How to make learning visible: John Hattie of the University of Melbourne is honored with the Gutenberg Teaching Award

One of the world's most influential educational researchers receives most richly endowed teaching award of Mainz University

18 November 2024

The 2024 Gutenberg Teaching Award honors one of today's most distinguished researchers in the field of education, Professor John Hattie of the University of Melbourne in Australia. The Gutenberg Teaching Award - endowed with EUR 10,000 - is the most valuable award for excellent teaching given by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Every two years, the Gutenberg Teaching Council (GTC), which promotes the continuous development of teaching and learning at JGU, selects a national or international individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of academic teaching. At this year's award ceremony, Professor John Hatties was warmly welcomed by JGU President Professor Georg Krausch and the JGU Vice President for Learning and Teaching, Professor Stephan Jolie. "It was a great pleasure and opportunity to have John Hattie as our guest here at Mainz University. He is a leading university teacher and scholar whose work is internationally recognized," Krausch emphasized. "His findings are highly relevant for teaching degree students and provide important impetus for teaching at university level." In appreciation of his work, Hattie was also invited to sign the Golden Book of JGU.

John Hattie became a global authority on education effectiveness through his groundbreaking book, "Visible Learning". He first published the results of his extensive research in 2009 and in an expanded version in 2023. For the study, he reviewed more than 2,600 meta-analyses covering the data of over 10,000 intervention programs in schools to investigate the extent of teachers' effective impact on student learning. One of his key conclusions is that when teacher feedback is appropriate in form and quality, this positive teacher-student interaction is the most decisive factor in student learning. "In 'Visible Learning', John Hattie outlines the evidence-based factors and conditions that can effectively improve student learning. The special quality of his work is that he has collaborated with many experts around the world at all levels of educational practice. Furthermore, he supports and supervises initiatives and projects designed to enhance learning and teaching," emphasized Professor Margarete Imhof, former Director of the GTC, who nominated Hattie for the award and organized his research visit to Mainz University.

Focus on feedback culture

The Gutenberg Teaching Award ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on "Putting Feedback Culture into Practice" with Professor John Hattie and other experts, including JGU Vice President Professor Stephan Jolie. The GTC actively promotes the integration of feedback into learning and teaching and provides support and funding for subject-specific innovative teaching projects and events. "Our teaching staff is invited to develop experimental teaching concepts that integrate feedback as an essential didactic element in their courses," said Imhof. In 2023, the GTC initiated corresponding projects that - in the long term - might serve as examples for other subjects, departments, or JGU as a whole, or contribute to the effective improvement of regular teaching.

John Hattie was born in New Zealand in 1950. He is Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne and Director of its Melbourne Education Research Institute. He was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2011 Birthday Honors of Queen Elizabeth II and is a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and the American Psychological Association. Previous recipients of the Gutenberg Teaching Award of Mainz University include the Botswana theologian and HIV/AIDS commissioner to the World Council of Churches, Professor Musa Dube, the American physicist and Nobel laureate Professor Carl Wieman, and the Japanese conductor and founder of the Bach Collegium Japan, Professor Masaaki Suzuki.

The Gutenberg Teaching Council - part of the innovative Mainz model of university governance

Together with the Gutenberg Research College (GRC) and the Gutenberg Council for Young Researchers (GYR), the Gutenberg Teaching Council is at the heart of the Mainz model of university governance, which involves the participation of outstanding academics. Its Executive Committee consists of JGU teaching staff who have distinguished themselves through their exceptional work as well as students. The GTC is responsible for outlining the strategic development of learning and teaching at JGU and advises the Executive University Board accordingly. It has a range of funding schemes at its disposal and contributes to interdepartmental exchange through white papers and events.