Nominate a good teacher or instructor for a prize!

Good Teacher – Magister Bonus prize

HYY’s Good Teacher – Magister Bonus prize is awarded every autumn to a teacher who has, in their work, demonstrated skills and interest in both teaching and the people they teach.

Criteria of the Magister Bonus prize:

Student friendliness
Besides attitude, student friendliness suggests a desire to improve our common wellbeing and sense of communality. Appreciation for students is shown in teaching, on lectures and in the teacher’s other actions.

Expertise
Expertise manifests as the ability to emphasise the matters that are relevant. A good teacher is interested in their own field and conveys their enthusiasm to their students, too. A competent teacher is also a trustworthy guide to the scientific community for their students and is able to call attention to the working life connections of what they are teaching.

Active attitude towards development
A good teacher actively develops both themselves as a teacher and their teaching methods. They utilise different teaching methods in their teaching and have a positive attitude towards developing their pedagogic skills.  They act as a part of the scientific community and strive to develop teaching in their own unit and at the University.

Giving and receiving constructive feedback
A good teacher knows how to collect feedback and actively uses it to develop their teaching. They know how to both give constructive feedback to their students and encourage them to open dialogue.

A special criterion this year is:

Taking student wellbeing into account in teaching
During the last few years, students have been under an exceptional amount of strain. Mental health challenges and difficulties coping with the strain have received widespread attention and sparked national debate. A good teacher supports the wellbeing of students and accounts for related challenges in their teaching arrangements, thus building communality both among students and between students and staff.

Good Instructor prize

HYY’s Good Instructor prize, established in 2018, is awarded in the autumn to an instructor who has, in their work, demonstrated commitment and interest in instruction and the people they instruct.

Criteria of the Good Instructor prize:

Commitment
A good instructor is committed to the person they are instructing and the instruction they are giving. In the best-case scenario, this commitment carries through the course of the student’s studies all the way from orientation in the fresher year to graduation. A good instructor helps students in the varying situations they encounter during their study path.

Support for study planning
A good instructor supports students with planning their own studies. A good instructor helps students see their study path as something that carries them into the time after their studies, too. Any potential career dreams, whether related to research or a career outside the University, can successfully be integrated as a foundation for planning one’s own study path.

Encountering students
A good instructor sees their students as individuals and understands that all students do not fit the same mould – they need different kind of support during their studies depending on their situation. A good instructor takes care of students’ wellbeing, even if only by encouraging them to rest once in a while or by reminding them of the importance of the student’s own wellbeing.

Helping students become a part of the University and scientific community
A good instructor helps students become a part of the University and scientific community. A good instructor teaches students about the practices of the discipline and cooperates with student organisations and tutors to help the students they instruct become a part of the University community.

A special criterion this year is:

Taking student wellbeing into account in teaching
During the last few years, students have been under an exceptional amount of strain. Mental health challenges and difficulties coping with the strain have received widespread attention and sparked national debate. A good teacher supports the wellbeing of students and accounts for related challenges in their teaching arrangements, thus building communality both among students and between students and staff.

Best International Teacher prize

HYY’s Best International Teacher prize is awarded every autumn to a teacher who teaches in a foreign language and has, in their work, demonstrated skills and interest in both teaching and the people they teach.

The criteria for the Magister Bonus prize also apply to the Best International Teacher prize:

Student friendliness
Besides attitude, student friendliness suggests a desire to improve our common wellbeing and sense of communality. Appreciation for students is shown in teaching, on lectures and in the teacher’s other actions.

Expertise
Expertise manifests as the ability to emphasise the matters that are relevant. A good teacher is interested in their own field and conveys their enthusiasm to their students, too. A competent teacher is also a trustworthy guide to the scientific community for their students and is able to call attention to the working life connections of what they are teaching.

Active attitude towards development
A good teacher actively develops both themselves as a teacher and their teaching methods. They utilise different teaching methods in their teaching and have a positive attitude towards developing their pedagogic skills.  They act as a part of the scientific community and strive to develop teaching in their own unit and at the University.

Giving and receiving constructive feedback
A good teacher knows how to collect feedback and actively uses it to develop their teaching. They know how to both give constructive feedback to their students and encourage them to open dialogue.

A special criterion this year is:

Taking student wellbeing into account in teaching
During the last few years, students have been under an exceptional amount of strain. Mental health challenges and difficulties coping with the strain have received widespread attention and sparked national debate. A good teacher supports the wellbeing of students and accounts for related challenges in their teaching arrangements, thus building communality both among students and between students and staff.

Instructions for making proposals

Proposals for the recipients of the prizes should be made through a Webropol form by 11.59 pm on 2 November 2023.

In your justifications, please use examples on how the person you are nominating fulfils the set criteria. You may also attach any recognitions, nominations and prizes the candidate has previously received as well as other relevant information to the application.

Comments by students or other members of the University community or any other suitable demonstrations of the candidate’s merits may also be attached to the application. The final decision on the recipients of the prizes is made by HYY’s Board. The prizes are awarded at the Anniversary of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki on 29 November 2023.

For further information, please contact: Onni Nyman, Member of the Board, onni.nyman@hyy.fi