Chalmers' Pedagogical Prize

<h2>Winners of Chalmers' Pedagogical Prize 2024</h2>
Johanna Xu, Anna Johnning, and Lucy Rowlett are awarded Chalmers' Pedagogical Prize 2024 for their various contributions to improving teaching at the university.&nbsp;

Johanna Xu, Assistant Professor at Material and Computational Mechanics at the Department for Industrial and Materials Science is awarded the Pedagogical Prize for “her student-centred approach to teaching and inclusivity, which resulted in deeper student engagement. Her holistic teaching methodology, taking possible synergies with other courses into account, guaranteed student progression, particularly important for first year-students. Her dedication and ingenuity, especially when hybrid teaching was required, led to impressive student satisfaction and pass rates.”
Johanna Xu, emphasizes the importance of creating an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for her first-year students.
"The first impression is crucial. I make myself available for questions, offer extra tutoring sessions, and encourage collaboration among students."
The motivation mentions Johanna Xu's student-centred approach to teaching and inclusion. Focusing on students has always been a central part of her pedagogy.
"Over the years, I have developed this by regularly capturing student feedback and reflecting on their learning processes. Teaching in the foundation year is both fun and challenging, thanks to Chalmers' successful broadened recruitment. This is reflected in the classroom through a very heterogeneous student group."
"By using varied teaching methods, I strive to create an environment where all students, regardless of background and study habits, feel they contribute to their own learning."
To show how her physics courses build a foundation for later subjects in the programs, Johanna Xu collaborates closely with her colleagues in the preparatory year.
"This highlights how the things we teach overlap and support each other. By pointing out connections between courses, students gain a cohesive understanding of how the different parts of the education fit together."
When the entire teaching methodology was turned upside down during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022, Johanna Xu quickly adapted to the new circumstances.
"One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that all students felt equally involved, whether they participated physically or digitally. With a group of about 400 students, it became extra important to create a dynamic where everyone could contribute. To manage this, I started using digital tools, such as shared discussion platforms and interactive quizzes, to include everyone in real-time."
She explains that she also structured the lectures with clear breaks for reflection and questions and made sure to always repeat and answer questions from both physical and digital participants. Additionally, it was important to make recordings of the lectures available so that students could review the material as needed.
"In this way, I managed to maintain high student engagement and satisfaction, despite the challenges of hybrid teaching."

Johanna Xu 4779

Anna Johnning, researcher at Applied Mathematics and Statistics at the Department for Mathematical Sciences is awarded the Pedagogical Prize for “her creativity in making her course (and even its exam!) entertaining, which resulted in students being more interested in the given subject and deeply engaged. Her clarity in teaching, via the use of many examples and highly structured lessons, made sure all students understood. This resulted in a high student retention through the course. She represents an example of positive role model for many students.”
"It turned out to be a stroke of genius to have a subtle Halloween theme on an exam in the first study period last year," says Anna Johnning, laughing.
"When it comes to creativity in teaching, it might refer to my use of vivid metaphors and descriptions. Personally, I find it easier to remember things that way, and if something pops into my head while lecturing, I usually share it with the students."
At the same time, Anna Johnning's lectures and lessons are described as well-structured and clear, making many students feel they learn a lot.
"I am very happy when students think so, because it is something I appreciated a lot when I was studying. It is important that they always keep up with what we are talking about and what is coming next, and that it is clear to them when we are discussing an example and when we are talking about a definition – so they know what they are listening to."
"It is perhaps the combination of a well-structured foundation and these more creative elements that are appreciated in my teaching."
Anna Johnning says she was shocked and moved by the award.
"The thing I enjoy most about my job is teaching, and it is fun if it shows."
She wants to create a permissive environment in her group.
"It sounds pretentious, but what I care most about is my students. Studying at Chalmers is difficult, I know from my own experience, and it is frustrating if you feel that the teacher is standing in the way of learning. I do not want to do that. My job is to make the process as easy as possible for the students and provide them with a smorgasbord of material – but it is their responsibility to take it in."
Therefore, she puts effort into creating a working environment where students dare to raise their hands and ask questions without feeling stupid.
"I try to show how happy I am that they ask and highlight something good in their questions, even if they are on the wrong track. I have noticed that it yields results and leads to more discussions and activity in the courses."
She believes in letting students learn in the way that suits them best.
"If some learn from the lectures, they should be as clear and good as possible. But if others learn better by reading the book and just dozing off in the lectures – then it is better that they do it their way."

