FernUni Hagen is organizing the 2025 teaching award – submit suggestions now!

FernUni Hagen is organizing the 2025 teaching award – submit suggestions now!

On March 8, 2025, the FernUniversität in Hagen will once again award a teaching prize that honors outstanding teaching and learning concepts. The award is aimed at modules from bachelor's and master's degree programs, although the announcement only applies to undergraduate programs at the university. Further education courses are excluded from the award in order to concentrate on the quality of the regular course offerings. Nominations are made through self-nominations by the teachers and through external nominations by the student councils of the respective faculties. Lecturers are only allowed to nominate one module per teaching area, which underlines the competitive nature of the award.

The selection process stipulates that student councils can include one module in the Bachelor's and one module in the Master's area in the nomination. Nominations are possible until April 8, 2024. The prize is awarded for the implementation of an exemplary teaching and learning concept and evaluates factors such as excellent supervision, understandable teaching materials and innovative teaching methods. The final decision on awarding the teaching prize is made by a commission made up of students and concerned with improving the quality of studies and teaching.

Criteria for the teaching award

According to the guidelines from the FernUniversität in Hagen, excellent support from teachers as well as clear and up-to-date design of the teaching materials are essential. Innovative teaching methods that take practical and research relevance into account are also crucial. This ensures that students not only acquire theoretical knowledge, but also gain a practical connection to their training.

The feud over the teaching award not only promotes quality, but also the motivation of teachers to find new ways of imparting knowledge. By honoring the winners, the FernUniversität not only wants to recognize outstanding achievements, but also encourage other teachers to continually question and improve their methods.

Teaching awards at other universities

The teaching award from the FernUniversität in Hagen is not the only example of the recognition of excellent teaching in Germany. The Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg annually awards teaching prizes to encourage teachers to research innovative teaching methods and continually improve. The MLU has been honoring multimedia-based teaching concepts and events since 2015 and will be introducing various categories from 2025, including the student teaching award and other special awards.

It turns out that teaching awards at universities are a valuable opportunity to promote the quality of teaching. Universities such as the FernUniversität in Hagen and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg are actively committed to using these prizes to improve the educational landscape and to bring teachers and students into a constructive dialogue that ultimately benefits the quality of education.