{"id":183945,"date":"2025-11-20T04:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T03:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/pandemien-skubbede-matematikprofessoren-ud-af-sin-tryghedszone-nu-er-hun-aarets-underviser-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T08:29:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T07:29:05","slug":"recorded-maths-lectures-on-video-now-shes-lecturer-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/recorded-maths-lectures-on-video-now-shes-lecturer-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Recorded maths lectures on video \u2014 now she’s lecturer of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a rainy morning. Elisenda Feliu \u2014 bike helmet perched on her head, soaked trousers \u2014 stepped into an office on North Campus. She had been summoned to a meeting. But instead of being greeted by filter coffee and the day’s agenda, colleagues and managers surrounded her with cameras and congratulations. She had been awarded this year\u2019s ‘Harald’<\/em>, the University of Copenhagen\u2019s teaching award.<\/p>\n

Elisenda Feliu was bewildered. \u00bbI didn\u2019t even know I\u2019d been nominated,\u00ab she said.<\/p>\n

The Harald is given to teaching staff who have made an extraordinary contribution. Any student can submit a nomination.<\/p>\n

\n

Annual Harald PRIZE<\/p>\n

\u201cHarald of the Year\u201d is the University of Copenhagen\u2019s teaching award, established in 1988 and named after the mathematician Harald Bohr, who combined outstanding research with exceptional teaching.<\/p>\n

The prize is meant to underline that teaching is as central to the university\u2019s mission as research.<\/p>\n

The winner receives a porcelain horned owl from Royal Copenhagen \u2014 decorated each year by a different Danish artist \u2014 as well as a cash prize from the University of Copenhagen’s grant-offering Almene Fond<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Any student can nominate a candidate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Elisenda Feliu is a professor of mathematics, a head of research at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and teaches several courses at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH). One of these is the introductory course Mathematics\/Statistics \u2014 a first-year course in mathematics and statistics for biology students. Feliu teaches the mathematics part, introducing future biologists to mathematical models and methods. It was this course that earned her the prize.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI was in shock. I thought it must be a mistake. I know the students are happy, but I hadn\u2019t invented anything special. I\u2019m just doing regular teaching,\u00ab she said when the University Post turned up to meet this year\u2019s teaching award winner in her office on the fourth floor of a grey concrete North Campus building.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Award-winning UCPH lecturer \u00bbwelcomes insecurities and mistakes\u00ab<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Box of Japanese chalk<\/h3>\n

The office is unremarkable: height-adjustable desk, a collage of pictures from a ride on an old roller coaster, and a bookshelf.<\/p>\n

I know the students are happy, but I hadn\u2019t invented anything special.<\/p>\n

Elisenda Feliu, mathematics professor<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the wall, however, is a four-metre-long black chalkboard \u2014 the preferred tool of mathematicians. They hate whiteboards, she explains, and are picky about their chalk. On a shelf is an almost empty box of extra-thick Japanese chalk.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s the chalk of mathematicians. I don\u2019t even have any of the bad stuff. It has to be good quality,\u00ab says Elisenda Feliu, adding that nothing beats the feeling of walking out of a classroom covered in chalk dust.<\/p>\n

The nomination that earned her the prize states that the professor excels at connecting with students on their own terms.<\/p>\n

The students point to Feliu\u2019s deep commitment, her cheerful disposition, and her ability to empathise with them:<\/p>\n

\u00bbFeliu is always up to date on the students\u2019 other concurrent courses,\u00ab the nomination reads, \u00bbso she always knows how far along they are in their studies overall, and what it is that is the most important thing to focus on.\u00ab
\n
\nElisenda Feliu has flipped the traditional lecture-based teaching model on its head. She records theoretical lessons as short videos for students to watch at home. Then, when they meet for class, she uses the time to do blackboard exercises in a shared classroom setting. After that, the students work on exercises and discussions in smaller groups. In her experience, this approach makes the material stick better than just standing at the board explaining theory.<\/p>\n

Back row in Barcelona<\/h3>\n

Elisenda Feliu grew up in Catalonia and studied mathematics at the University of Barcelona, where she also completed her PhD.<\/p>\n

It seemed unlikely at first that mathematics would be her career path, she says:<\/p>\n

\u00bbMaths wasn\u2019t even a consideration when I was thinking about what to study at university. I looked at biology, chemistry, physics and other natural science programmes. At the time, I thought mathematicians lived in a world of numbers disconnected from society \u2014 and I didn\u2019t want to be part of that. It was out of the question.\u00ab<\/p>\n