Annajohnning Foto Anette Norén

Julie Rowlett, professor at Analysis and Probability Theory at the Department for Mathematical Sciences 8is awarded the Pedagogical Prize “making the classroom such an efficient and relaxed study environment, making sure every student understands. Using practical examples and collaborative learning while guiding the students through her own way of tackling problems, she managed to control the dynamics of the classroom. This resulted in deep student learning. Julie has a genuine interest in reflecting on her own teaching and in making her peers benefit from her teaching practices.”
How do you create a classroom that is both efficient and relaxed?
"Through practice. It helps to teach the same course for several years, as you learn over time which content is most important to spend time on and which can be covered more quickly without causing problems for the students. In this way, I can streamline the learning so we spend the most time where it is needed most – then you also create space to address questions."
"I have also learned over the years to give students time to think – if I ask them a question, they need a minute or two to ponder or discuss with each other. It can be more helpful than me spending that time trying to explain again."
"So, it is much about deciding how to use the time best."
Julie Rowlett also explains that she prepares carefully for her lectures, to create a sense of calm in herself and know what will happen. This is also highlighted in the award motivation, that she reflects on and develops her teaching and is happy to share it with colleagues.
"I work a lot with interactive learning, so even if I teach the same course year after year, it is always different because it is a new group of students each time. So, before each year, I think about what I could do differently, change, and adapt for the next course."
This also includes practical training.
"A colleague usually invites me to teach in the pedagogical courses we have, as if they were my own students. I can show techniques or concepts and afterwards we discuss how those who participated can incorporate it into their own teaching. It is great fun to be able to contribute to colleagues in that way and I have received good feedback."
"I have learned a lot about teaching from colleagues myself, so being able to share and help colleagues who have not yet become so experienced feels great."

PA13 Julie Rowlett

<h2>Winners of Chalmers Pedagogical Prize 2023</h2>
Lars Hellberg and Romaric Duvignau are awarded the pedagogical prize for their educational contributions in 2023.
Lars Hellberg has managed, developed, and streamlined the operations to offer students a well-functioning, modern, and credible laboratory environment. This has led to the design of environments that stimulate creativity, understanding, and learning, thereby supporting students' deep learning22.
Romaric Duvignau is awarded the Pedagogical Prize for developing and transforming an important mandatory course within the core subject, "Computer Communication," into an interesting part of the programme. His work is based on simplifying and improving so that students achieve the course's learning objectives, which has resulted in more students passing the course compared to before. His teaching methods with "active learning" are based on Constructive Alignment. Romaric has also adapted the course material to suit different student groups such as engineering students and GU students and motivated and inspired colleagues to explore new opportunities to improve teaching and learning23.

