➡️ How clear, understandable and learning-supportive is the course design?

• Are the aims, content and requirements of the course clear and comprehensible?
• Is the course well-structured and easy to follow?
• Are contents taught in a way that makes them accessible and understandable?
• Are there varied and activating teaching and learning methods?
• Are differences between learners valued and used constructively as part of the learning environment? Are different learning needs taken into account through flexibility and methodological diversity?

Guidance note
This concerns the alignment of learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment formats, as well as the clear, structured and accessible presentation of even complex content.

➡️ How strongly can students actively co-shape and contribute to the learning process?

• Can students contribute their own questions, perspectives or topics to the course?
• Are student contributions taken seriously and integrated into the learning process?
• Are there opportunities for students to develop their own outputs or projects?
• Does feedback support the learning process and the ongoing development of the course?
• Is there structured communication about learning objectives between teaching staff and students?
• Is a competency-oriented approach used, focusing on individual strengths rather than deficits?
• Do teaching staff feel responsible for students’ learning success?

Guidance note
This concerns teaching as a shared learning process in which students are actively involved and recognised as co-producers of knowledge.

➡️ What is special, new or different about the course?

• Are there distinctive or innovative teaching and learning methods?
• Is teaching designed using a range of methodological approaches?
• Are there creative or unexpected elements in the teaching concept?
• Does the course engage with current societal or professional issues?

Guidance note
This concerns innovative didactic approaches as well as the meaningful integration of theory, practice and current societal developments.

The “Innovative Teaching 2026” award recognises courses that, from a student perspective, are particularly successful, innovative, and supportive of learning.
The award puts the ASH Berlin mission statement on “Learning and Teaching” into practice by making visible and recognising courses that exemplify and further develop key principles of this mission statement. These include, in particular, student-centred teaching and innovative teaching and learning formats.
This year, there is a special focus on diversity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination in teaching and studies.

All students from Departments 1 and 2 at ASH Berlin can nominate courses. This can be done individually or in groups.

Courses from the past two years (2024–2026) can be nominated, for example:

• seminars
• lectures
• projects
• innovative teaching and learning formats 

The decisive factor is the student perspective on good teaching.

Submissions are made via Moodle and are therefore not completely anonymous. However, the personal data of the nominating person will not be shared with the jury.
The jury receives only anonymised content. Free-text entries are reviewed and, if necessary, redacted before being passed on.

Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin processes data relating to nominators (name and email address) for the purpose of conducting the procedure for the “Teaching Award for Innovative Higher Education Teaching 2026”. The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1)(e) GDPR in conjunction with Section 6(1) BerlHG (performance of the university’s statutory duties relating to quality assurance in teaching and studies).
If nominators wish to participate in the Day of Teaching, their data will be processed for contact purposes on the basis of their consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR).
Detailed information on data processing and data subjects’ rights can be found in the Privacy Notice.

•  Students submit nominations (by 07/06/2026)
• A departmental jury creates a shortlist
• Lecturers of selected courses are invited to submit a short application (application form provided)
• The jury evaluates submissions based on defined criteria
• Award decisions are made
• Presentation at the Day of Teaching on 07/12/2026 

All nominations are collected and reviewed. They are anonymised before being passed to the jury.
All nominated teaching staff will receive feedback on their nomination, including information on which course has been nominated, no later than one month after the submission deadline.
A jury decides on a shortlist. Only lecturers on the shortlist will be contacted and invited to submit a short application.
Shortlisted lecturers receive additional information such as the course title and semester of the nominated teaching event. They also receive information on the possible use of the prize funds. The students’ suggestions regarding the possible use of the prize funds are forwarded.

Nominations that are not included in the shortlist will not be considered further in the selection process. They will be stored solely for the purposes of administering the procedure and will be deleted or anonymised after the completion of the process.

A subsequent amendment is not possible. However, the nomination may be deleted by the coordination team on behalf of the nominating person, after which a new nomination may be submitted within the deadline. It is also possible to withdraw a nomination until the end of the submission period. In both cases, please contact the coordination team.

No. Direct applications by teaching staff are not provided in this process. Courses are nominated exclusively by students. On this basis, a jury draws up a shortlist. Teaching staff whose courses are placed on the shortlist are then invited to submit an application and will receive an application form for this purpose.

Yes. Courses taught by these groups can be nominated.

Courses delivered by multiple instructors can be nominated. The teaching team nominates a lead contact person for the process. Joint use of the prize money by the team is intended.

The departmental jury consists of:

• 2 students
• 1 member of the Dean's office
• 1 lecturer
• 1 diversity/equality representative

In the event of a conflict of interest – for example due to a personal nomination, close personal relationship, or other conflicts of interest – the relevant jury member must step down and will be replaced.

The evaluation is based on four criteria:

• Diversity & inclusion (25%)
• Didactic quality (25%)
• Student-centredness (20%)
• Innovation (15%)
• Impact (15%) 

Further details are available on the website.

The same criteria are applied both during the review of nominations for the shortlist and in the final selection process. The jury uses a scoring sheet with a scale from 1 (not met) to 5 (fully met). Decisions are documented to ensure a transparent and as objective as possible process.
 

No.
The prize money is not paid out to individuals. Instead, it is provided from the university-wide budget for implementing the “Learning and Teaching” mission and allocated to the departments for specific purposes.
Funds are linked to the awarded lecturer(s) or teaching team and the project described in the application. Budget management is decentralised at departmental level. Funds are tied to the 2026 financial year and must be spent by the expected closing date of 07/12/2026.
As public funds are involved, their use is subject to standard university financial regulations. Information can be found in the intranet under: Financial regulations of ASH Berlin (Haushaltswirtschaftliche Regelungen - Hinweise und Zuständigkeiten - only in German).
Funds may be used, for example, for:

• student assistants
• teaching and learning materials
• services and fees (honoraria) 

The award is jointly issued by the Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Digitalisation (VP SLD) and the Quality Management and Development in Teaching and Learning (QME SUL) department at ASH Berlin.

At the Day of Teaching on 07/12/2026, awarded courses are presented and prizes are formally awarded.
In addition, impulses from the award process are integrated into exchange and networking formats. This makes good teaching approaches visible, recognises them, and supports their further development and transfer into teaching practice.

Students are central to the award process:

• They initiate the process through nominations
• Their perspectives inform the selection of awarded courses
• They are equal voting members of the jury
• They contribute to the visibility and development of good teaching
• They actively participate in the Day of Teaching, for example through laudations or their own contributions and formats 

All information and the nomination form can be found on the website: ➡️ Teaching Award 2026