The Student Committee at NHH has awarded The Master's Students' Prize for Excellence in Teaching to Justin Valasek. "He does his utmost to provide the students a deep understanding of the course and encourages participation in class", the committee states.
From the Student Committee's statement:
"Justin is always well-prepared for lectures and teaches in a comfortable way. He does his utmost to provide the students a deep understanding of the course and encourages participation in class. If a student does not know the answer to a question asked, he assists the student in finding it. Students are never told that an answer is wrong, but are rather guided in the right direction.
No lecture is the same, and they contain different activities. Justin arranges amongst other things live experiments with the students, something the students appreciate immensely. These experiments, and a good structure of the course in general, simplifies the learning process and increases the understanding for the students. Moreover, the learning objectives are clear, and Jutin makes the effort to ensure that these are achieved.
Justin is praised for being lively and personally engaged when teaching. He is open and sharing and spends time getting to know the students, amongst others by learning their names. That way, a safe and personal atmosphere is created in class, where each student feels seen."
Each year, the price is awarded by the Student Committee at NHH to an individual who is considered to have made an extraordinary effort in teaching throughout the academic year. It is meant to serve as a recognition of the effort made in improving the quality of teaching at Master's level at NHH.
2018: Finn Kinserdal
2017: Tina Søreide
2016: Francisco Santos