Meet the winners of the Best Practice in Teaching & Learning Award 2025!

Exciting news from the Education Festival! The winners of the Best Practice in Teaching & Learning Award 2025 were announced and honored during the festival’s Opening Ceremony on March 24th!

The winners of the Best Practice Awards for Transatlantic virtual exchange project

Taking the top spot this year is Tim Huiskes from Campus Fryslân, recognized for his transatlantic virtual exchange project in the Governance and EU Law course.

This initiative connects American and European students to co-create policy proposals, bridging international legal perspectives. In multinational teams, students conduct research, exchange ideas, and develop joint recommendations, gaining hands-on experience in cross-cultural collaboration.

As a well-structured and transferable teaching method, this project exemplifies blended learning at its best. The teaching team won €5000 to further invest in educational innovations.

The shared runners-up

The jury selected two runners-up from the eleven practices submitted by the faculties: Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Economics and Business.

Dr. Jacoba Oedzes and Dr. Stefan Berger, a Faculty of Economics and Business teaching team, introduced an innovative approach 'From Data to Impact: Data-Based Storytelling in the Boardroom.' This course bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world data analytics by empowering students to work with simulated organizational data, frame meaningful questions, and present actionable insights to industry professionals. The approach boosts students' technical and communication skills, preparing them for the demands of today’s data-driven society. Their practice is transferable across disciplines, fostering employability and collaboration between academia and industry.

During the ceremony, it was also announced that this practice has been selected as the nominee on behalf of the UG for the ENLIGHT Teaching & Learning Award 2025. This award is given annually to a course or educational programme that has implemented innovative pedagogical teaching and learning practices related to the educational goals of the network. This award will be presented at this year's ENLIGHT Teaching & Learning Conference 2025 which will take place from 8 to 10 October in Upsala, Sweden.

Prof. Ranjita Bose from the Faculty of Science and Engineering introduced a game-based learning assignment for the third-year minor course in Polymer Engineering. This innovative assignment transforms the theoretical aspects of polymer chemistry into an engaging, hands-on experience. It helps students understand and apply analytical techniques used in polymer engineering to solve real-life challenges. By connecting academic content to real-world scenarios, the approach fosters decision-making, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. It provides students with the opportunity to 'fail safely,' experience the consequences of their choices, and better prepare for future research projects.

Both runner-up teams were awarded €2500 each to invest in educational innovations within their respective practices.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees for their outstanding contributions to teaching and learning excellence!