Lars Hellberg is a senior lecturer in chemical physics and head of the physics student laboratory. The Prize justification mentions that he has "managed, developed, and streamlined the operations to offer students a well-functioning, modern, and credible laboratory environment".
"It's naturally outstanding to be recognised for this," says Lars Hellberg, who has been the head since 2011 and has been involved in developing the student laboratory for several decades.
His approach has been to create a lab that closely resembles the reality students will encounter after Chalmers, ensuring they do not study in a "museum of ancient physics".
"I have actively worked to make it a good lab where students genuinely feel it is meaningful to be. My policy has been that all equipment should be modern enough to still be purchasable, meaning everything from equipment and labs to the environment should be at least as good as what they will see when they enter the workforce".
To stay updated, not just regarding equipment, he also makes study visits to other institutions during educational and scientific trips.
"For me, it's important not to sit still and think you are the best – or the worst – so I try to schedule visits to student labs at nearby universities to study their operations and compare them with ours, to get a sense of where we stand. It's not just about equipment but also about getting inspiration for new experiments and new pedagogy."
Lars Hellberg also highlights the strong moral and financial support the student laboratory has received from heads of departments, vice heads, programme and education area managers over a long period.
In addition to the recognition of the pedagogical effort, the Pedagogical Prize also provides a monetary award to be used for educational development. Some of the prize money has already been used by Lars Hellberg for an educational conference in Boston last summer and teaching for a month at UNAM University in Mexico this autumn.

Lars Hellberg 2009305419

Romaric Duvignau, Associate Professor in Computer and Network Systems at the Department of Computer and Information Technology, is also awarded the Pedagogical Prize for 2023, for among other things, "developing and transforming an important compulsory course in the core subject, 'Computer communication' into an interesting part of the programme. His work is based on simplifying and improving to help students achieve the course's learning objectives, which has resulted in more students passing the course compared to previous years."
In the course, which covers how the internet is structured, Romaric Duvignau made the extensive material more accessible in Canvas.
"It's a course that covers all layers of how the internet is structured, and there is a lot of information to take in. Here at Chalmers, we also give the course to first-year students, unlike many other universities where it comes in the second or third year. What I did was essentially point out which parts of the thick textbook needed more focus than others and worked a lot with interactive exercises in Canvas," he says.
As part of the Active Learning approach, Romaric Duvignau also moved from more lecture- and lab-based teaching to giving students questions to discuss and try to solve.
"It was especially effective when they answered incorrectly and wanted to know how they had gotten it wrong. That tends to be the part of the course where they listen and learn the most."
In Canvas, he also worked on breaking down the large content into smaller parts and ending with quizzes on what had been covered.
"It made the material easier for students to absorb and I also got good feedback that they liked the course and found it very useful even in everyday life – not just in the academic environment or in a future job," says Romaric Duvignau.
Romaric Duvignau believes that the Pedagogical Prize is a nice appreciation for the work teachers have put in, which perhaps is not always noticed or recognised in other ways.
"I think many who develop courses are people who really want to improve things for students and it's nice that efforts over many years are recognised."
Like Lars Hellberg, he wants to use the prize money for study visits, in this case to Singapore and Hong Kong, to make contacts for the future and get inspiration for new teaching methods and course content.
"It fits well with the prize's purpose," says Romaric Duvignau.

Romaric Duvignau 1080X1920 Foto Larissa Adamenkova

Presidents over the years

A brief history of Chalmers

The John Ericsson Medal

Research Supervisor of the year

The Chalmers Medal

Chalmers' Equality Award

Chalmers Impact Award

Areas of Advance Award

The Chalmers' medals and awards

Chalmers and Nobel

William Chalmers lecture

Doctoral Degree Conferment Ceremonies

Inauguration of professors

Honorary Doctors

Chalmers Annual academic ceremony

Traditions and celebrations

Choose subject

Course syllabus for

Subject

Each academic year contains different courses

See programme page at universityadmissions.se

Educational area

Permissible substitutions of compulsory courses

To see your programme syllabus – select the academic year in which you started the programme.

[en: page.studyprogrammepage.syllabusesview.coursesdescription]

Traditions and celebrations

Chalmers' Pedagogical Prize

Winners of Chalmers' Pedagogical Prize 2024

Interview with Johanna Xu:

Interview with Anna Johnning

Interview with Julie Rowlett

Winners of Chalmers Pedagogical Prize 2023

Intervju med Lars Hallberg:

Intervju med Romaric Duvignau