Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences has honoured Lea Eileen Brauner and Kyra Jantzen with the Ostfalia Teaching Award 2026 for their special commitment to teaching. Prof Dr Michaela Huhn and Sabine Nebendahl also received the Lower Saxony State Certificate for University Teaching. The awards were presented on 3 June 2026 on the occasion of the "Teaching Day" at the Wolfsburg campus.
The Teaching Day is organised once a year at one of Ostfalia's four locations and offers teachers the opportunity to exchange ideas about innovative teaching and learning concepts. The focus was on so-called scale-up rooms ("Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies"), which open up opportunities for activating and student-centred teaching formats. Teachers and students at all Ostfalia locations have access to several of these modern, well-equipped rooms specially designed for active and cooperative learning. Instead of traditional row seating, students work in small groups at round or polygonal tables, each equipped with screens and digital presentation options. Teachers can control content centrally, visualise the work results of individual groups on all displays and encourage discussions between the teams.
"Today's students have completely different expectations, different learning biographies and different communication habits than previous generations. They want learning opportunities that can be customised in terms of time and methods. They expect faster feedback and more opportunities for participation. And they want to understand why what they have learnt is important - for practice, for social challenges and for their own future," explains Prof. Dr Thomas Benda, Vice President for Teaching and Continuing Education at Ostfalia. He emphasises: "Good teaching is not a sideshow at our university, but its core. Events such as the Teaching Day highlight the creativity, commitment and professionalism with which our teaching staff design and develop learning spaces."
Prizes for "Best course" and "Best teaching"
The teaching award in the "Best Course" category went to Lea Eileen Brauner from the Faculty of Computer Science for her course "Discrete Mathematics". The jury particularly recognised the clear didactic structure, the clear presentation of complex content and the special commitment to the students' learning success. By linking theoretical content with practical applications and actively supporting the students, she created a motivating learning environment.
Kyra Jantzen from the Faculty of Healthcare was honoured in the "Best Teaching" category. The jury emphasised that she creates a co-constructive learning environment in which students can actively participate in learning processes. Through her authentic teaching personality and the close connection between specialised content and professional attitude, she supports the intrinsic motivation of her students in a special way.
State certificates for continuous professional development
In addition to the teaching prizes, two state certificates for university teaching in Lower Saxony were also awarded. These went to Prof Dr Michaela Huhn from the Faculty of Computer Science and Sabine Nebendahl from the Faculty of Healthcare. The certificates are awarded to lecturers who have undergone intensive further training in higher education didactics over several years and have systematically developed their teaching skills.
A professional highlight of the day was the keynote speech by Prof Dr Claudia Schäfle from Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences. Under the title "Learning and teaching in scale-up rooms", she presented concepts and research findings on activating learning environments. In the afternoon, participants were able to familiarise themselves with and try out various innovative learning spaces at the Wolfsburg campus during campus tours and a workshop.
The Ostfalia Teaching Award
The Ostfalia Teaching Prize has been awarded at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences since 2017. It is endowed with 5,000 euros each for official purposes. The prize is awarded in a two-stage process: Firstly, students nominate courses and lecturers that they find particularly impressive. A jury then selects the award winners from the nominations. 2026 Teaching Award jury members were
- Prof Dr Marco Brey (Faculty of Transport, Sports, Tourism and Media, winner of the 2025 teaching award),
- Prof Dr Ilka Benner (Faculty of Public Health),
- Nadine Krause (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology),
- the students Claudia Gabriele Silvia Henning and Noah Nunekpeku
- and Prof Dr Thomas Benda (Vice President for Teaching and Continuing Education).