RWTH Aachen Bestows its Teaching Award
With its RWTH Teaching Award the University honors exceptional achievements in teaching. Single individuals or innovative projects particularly committed to good teaching practices receive an award as well as prize money.
Improving and ensuring quality in teaching follows the guiding principles of the Teaching Quality Pact, with which RWTH has received millions in funding for better study condidtions and more quality in teaching by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. With its help, RWTH Aachen aims to ensure that at least 75 percent of students, to whom university studies were recommended, successfully complete their studies.
Outstanding Teachers of the year 2016
The Teaching Award in the category "Teachers," including the prize money of 6,000 euros, was bestowed on Dr. Viktoria Arling from the research area Psychology at the Institute of Psychology. In 2015, she had already been awarded the teaching award within her own faculty and that same year was awarded the official title of RWTH lecturer. Arling received the Teaching Award particularly because of her dedication to implementing Blended Learning strategies, which help to familiarize students with research topics. In her presentations, Arling makes it a point to impart the lecture content in a vivid manner by connecting it to real world professional applications. Accordingly, her students say about her: "She is a great lecturer; competent beyond belief, eloquent and motivated. She is incredibly likable and able to get everyone enthusiastic about learning. A perfect example, how lectures should be held!"
The best Project in 2016
The Teaching Award in the category "Project," including the prize money of 12,000 euros, goes to "Virtual Sketching." The project was started by an interdisciplinary collaboration of the chair of pictorial design and the Virtual Reality Group. It is characterized by an innovative teaching strategy, which is testing new ways of designing three-dimensional objects by using the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment – the so-called aixCAVE. Typically, planned environments are simulated in the aixCAVE as realistically as possible with 360 degree views. The point in Virtual Sketching is to apply the computer-simulated reality to free-hand, three-dimensional sketching in space. The core of the project lies in further developing a tool, which can unify and at the same time simulate model and sketch. The work space therby becomes design space and students can examine their designed objects to perfectly realistic scale. The jury members were unanimous in their decision: "The project exemplifies the successful integration of research questions in teaching and allows for an explorative, yet scientifically founded approach to a complex medium."
Source: Press and Communications
Dr. Viktoria Arling is awarded 2016 Teaching Award
2016 Teaching Award goes to the project "Virtual Sketching"