Once again this year, two outstanding European lecturers have been honoured with the "Teaching Excellence Award". And the University of Graz has reason to celebrate: one of the prizes was brought to the Styrian capital. Silvia Kober from the Institute of Psychology at the University of Graz won the prize. The second award went to Claudia Padovani from the Faculty of Law, Politics and International Studies at the University of Padua for her course "Communication practices diversity and inclusion".
The winners of the 4th Arqus Teaching Excellence Award were honoured on 3 April during the Arqus annual conference in Leipzig. The Arqus Teaching Excellence Award is presented annually to teachers within the Arqus Alliance who are characterised by innovation and excellence in their teaching practice. It recognises initiatives that create an integrative, student-centred learning environment, promote research-based teaching approaches and offer students opportunities for development.
The winner of the Teaching Excellence Award
Silvia Kober from the Institute of Psychology at the University of Graz was honoured for her course "Applied Neuropsychology in Human-Machine Systems". The course is aimed at Master's students in both the Psychology and Computational Social Systems (CSS) degree programmes. The aim of the course is to expand theoretical and practical knowledge of human-computer interaction systems on a multidimensional level and to encourage students to think critically in this context. This should enable students to use technology responsibly.
Playful acquisition of knowledge
The focus is always on human-computer interaction, with an emphasis on brain-computer interaction (BCI), its applications to support people with disabilities and the ethical considerations of neurotechnology.
Innovative teaching methods include project-based learning, in which students actively develop their own BCI systems. In one project, for example, students use their BCI system to control a virtual game. The course also includes an escape game. In groups, students solve neuroscientific puzzles using EEG and virtual reality. This approach encourages engagement and deepens practical understanding of neuroscientific techniques.