A philosophy class in secondary school changed everything:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt was like something clicked inside me. The idea of getting to the core of something, of learning things simply because they\u2019re fun to learn \u2014 I liked that,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

Shortly after, she showed up for her first mathematics lecture at university \u2014 quite different from the ones she delivers today.<\/p>\n

\u00bbCompletely traditional,\u00ab she says of the teaching, where a professor wrote on a blackboard in front of 200 students. It suited Elisenda Feliu fine. You could stay anonymous, hide away in the back row if that\u2019s what your mood called for, and participate in the lesson when you felt like it.<\/p>\n

There was a great sense of freedom in that kind of teaching, she says.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIf you wanted to go to class, you did. If you wanted to stroll down the Rambla instead, you did that.\u00ab<\/p>\n

She has carried that sense of freedom and trust into her own teaching. The biology students get the solutions to all the exercises from day one.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThey should show up if they get something out of it.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Back then, it was unusual for students to finish their degree on time, according to Elisenda Feliu, but she still managed it. And when she graduated, she didn\u2019t want to leave the university or her friends, so she stayed on to do a PhD.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere wasn\u2019t some deep inner force driving me. I just wanted to stay in the community \u2014 and I wasn\u2019t done with mathematics.\u00ab
\n<\/p>\n

Do Danes really talk like that?<\/h3>\n

In 2010, hopes of securing a research position in Spain were slim. The country had been hit hard by the European debt crisis. Elisenda Feliu was offered a six-month research stay abroad \u2014 she chose Denmark and Aarhus University.<\/p>\n

She gave up her flat, packed her stuff, and left. When the six months were up, she got two postdoc grants that allowed her to stay in Denmark \u2014 first in Aarhus, then in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

She later began taking Danish classes, where she learned polite phrases for expressing disagreement. \u00bbI understand what you mean.\u00ab<\/p>\n

This sounded a bit artificial, she thought \u2014 surely no one actually spoke like that in real life.<\/p>\n

At a meeting with two departments present, she realised that Danes actually do speak like that.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI was really surprised at how a dispute was resolved. A situation like that in Spain would have led to people talking over one another, getting angry, and lashing out.\u00ab<\/p>\n

For the first time, she heard sentences like \u00bbI understand you\u00ab and \u00bbI can see what you mean\u00ab \u2014 things you rarely hear in Spanish lecture halls.<\/p>\n

Danish culture suits her well:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI like it when things work, and when things are communicated clearly,\u00ab she says, adding that she has always been a mathematically minded and highly structured person.<\/p>\n

Students with maths baggage<\/h3>\n

The course that Elisenda Feliu is getting the teaching award for is what\u2019s known as a service course: mathematics for biologists. For many of them, it\u2019s their first encounter with equations since secondary school \u2014 sometimes even fractions need brushing up after a few gap years.<\/p>\n

Many of the students have had bad experiences with maths and struggle to embrace the topic. They\u2019re studying to become biologists \u2014 not mathematicians.<\/p>\n

Elisenda Feliu knew, for this reason, that she had to approach the biology students differently from her maths students.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWith maths students, you build everything from the ground up. Everything has to be proven, and there are no black boxes. But for biologists, mathematics is a tool,\u00ab she says.
\n
\nWhen Elisenda Feliu took over the course in 2014, she reached out to the Biology lecturers to find out what the students were struggling with. She completely redesigned the course so that it aligned with the students\u2019 concurrent course in population biology, and made sure the connection was clear to them. They needed to see how they could apply the mathematics.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI ask them to trust me\u00ab<\/p>\n

Elisenda Feliu knows that many of the students struggle with bad experiences:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI tell them it\u2019s completely normal for your brain to freeze. It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re incapable of understanding.\u00ab<\/p>\n

I ask the students to trust me. It will all make sense in the end.<\/p>\n

Elisenda Feliu, mathematics professor<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There are no cheat codes to understanding maths, she says. Unfortunately. The only way through is through \u2014 and mathematics is about repetition. Repetition, repetition, repetition.<\/p>\n

She tells her students that there will be weeks when they don\u2019t understand what\u2019s going on. That\u2019s completely normal, and they shouldn\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI ask the students to trust me. It will all make sense in the end.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Suddenly, it clicks \u2014 and that\u2019s the best feeling of all, she says. When it happens, she can see it immediately.<\/p>\n

