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JKU Best Practice Teaching Award for Thomas Gegenhuber and Laura Thäter.

The JKU annually awards the 'Kepler Awards for Excellence in Teaching' to recognize innovation in and implementation of excellent teaching. As part of this, Thomas Gegenhuber and Laura Thäter were honored with their course 'KS Fundamentals of Integrated Management' in the 'Best Practice' category.

Gegenhuber Thomas, Thäter Laura und Weibold Valentin freuen sich über die Auszeichnung des Kepler Awards.

Approximately 400 students participate in the Integrated Management course during summer semesters, while there are around 600-800 registrations in the winter semesters. We attribute the positive feedback on the course to a hybrid teaching concept, which aims to combine the best of both worlds – lectures in the auditorium and on-demand online content.

The core element of the course is the lectures in the auditorium. Despite the class size, we strive to incorporate interactive elements into the teaching process. In the second week of lectures, focusing on the topic of "Systems Thinking," we engage around 200 students in playing the online game "Beer Game" to make complex system dynamics more tangible. Additionally, we incorporate elements such as Mentimeter and small exercises in other lecture units. This approach creates a personal atmosphere, helping us to foster students' attention and participation.

In addition to lectures, we offer a comprehensive program on Moodle, ensuring that all interested individuals – whether working professionals, single parents, or full-time students – have the opportunity to learn all relevant topics and concepts regardless of time and location. Central concepts are explained in various instructional videos, exercises are provided, and references to previously learned material are highlighted. We enrich the videos with entertaining elements such as animated GIFs, memes, etc. For current topics, we record podcasts with managers and personalities from civil society. Together with appropriate literature, we aim to bridge the gap between theory and practice for students.

Laura Thäter and Thomas Gegenhuber sincerely thank Johannes Kepler University for the "Best Practice Kepler Award" and the recognition that accompanies it.