Bright and motivated students have great professors and mentors (employees who accompany professors in educational activities) to help them. That’s why ITMO University is launching a series of events aimed at raising the academic staff’s status and nominating the best professors and mentors.
A series of events will be followed by an award ceremony of the best professors and mentors who have earned their colleagues’ recognition and have shown themselves to be high-class professionals, mentors, and innovators. The final of the ITMO Open Education Achievement Award will take place in May 2021.
Opportunities for winners
As noted by the organizers, the award winners will not only be able to become leaders in a professional community, assert themselves in a large-scale project, enhance their image as professors, and present unique pedagogical inventions but also receive a reward, as well as the opportunity to do an internship at leading Russian and international universities.
How to participate in the competition
The competition has two tracks: EduStars and EduLeaders. To become a member of the first track, you just need to be good at your job as a professor/mentor and be shortlisted for the ITMO Open Education award. All professors and mentors take part in this track.
The second track is only for those professors who expressed a wish to participate. To join the track, professors need to apply for the ITMO.EduLeaders educational project competition with their pedagogical projects.
You can apply for the ITMO.EduLeaders competition here (in Russian).
More about tracks and categories
Track 1. EduStars
Regardless of the chosen track, the candidates’ activities will be analyzed according to the 360 degrees feedback system. During the entire academic year, professors, students, mentors, deans, administration, and external experts will take part in the system.
To assess the quality of implementation of disciplines and practices, as well as their support, several groups of employee competencies will be considered: their subject knowledge, as well as pedagogical, soft skills, digital, and value competencies.
The assessment of professors will be based on feedback from students, as well as their fellow professors and employees of the Department of Academic Affairs, the Center for Educational Management and Quality Assurance who will attend their classes and the recommendations of their superiors together with feedback from mentors.
The assessment of mentors will be based on feedback from students and employees of the Department of Academic Affairs, the Center for Educational Management and Quality Assurance who will attend their classes, and the recommendations of their superiors together with feedback from professors.
Based on the assessment results, a rating of employees who can apply for the award will be compiled.
Award categories:
- Best professor of disciplines/modules of a core module;
- Best professor of general/professional disciplines/modules;
- Best leader (organizer) of the practice;
- Best thesis supervisor;
- Best mentor.
Additional categories for professors whose teaching experience is less than or equal to three years:
- Best junior professor of disciplines/modules of a core module.
- Best junior professor of general/professional disciplines/modules.
Winning professors in each of the categories will receive a 250,000 ruble reward.
Winning mentors will receive internship and advanced training offers at leading universities in Russia and abroad.
Track 2. EduLeaders
The ITMO.EduLeaders competition is intended for ITMO University professors who have successfully implemented original educational projects (new educational tools, new formats of interaction with students, online courses, and so on).
The competition is held in ten categories in two main tracks:
- Professors (for all professors);
- Junior professors (for those professors whose teaching experience is less than or equal to three years).
The winners in each of the categories will receive a 250,000 ruble reward.
Competition categories:
Digitalization:
- VR/AR;
- artificial intelligence in education;
- big data.
Involvement:
- active learning;
- gamification;
- project work;
- grading system.
Online learning
- instructional videos;
- online courses;
- microlearning.
To participate in the competition, you need to fill out a competition application no later than December 31, 2020, inclusively.
During the competitive selection process, the following are evaluated:
- the results obtained within the framework of the project;
- focus on solving urgent problematic issues in modern education;
- the ability to scale the project and adapt it for ITMO University;
- use of modern educational technologies within the project.
Deadlines
October - December 2020: Application period (you can register by following this link – in Russian)
January - February 2021: Application evaluations based on the established criteria
March 2021: Project presentations to an expert committee
April 2021: Review of competition results
May 2021: Award ceremony
For more information about the award, visit this website (in Russian). Also, if you have any questions, please contact: award@itmo.ru
Department of Academic Affairs