\u00bbTheir faces suddenly light up,\u00ab she says with a smile. \u00bbIt\u2019s wonderful to see. It\u2019s heart-warming.\u00ab<\/p>\n

One of her professors in Barcelona once described the experience as painting a black wall white \u2014 you apply layer after layer, and then suddenly it covers.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIn many subjects, learning is linear. But that\u2019s not the case with mathematics. You have to accept that you\u2019re working with something you don\u2019t yet understand \u2014 and that\u2019s hard. It takes something to keep going regardless.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The upside of the pandemic<\/h3>\n

The major transformation in Elisenda Feliu\u2019s teaching came during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when she introduced a so-called flipped classroom \u2014 a mix of physical and digital teaching.<\/p>\n

Before the pandemic, she often noticed students\u2019 eyes glaze over during theoretical explanations. She had taken online courses herself and found them effective.<\/p>\n

But as a self-declared introverted perfectionist, taking the plunge was daunting \u2014 and it wasn\u2019t until the threat of a new lockdown loomed that she took the step.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe idea of recording myself and speaking Danish in a video felt really uncomfortable,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

\u00bbBut when people started talking about possibly being sent home again in autumn 2020, I felt I had to do it \u2014 so the students could still learn the material, even if they weren\u2019t allowed to come in.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Even though the videos weren\u2019t perfect, they worked so well that Elisenda Feliu kept them when society reopened. She noticed that interaction with students improved. There were more questions and fewer blank stares.<\/p>\n

The pass rate also rose significantly:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIn recent years, it\u2019s been around 93 per cent for the maths part alone \u2014 it used to be around 80,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

Now she holds one lecture a week where she works through exercises on the board. The rest of the time, students attend exercise sessions and watch the videos at home.<\/p>\n

\u00bbMost students are happy they can decide for themselves when and how they watch the videos.\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe just want to do a good job\u00ab<\/h3>\n

