in the award ceremony 23 September
Dear Provost, Universities’ foundations, recipients of the award and other participants
When students are beginning their studies at the university for the first time, they often face a slight culture shock. Studying at a university differs in many respects from the studies they were previously used to. The implementation methods of courses, versatile completion options and a development-oriented teaching staff are what enables different learners to progress their studies.
We students appreciate the high quality of teaching at our University, and the fact that the University’s teaching staff is constantly working to develop teaching and take students into account. We, TREY, The University of Tampere Foundation, and the Industrial Research Fund at Tampere University of Technology, want to continue to be involved in supporting teaching in our university community. We also want to show our gratitude to the representatives of the teaching staff who use their time to develop themselves, their teaching, and the level of teaching at our university.
For these reasons, TREY wants to continue the great tradition of old universities and student unions to award members of the teaching staff who have performed particularly well in their teaching. This year, for the first time in its history, TREY will award three teachers who have excelled in their teaching thanks to their own contribution. These three individuals have been selected directly from students’ and student associations’ nominations.
This year, many things have changed, including teaching at our university. Due to the changes brought about by the coronavirus, the special criterion for this year’s award was “Implementing distance teaching with a supportive, encouraging and considerate attitude towards students”. The recipients of the Good Teacher 2020 award have all excelled in their teaching and have been able to take into account the needs of students, different learning methods and the worries brought about by an exceptional situation.
The first recipient of the award is from the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences. The teacher to be awarded provides high quality teaching, uses different teaching methods, and takes into account the different life situations of students. The students who nominated him stated that the teacher in question considers the feedback received from the students in his teaching and develops his teaching and course arrangements based on it. His approachable nature and willingness to collaborate with the guild of his field are certainly reasons why students like him so much. This teacher, for his part, takes care of supervision work and keeps students up to date on issues in their own field as well as on changes affecting their studies at our university. The nomination ended with words in which the students said that the teacher in question would dedicate himself to his courses, to developing the teaching of mechanical engineering and to advocating for students. For these and many other reasons, we present the first Good Teacher 2020 award to Hasse Nylund.
The second recipient of the award is from the Faculty of Education and Culture. The nomination for this teacher highlighted the accessibility of teaching, motivating students and investing in distance teaching. The teacher in question has succeeded in the transition to distance teaching without difficulty and has been able to keep her teaching conversational with various teaching methods. This teacher also participates in the supervision of students’ theses and works as a bachelor’s seminar supervisor as well. As a supervisor, she has succeeded in encouraging and supporting students throughout their thesis processes. Even in the middle of these times of distance teaching, this teacher remembers to consider students. She motivates students, creates a conversational atmosphere, and has also made more accessible and student-friendly teaching possible. The teacher in question collects feedback not just because it is mandatory but because she genuinely wants to develop her teaching. We are happy to give the second Good Teacher 2020 award to Maiju Paananen.
The third award goes to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology. From the students of that faculty, we received a nomination for a teacher whose teaching methods and course assignments support learning and inspire students. Her encouraging nature and good attitude towards teaching are suitable for a wide range of students. This teacher’s touch shows how interested she is in her own field. With this enthusiasm and her own example, she also motivates students to take an interest in their fields of study and the research within them. The teacher in question also actively develops her own teaching. The transition to distance teaching caused by the corona pandemic did not affect the quality of her teaching. When transitioning to distance teaching, she was ready to listen to students’ opinions and wishes on how teaching should be arranged. She actively develops her own teaching and, in her work, has always strived to keep students in mind. The nomination for this teacher described her as follows: “With her own actions, she has demonstrated how important the interaction between students and the lecturer is, and how caring about the quality of teaching has an impact on students’ motivation to study.” Without further ado, the third Good Teacher 2020 award goes to Kirsi Granberg.
On behalf of TREY, I would like to thank all three of you for your excellent teaching and student-centred approach. We at TREY want to continue this good work with our university on valuing teaching, developing it, and taking students into account. This year, TREY’s Good Teacher award was given out for the first time and we hope this will become a long-held and liked tradition. We want to continue to be involved in promoting the message of good teaching. To you, Good Teachers 2020, we students want once more to say thank you and congratulations.