The winners of this year’s Educational Prize has been chosen. The Individual Award goes to Mattias Larsson, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Plant Protection Biology. The Team Award goes to the teaching team at the School for Forest Management. The prizes will be awarded during the doctoral award ceremony in October.
Between 2022 and 2023, the teaching team at the School for Forest Management have successfully run targeted work with gender equality and equal opportunities, revising all course syllabuses. In their statement explaining the reasons behind their decision, the jury describe how this work has been well received, knowledge within the teaching team has increased, and gender equality and equal opportunities work is becoming a more integrated element of teaching. The team has also informed other faculties and departments about their work with gender equality and equal opportunities, acting as a source of inspiration.
The teaching team at the School for Forest Management. Photo: Mats Sándor.
Lecturer Carina Sándor from the School for Forest Management reflects upon the award, ‘It’s only really now – amid the excitement of receiving the Team Award, and having had the privilege of telling people about our gender equality and equal opportunities journey – that we realise just how much we have accomplished. SLU’s task to integrate gender equality into courses and programmes is at the heart of our work. We have focused on applying a gender equality and equal opportunities perspective into the Forest Management programme, and we have trained and involved students and staff. Three years on and we can see significant improvements in both teaching and the acceptance of the subject. Although the journey isn’t over yet; inequality still exists, in both forestry and society as a whole. So we must continue to raise the level of knowledge and, most of all, inspire people to talk about gender equality and equal opportunities.’
Mattias Larsson will receive this year’s Individual Award. Mattias is senior lecturer at the Department of Plant Protection Biology. He has been awarded the prize for his ability to interact with teaching colleagues and course coordinators in such a way that it contributes to the quality and excellence of teaching. The justification describes Mattias’s student-centred teaching and passion for sharing his knowledge. Year upon year, course evaluations demonstrate the extent to which students appreciate Mattias’ dedication, knowledge and innovative teaching methods.
Mattias explains, ‘The most positive and valuable part of this award is that it is based on recommendations from both students and colleagues. The fact that students appreciate your efforts is really heart warming. For me, the purpose of teaching has always been to ignite students’ interest in the subjects I teach. Contact with students is the biggest driving force behind my work. One major part of teaching and learning is providing students with points of interest in the subject in different ways – lectures, active learning situations with demonstrations, excursions and independent activities. Following the introduction of remote teaching and digital media, we’ve been able to develop several parallel ways for students to interact with course materials and other participants. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with many talented colleagues who bring various perspectives to teaching and learning, always giving rise to new teaching methods. Student feedback is an essential component of the work to develop teaching and learning, for fishing out teaching methods that are appreciated and work for the majority.’