One reason Elisenda Feliu has been named Lecturer of the Year 2025 is her passion and enthusiasm for teaching. But she\u2019s keen to emphasise that she is far from the only one.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI want to highlight the entire teaching culture here at the Department of Mathematical Sciences. We talk to each other a lot and inspire one another.\u00ab
\n
\nShe doesn\u2019t recognise the stereotype that researchers would rather avoid teaching:<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe want to do a good job. We think a lot about how the students are doing, and how we can improve the teaching.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Even after 15 years in Denmark and 11 years teaching the same course, she still finds teaching challenging.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s hard to reach 180 students at once. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to be in a setting where teaching is valued.\u00ab<\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 14 November. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em>
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award","text":"Elisenda Feliu teaches mathematics to biology students. Their initial resistance has been converted into results","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":true,"user":{"ID":109,"user_firstname":"Maria Brus","user_lastname":"Pedersen","nickname":"Maria_Brus","user_nicename":"maria_brus","display_name":"Maria Brus Pedersen","user_email":"maria.brus@adm.ku.dk","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-06-02 10:56:39","user_description":"","user_avatar":"<img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40ecc6e938eb818f39c144a5345e5caeee6436bb9bd5537ee4b719f2d5591fdb?s=192&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' loading='lazy' decoding='async'\/>"},"contributor_name":"","contributor_title":"","contributor_image":false},{"use_registered_user":true,"user":{"ID":110,"user_firstname":"Malthe","user_lastname":"Granau","nickname":"Malthe_Granau","user_nicename":"malthe_granau","display_name":"Malthe Granau","user_email":"malthe.granau@adm.ku.dk","user_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","user_registered":"2025-10-06 08:51:55","user_description":"","user_avatar":"<img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b138ad7ddcb02836f970efb1640e0634158dbaa8e0065fdbd8fd1a47bf73f342?s=96&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b138ad7ddcb02836f970efb1640e0634158dbaa8e0065fdbd8fd1a47bf73f342?s=192&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' loading='lazy' decoding='async'\/>"},"contributor_name":"","contributor_title":"","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>It was a rainy morning. Elisenda Feliu \u2014 bike helmet perched on her head, soaked trousers \u2014 stepped into an office on North Campus. She had been summoned to a meeting. But instead of being greeted by filter coffee and the day’s agenda, colleagues and managers surrounded her with cameras and congratulations. She had been awarded this year\u2019s <em>‘Harald’<\/em>, the University of Copenhagen\u2019s teaching award.<\/p>\n<p>Elisenda Feliu was bewildered. \u00bbI didn\u2019t even know I\u2019d been nominated,\u00ab she said.<\/p>\n<p>The Harald is given to teaching staff who have made an extraordinary contribution. Any student can submit a nomination.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">Annual Harald PRIZE<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarald of the Year\u201d is the University of Copenhagen\u2019s teaching award, established in 1988 and named after the mathematician Harald Bohr, who combined outstanding research with exceptional teaching.<\/p>\n<p>The prize is meant to underline that teaching is as central to the university\u2019s mission as research.<\/p>\n<p>The winner receives a porcelain horned owl from Royal Copenhagen \u2014 decorated each year by a different Danish artist \u2014 as well as a cash prize from the University of Copenhagen’s grant-offering <em>Almene Fond<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Any student can nominate a candidate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Elisenda Feliu is a professor of mathematics, a head of research at the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and teaches several courses at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH). One of these is the introductory course Mathematics\/Statistics \u2014 a first-year course in mathematics and statistics for biology students. Feliu teaches the mathematics part, introducing future biologists to mathematical models and methods. It was this course that earned her the prize.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI was in shock. I thought it must be a mistake. I know the students are happy, but I hadn\u2019t invented anything special. I\u2019m just doing regular teaching,\u00ab she said when the University Post turned up to meet this year\u2019s teaching award winner in her office on the fourth floor of a grey concrete North Campus building.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/award-winning-ucph-lecturer-welcomes-insecurities-and-mistakes\/\"><em>Award-winning UCPH lecturer \u00bbwelcomes insecurities and mistakes\u00ab<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Box of Japanese chalk<\/h3>\n<p>The office is unremarkable: height-adjustable desk, a collage of pictures from a ride on an old roller coaster, and a bookshelf.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I know the students are happy, but I hadn\u2019t invented anything special.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Elisenda Feliu, mathematics professor<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On the wall, however, is a four-metre-long black chalkboard \u2014 the preferred tool of mathematicians. They hate whiteboards, she explains, and are picky about their chalk. On a shelf is an almost empty box of extra-thick Japanese chalk.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s the chalk of mathematicians. I don\u2019t even have any of the bad stuff. It has to be good quality,\u00ab says Elisenda Feliu, adding that nothing beats the feeling of walking out of a classroom covered in chalk dust.<\/p>\n<p>The nomination that earned her the prize states that the professor excels at connecting with students on their own terms.<\/p>\n<p>The students point to Feliu\u2019s deep commitment, her cheerful disposition, and her ability to empathise with them:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbFeliu is always up to date on the students\u2019 other concurrent courses,\u00ab the nomination reads, \u00bbso she always knows how far along they are in their studies overall, and what it is that is the most important thing to focus on.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":183875,"id":183875,"title":"Design uden navn (4)","filename":"designudennavn4-scaled.png","filesize":1436259,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-scaled.png","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/pandemien-skubbede-matematikprofessoren-ud-af-sin-tryghedszone-nu-er-hun-aarets-underviser-2025\/design-uden-navn-4-5\/","alt":"","author":"109","description":"","caption":"D\u00e5rligt kridt \/ godt kridt. Som matematiker er det vigtigt at have v\u00e6rkt\u00f8jet i orden. ","name":"design-uden-navn-4-5","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":183822,"date":"2025-11-14 10:16:06","modified":"2025-11-14 10:16:42","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-480x288.png","medium-width":480,"medium-height":288,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-768x461.