The University of Eastern Finland presented awards to accomplished teachers in the university’s Learning Environment Seminar on Tuesday, 20 August. This year marked the third time awards were announced in two categories: for individual teachers, and for teacher pairs and teacher teams.
In the category of individual teachers, the recipients of the Excellent Teaching Practitioner Award are Postdoctoral Researcher Ana Gebejes of the Department of Physics and Mathematics, and University Teacher Jussi Mäkelä of the School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education.
In the category of teacher pairs and teacher teams, the recipients of the Excellent Teaching Practitioner Award are a pair formed by University Lecturer Risto Leinonen of the Department of Physics and Mathematics and University Lecturer Anssi Salonen of the School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, and a pair formed by Senior Researcher Miia Tiihonen and University Teacher Ville Valkonen, both of the School of Pharmacy.
The awardees form, together with previous award recipients, a network of Excellent Teaching Practitioners, which now includes 39 teachers. The purpose of the network is to promote appreciation for, and the development of teaching, at the University of Eastern Finland. The criteria of the Excellent Teaching Practitioner Award include collaborative development of teaching, diverse use of teaching methods, and student-centredness. All of the award recipients collaborate with various parties and make use of student feedback in order to develop their own teaching.
Gebejes Ana, PhD: Gebejes’s teaching is based on problem-based learning, and the pedagogical principles guiding her work are very clear. She has successfully adjusted her teaching for different target groups, including secondary school students. Gebejes has developed her teaching in collaboration with various organisations, and she is involved in extensive networks both regionally, nationally and internationally. Gebejes has systematically developed her teaching based on feedback collected and received from students, and she has also conducted research into her own teaching.
Mäkelä Jussi: Mäkelä’s teaching emphasises student-centeredness and the importance of in-person teaching. His learning solutions and teaching methods are working life oriented, pedagogically justified and well-suited for art education. He employs a diverse set of methods and seamlessly integrates technology into his teaching. Mäkelä has been involved in national development projects to improve the assessment of art education, and he engages in interdisciplinary collaboration to advance skills and art education.
Leinonen Risto and Salonen Anssi: Risto Leinonen and Anssi Salonen are engaged in interdisciplinary collaboration across the boundaries of physics, chemistry and craft science. For several years already, they have been developing subject teacher education in a multidisciplinary and research-based fashion. This collaboration concretized in the Multidisciplinary Technology Education course held for the first time in spring 2023 and aimed at subject teacher students in physics, chemistry and craft science. The course crossed faculty and discipline boundaries and even extended beyond the university.
Tiihonen Miia and Valkonen Ville: Miia Tiihonen and Ville Valkonen have been developing an entirely new specialisation in clinical pharmacy. They employ a variety of student-centred practices in their teaching and guidance, and are present, in the role of teachers, on the platforms used by students. In addition, they have introduced elements familiar from working life (performance appraisal discussions, workplace well-being activities) in their work with students, as has been done in other pharmacy specialisations as well. The clinical pharmacy specialisation has been designed with working life orientation in mind, and collaboration especially with well-being counties and pharmacies is strong. For example, they have developed a concrete support package for thesis supervisors coming from outside the university. Teaching of research skills also stands at the core of the programme.
For further information, please contact:
Kari Korhonen, Director of Learning Environment Development, University of Eastern Finland, kari.korhonen@uef.fi, tel. +358 50 432 3826
