Good Teacher Awards presented to Yliherva, Pyrhönen and Mustanoja
University lecturer, docent Anneli Yliherva teaches students enrolled in the Degree Programme in Logopedics at the Faculty of Social Sciences. She teaches courses exploring, among other things, children’s language and speech disorders as well as multidisciplinary courses on autism spectrum disorders which are organised in collaboration with the Degree Programme in Psychology.
A practical approach supports independent thinking
Yliherva uses a range of practical teaching strategies that are effective in supporting learning and fostering students’ independent thinking. When teaching remotely, she uses a variety of methods to engage all students and encourage interaction and participation. Yliherva also serves as an instructor when logopedics students complete internships. In this role, she is enthusiastic and actively provides feedback and supports students’ professional growth. This increases students’ motivation and willingness to learn.
Yliherva collects feedback from students both during and after her courses. She actively encourages students to share their views on course delivery modes and takes their feedback into account. For example, she has organised a Q&A session before an exam based on students’ feedback. Besides developing her own teaching and courses, Yliherva actively conveys student feedback to other teachers to promote the broader development of teaching across the University.
Interesting and meaningful assignments support learning
University Instructor Veli-Pekka Pyrhönen teaches courses in automation engineering at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences. Among others, he teaches the courses titled Automation, and Introduction to System Operation.
Pyrhönen has demonstrated that he is ready to go the extra mile to ensure that diverse and high-quality learning materials and resources are available to his students. During the extended period of remote learning, he has, for example, provided students with additional instructional videos and materials. Pyrhönen offers his students multiple options for completing courses. He creates student assignments that are not only effective and interesting but also meaningful as they enable students to apply their learning in the world of work.
Pyrhönen actively encourages students to provide feedback while a course is still in progress. For example, he collects anonymous feedback through Padlet. If he is unable to put students’ development suggestions into practise while a course is underway, he makes sure this happens in later implementation rounds. Pyrhönen values student feedback and promptly addresses any problems identified by students.
Diverse teaching methods and active student participation support learning
University Lecturer Liisa Mustanoja teaches students specialising in the Finnish language in the Degree Programme of Languages at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences.
Mustanoja employs diverse teaching methods and, for example, assigns grades based on different assignment types, such as instructional videos and portfolios. Her diverse methods and commitment to promoting student participation and engagement deliver excellent learning outcomes.
Mustanoja invites students to actively provide feedback, and she utilises their feedback to develop her teaching. She has adjusted her teaching strategies and course delivery mode when students have felt that the course workload is too heavy. Students also find it very important that Mustanoja provides students with feedback on their learning when courses are still in progress.
Good Teacher Awards are funded by the University of Tampere Foundation and the Industrial Research Fund at Tampere University of Technology.
Photo: Jonne Renvall