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-1280x768.png","large-width":1280,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-1536x922.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":922,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-2048x1229.png","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1229,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-290x174.png","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":174,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-290x180.png","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-700x420.png","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":420,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/designudennavn4-990x594.png","extended-width":990,"extended-height":594}},"style":"full","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Bad chalk \/ good chalk. As a mathematician, it\u2019s important to have the right tools."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Elisenda Feliu has flipped the traditional lecture-based teaching model on its head. She records theoretical lessons as short videos for students to watch at home. Then, when they meet for class, she uses the time to do blackboard exercises in a shared classroom setting. After that, the students work on exercises and discussions in smaller groups. In her experience, this approach makes the material stick better than just standing at the board explaining theory.<\/p>\n<h3>Back row in Barcelona<\/h3>\n<p>Elisenda Feliu grew up in Catalonia and studied mathematics at the University of Barcelona, where she also completed her PhD.<\/p>\n<p>It seemed unlikely at first that mathematics would be her career path, she says:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbMaths wasn\u2019t even a consideration when I was thinking about what to study at university. I looked at biology, chemistry, physics and other natural science programmes. At the time, I thought mathematicians lived in a world of numbers disconnected from society \u2014 and I didn\u2019t want to be part of that. It was out of the question.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>A philosophy class in secondary school changed everything:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt was like something clicked inside me. The idea of getting to the core of something, of learning things simply because they\u2019re fun to learn \u2014 I liked that,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after, she showed up for her first mathematics lecture at university \u2014 quite different from the ones she delivers today.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbCompletely traditional,\u00ab she says of the teaching, where a professor wrote on a blackboard in front of 200 students. It suited Elisenda Feliu fine. You could stay anonymous, hide away in the back row if that\u2019s what your mood called for, and participate in the lesson when you felt like it.<\/p>\n<p>There was a great sense of freedom in that kind of teaching, she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf you wanted to go to class, you did. If you wanted to stroll down the Rambla instead, you did that.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>She has carried that sense of freedom and trust into her own teaching. The biology students get the solutions to all the exercises from day one.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThey should show up if they get something out of it.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Back then, it was unusual for students to finish their degree on time, according to Elisenda Feliu, but she still managed it. And when she graduated, she didn\u2019t want to leave the university or her friends, so she stayed on to do a PhD.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere wasn\u2019t some deep inner force driving me. I just wanted to stay in the community \u2014 and I wasn\u2019t done with mathematics.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":183849,"id":183849,"title":"DSC_3253","filename":"dsc_3253.jpg","filesize":1146394,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/pandemien-skubbede-matematikprofessoren-ud-af-sin-tryghedszone-nu-er-hun-aarets-underviser-2025\/dsc_3253\/","alt":"","author":"110","description":"","caption":"","name":"dsc_3253","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":183822,"date":"2025-11-13 15:43:04","modified":"2025-11-14 10:21:22","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1536,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":1024,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3253-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"full","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<h3>Do Danes really talk like that?<\/h3>\n<p>In 2010, hopes of securing a research position in Spain were slim. The country had been hit hard by the European debt crisis. Elisenda Feliu was offered a six-month research stay abroad \u2014 she chose Denmark and Aarhus University.<\/p>\n<p>She gave up her flat, packed her stuff, and left. When the six months were up, she got two postdoc grants that allowed her to stay in Denmark \u2014 first in Aarhus, then in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n<p>She later began taking Danish classes, where she learned polite phrases for expressing disagreement. \u00bbI understand what you mean.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>This sounded a bit artificial, she thought \u2014 surely no one actually spoke like that in real life.<\/p>\n<p>At a meeting with two departments present, she realised that Danes actually do speak like that.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI was really surprised at how a dispute was resolved. A situation like that in Spain would have led to people talking over one another, getting angry, and lashing out.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, she heard sentences like \u00bbI understand you\u00ab and \u00bbI can see what you mean\u00ab \u2014 things you rarely hear in Spanish lecture halls.<\/p>\n<p>Danish culture suits her well:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI like it when things work, and when things are communicated clearly,\u00ab she says, adding that she has always been a mathematically minded and highly structured person.<\/p>\n<h3>Students with maths baggage<\/h3>\n<p>The course that Elisenda Feliu is getting the teaching award for is what\u2019s known as a service course: mathematics for biologists. For many of them, it\u2019s their first encounter with equations since secondary school \u2014 sometimes even fractions need brushing up after a few gap years.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the students have had bad experiences with maths and struggle to embrace the topic. They\u2019re studying to become biologists \u2014 not mathematicians.<\/p>\n<p>Elisenda Feliu knew, for this reason, that she had to approach the biology students differently from her maths students.