The Faculty is proud to announce that Torsten Meissner and Mark Darling have been recognised for the excellence of their teaching by the Student Union in this year's Student-Led Teaching Awards. Dr Meissner has won the second prize (Highly Commended) in the category "Lecturer". Dr Darling has won the second prize (Highly Commended) in the category "Small Group Teaching (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences)”. Many congratulations to both!
Speaking about the Award, Torsten said: "It is a great honour to have been nominated but, more importantly, a great reassurance. Lectures are important social occasions, teaching and learning are communal experiences. Despite having studied what I teach for years, for decades, I don’t have all the answers. I ask questions in my lectures – questions I ask myself – and actively encourage questions and participation from students.
In Michaelmas, I was able to deliver most of my teaching in person; almost all students turned up and I could really feel the spirit of common endeavour. Online teaching was completely uncharted territory. When everything moved online, I had to consider how to make the content as stimulating as possible. The visual experience is clearly very important to many students, so I tried to illustrate everything as best I could. I designed some quizzes for students, not only for them to test their knowledge but, more importantly, to point out and better explain the problems that we’re trying to answer.
The most important lesson of the past year is that we are nothing without one another. The bond that connects us, all of us who have the great fortune and privilege – for that is what it is – to teach, research and learn at this University, is incredibly strong, and the most important link is the human contact. Lose that and we are all doomed."
For more details please see the following link: https://www.cambridgesu.co.uk/news/article/jobs/Student-Led-Teaching-Awards-Winners-announced/