Rico Zenklusen: 2021 Golden Owl
The student associations VSETH and VMP have decided to honour Professor Rico Zenklusen with the 2021 Golden Owl. In this interview, he talks about what this award means to him, what he considers to be excellent teaching, and why he sees the corona crisis as an opportunity to try out new ways of teaching.
What does it mean to you to receive the Golden Owl?
The Golden Owl means a lot to me, and I feel honoured to receive this award. I spend a lot of time preparing my lectures. Moreover, I have a highly dedicated team of teaching assistants, whose exceptional efforts significantly contribute to the success of courses I teach. I see the Golden Owl as a recognition for all these efforts, showing that the time and energy is well-invested and well-received by our students. Also, it gives confidence that we are on a good track with many of the decisions we recently took in terms of how to design our courses and teach them.
I see the Golden Owl as a recognition for all these efforts, showing that the time and energy is well-invested and well-received by our students. Rico Zenklusen
The Golden Owl is awarded to teaching staff for their exceptional dedication to teaching. What do you think are important aspects of becoming an excellent teacher?
I believe that many different aspects contribute to good teaching. This includes the creation of a welcoming and interactive learning environment. In particular, I try to encourage questions and discussions during the lectures and very much enjoy the resulting interactions. Also, I think that it is important to regularly question how one does things and continuously seek ways to improve your own teaching. Moreover, I believe that it is crucial to be aware of the fact that different students have different ways to learn. To accommodate a wide set of learning styles, I try to provide various course materials of high quality and to offer different ways for students to ask their questions and get feedback. Last but not least, I try to put a strong emphasis on building up intuition, connecting concepts, and putting things into a broader context. For example, before starting a non-trivial reasoning or proof, I like to build up intuition first, often through an example or application.
I think that it is important to regularly question how one does things and continuously seek ways to improve your own teaching. Rico Zenklusen
You received the Golden Owl for your teaching during a time heavily affected by the corona crisis. How did you deal with the challenges that came with this unique situation? Do you think that some of the changes in your teaching done due to the crisis will be long-lasting?
The corona crisis came of course with numerous challenges regarding teaching. However, I think that, whenever possible, it is important to realise that challenges often come with opportunities. In this spirit, I tried to do the best out of it and adjusted my courses in various ways to improve the online teaching experience and make it easier for students to get in touch and interact with me and my teaching assistants. I think that many of those changes are likely to stay. Despite all the negative aspects linked to the pandemic, it pushed us to try new things and reconsider how we teach.
Despite all the negative aspects linked to the pandemic, it pushed us to try new things and reconsider how we teach.Rico Zenklusen