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWith maths students, you build everything from the ground up. Everything has to be proven, and there are no black boxes. But for biologists, mathematics is a tool,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":183840,"id":183840,"title":"DSC_3198","filename":"dsc_3198.jpg","filesize":965830,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/pandemien-skubbede-matematikprofessoren-ud-af-sin-tryghedszone-nu-er-hun-aarets-underviser-2025\/dsc_3198\/","alt":"","author":"110","description":"","caption":"Tavlen er et af matematikerens vigtigste v\u00e6rkt\u00f8jer. Derfor h\u00e6nger der selvf\u00f8lgelig en p\u00e5 Elisenda Felius kontor. ","name":"dsc_3198","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":183822,"date":"2025-11-13 15:35:08","modified":"2025-11-14 12:59:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1536,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":1024,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3198-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"full","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"The blackboard is one of the mathematician\u2019s most important tools \u2014 so of course there\u2019s one in Elisenda Feliu\u2019s office."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>When Elisenda Feliu took over the course in 2014, she reached out to the Biology lecturers to find out what the students were struggling with. She completely redesigned the course so that it aligned with the students\u2019 concurrent course in population biology, and made sure the connection was clear to them. They needed to see how they could apply the mathematics.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI ask them to trust me\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Elisenda Feliu knows that many of the students struggle with bad experiences:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI tell them it\u2019s completely normal for your brain to freeze. It doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re incapable of understanding.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I ask the students to trust me. It will all make sense in the end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Elisenda Feliu, mathematics professor<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>There are no cheat codes to understanding maths, she says. Unfortunately. The only way through is through \u2014 and mathematics is about repetition. Repetition, repetition, repetition.<\/p>\n<p>She tells her students that there will be weeks when they don\u2019t understand what\u2019s going on. That\u2019s completely normal, and they shouldn\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI ask the students to trust me. It will all make sense in the end.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, it clicks \u2014 and that\u2019s the best feeling of all, she says. When it happens, she can see it immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbTheir faces suddenly light up,\u00ab she says with a smile. \u00bbIt\u2019s wonderful to see. It\u2019s heart-warming.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>One of her professors in Barcelona once described the experience as painting a black wall white \u2014 you apply layer after layer, and then suddenly it covers.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIn many subjects, learning is linear. But that\u2019s not the case with mathematics. You have to accept that you\u2019re working with something you don\u2019t yet understand \u2014 and that\u2019s hard. It takes something to keep going regardless.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>The upside of the pandemic<\/h3>\n<p>The major transformation in Elisenda Feliu\u2019s teaching came during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when she introduced a so-called flipped classroom \u2014 a mix of physical and digital teaching.<\/p>\n<p>Before the pandemic, she often noticed students\u2019 eyes glaze over during theoretical explanations. She had taken online courses herself and found them effective.<\/p>\n<p>But as a self-declared introverted perfectionist, taking the plunge was daunting \u2014 and it wasn\u2019t until the threat of a new lockdown loomed that she took the step.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe idea of recording myself and speaking Danish in a video felt really uncomfortable,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbBut when people started talking about possibly being sent home again in autumn 2020, I felt I had to do it \u2014 so the students could still learn the material, even if they weren\u2019t allowed to come in.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Even though the videos weren\u2019t perfect, they worked so well that Elisenda Feliu kept them when society reopened. She noticed that interaction with students improved. There were more questions and fewer blank stares.<\/p>\n<p>The pass rate also rose significantly:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIn recent years, it\u2019s been around 93 per cent for the maths part alone \u2014 it used to be around 80,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>Now she holds one lecture a week where she works through exercises on the board. The rest of the time, students attend exercise sessions and watch the videos at home.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbMost students are happy they can decide for themselves when and how they watch the videos.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>\u00bbWe just want to do a good job\u00ab<\/h3>\n<p>One reason Elisenda Feliu has been named Lecturer of the Year 2025 is her passion and enthusiasm for teaching. But she\u2019s keen to emphasise that she is far from the only one.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI want to highlight the entire teaching culture here at the Department of Mathematical Sciences. We talk to each other a lot and inspire one another.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":183879,"id":183879,"title":"DSC_3218","filename":"dsc_3218.jpg","filesize":1031309,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/pandemien-skubbede-matematikprofessoren-ud-af-sin-tryghedszone-nu-er-hun-aarets-underviser-2025\/dsc_3218\/","alt":"","author":"109","description":"","caption":"","name":"dsc_3218","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":183822,"date":"2025-11-14 10:23:54","modified":"2025-11-14 10:24:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1536,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":1024,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3218-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"full","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>She doesn\u2019t recognise the stereotype that researchers would rather avoid teaching:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe want to do a good job. We think a lot about how the students are doing, and how we can improve the teaching.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Even after 15 years in Denmark and 11 years teaching the same course, she still finds teaching challenging.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s hard to reach 180 students at once. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to be in a setting where teaching is valued.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 14 November. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":42,"name":"Education","slug":"education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":42,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":661,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":18,"name":"Feature Article","slug":"feature_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":18,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":1200,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":674,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/dsc_3234-1280x853.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183945"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184142,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183945\/revisions\/184142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}