2025 Distinguished Teaching Award winner with empathy and a positive attitude

In May 2025, you learned that you had been chosen for the Distinguished Teaching Award in the area of mathematics, science and technology.

Did you have any idea that this was going to happen?
“No, I was very surprised, I had no idea at all.”

Students and teaching staff can nominate teachers who have made outstanding pedagogical contributions that promote student learning in one or more specific nomination categories. Five awards each worth SEK 20,000 are made each year.

Do you know who might have nominated you?
“I’ve been told that it was students of the Primary School Teacher Education Programme who nominated me.”

You have received this award for having created a variety of stimulating and engaging methods for learning. Along with plenty of empathy and a positive attitude, you create an inclusive and inspiring learning environment. You treat all students with great respect and you adapt the content to the group.

What strategies do you use, and do you employ anything special in terms of pedagogy?
“I teach a lot in the Primary School Teacher Education Programme, so my students are students who are not going to become chemistry teachers but need to be able to teach some chemistry to their pupils. This is why I work a lot on how to explain complex models in a simple, but still accurate and useful way. This is so that my students will understand, but also so that they are able to teach chemistry to their pupils later. And so I work a lot with student-activating questions via Mentimeter [Editor’s note: a web-based tool that can be used to create interactive elements and increase student participation, for example, a poll on a particular question or allowing all students to have their say]. It gives both me and the students an indication of whether they are keeping up or not, so that I can adapt my instruction thereafter.”

In your role as teacher, what do you think is most important when teaching your students?
“Ensuring that the instruction is at the right level based on the students’ capacities and really trying to understand what they are finding difficult.”

Do you also contribute to your colleagues’ educational development?
“As much as I can. I’m one of two directors of studies at the Department of Chemistry – Ångström, and we try to include elements of educational development in our teaching staff days.”

Do you have any concrete tips/advice/thoughts on teaching and learning?
“I always come back to making sure that the teaching is at the right level for the student group and try to bear in mind what the students will most likely be using the course content for in the future. It’s a little easier when you have teacher education students, but I think it’s important regardless of which student group you are teaching.”

What will you do with the award money?
“I didn’t actually know there was award money too, so I haven’t thought about that.”

Ulrika Hurtig