Arie Nieuwenhuizen was elected teacher of the year in 2020. Photo: Guy Ackermans. The two new names are Birgit Boogaard and Casper Quist. The other eight nominees have made the longlist before. Resource spoke to the newcomers and some more familiar faces.
Birgit Boogaard (who teaches Knowledge Technology & Innovation) is on the longlist for the first time. ‘My approach to teaching is very much based on dialogue: together we create a safe learning environment in which we learn from one another. I think students appreciate that.’ She used to be an illustrator, so as she teaches she draws a picture on the board illustrating the sociological and philosophical concepts. By the end of the series of lectures she has one large, clear illustration. ‘That helps them to understand and remember the abstract concepts.’
Boogaard sees the nomination as a sign of recognition for two of her most important courses: African Philosophy and Social Justice Technology & Development. ‘In these courses I introduce philosophers and scientists with African perspectives in an attempt to broaden our own Western worldview. That is relatively uncharted territory for Wageningen but I’m really grateful that students recognize the need for this.’
Enthusiasm
Casper Quist (who teaches Biosystematics) has also been nominated for the first time. ‘It’s fantastic. I had spent all day running an excursion when I saw the email with the news.’ He sees it as appreciation of his commitment. ‘It seems you’re doing something right after all.’ What do students like about his teaching? ‘The material I teach is stuff I really enjoy myself, and it seems I am able to get that across, so the students feel enthusiastic too.’
Ute Sass-Klaassen (associate professor of Forest Ecology and Forest Management) has regularly appeared on both the longlist and the shortlist since 2011 but has never yet managed to win the prize. She is in the running once again this year. ‘It’s really nice to be nominated – it feels good for me and the other teachers to get the students’ appreciation. I find education more interesting when students are taught by teachers with different styles. That makes a course dynamic, multi-faceted and inspiring. So you should really be pointing out many different teachers of the year; it’s actually quite strange to have just the one winner.’ The numbers of students on a course have grown over the years, but Sass-Klaassen still tries to incorporate moments when she can give her students personal feedback. ‘That is valuable for me and for the student. It’s good to be noticed in amongst the crowd.’
Appreciation
Last year, the prize went to all the teachers and support staff in recognition of their dedication during the coronavirus crisis. The last regular TOTY was the biologist Arie Nieuwenhuizen. ‘It’s particularly nice to win because it’s a prize awarded by students,’ he says. ‘Your target group appreciates what you are doing and sees the effort you put in. That is something I’m proud of and it is also an incentive to keep going with what I was doing.’
Nieuwenhuizen won the prize during the pandemic, so there was little time for celebration. ‘We were all so busy making the transition to online education.’ Even so, he finds he is treated differently since winning the award. ‘Colleagues come to me and ask, “How would you tackle this? How would you do that?” It means I can use my expertise to help others.’
Jury
Students were able to vote for their favourite teacher between 16 and 29 May. They could choose from around 150 teachers, selected on the basis of course evaluations. The votes were counted to give a top 10: the longlist. A jury of seven WUR students will now interview all the teachers on the longlist to arrive at a top five (the shortlist) and ultimately choose the winner. The winner will be announced on 11 October.
The longlist in alphabetical order:
- Harm Bartholomeus (assistant professor, Geo-information Science & Remote Sensing)
- Birgit Boogaard (lecturer, Knowledge Technology & Innovation)
- Roel Dijksma (lecturer, Hydrology)
- Jessica Duncan (associate professor, Rural Sociology)
- Kris van ’t Klooster (lecturer, Plant Physiology)
- Casper Quist (lecturer, Biosystematics)
- Arjen Rinzema (assistant professor, Bioprocess Technology)
- Ute Sass-Klaassen (associate professor, Forest Ecology & Forest Management)
- Jet Vervoort (lecturer, Nematology)
- Jordi Vilà (professor, Meteorology)
