EDLAB – Maastricht University Centre for Teaching & Learning

🎉 What an amazing, fun, and instructive week I've had! 😅 Last week I participated in the Ludodidactics summer course at HKU (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht) together with 23 other participants. The goal of ludodidactics is to use insights and principles of the game industry to design education. 🎲 I was already attracted to this idea, but I was able to fund my participation with the ComeniusNetwerk Teaching Fellow on "Calculus Legacy" that Katharina Schneider, geb. Schüller and I won this year. We want to build a legacy-style (physical) board game for engineering students to learn calculus. 👨🔬 🎓 During the course week, we learned about different game design principles, built prototypes of our game, and performed multiple playtests during (and after) the workshops! 🔨 One of the key insights for me was the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) model, which I didn't know about, but leads to a different way to tackle course/lecture/tutorial design. 💡 I especially enjoyed the many discussions and brainstorms about different games and approaches. And a big thank you to all the other participants for participating in the playtests of our game! 🤔 I feel like ludodidactical principles share a lot with Maastricht University's vision on education and in particular problem-based learning, which is centered around four key principles: constructive learning, contextual learning, collaborative learning, and self-directed learning. 🤝 Especially contextual and collaborative learning pops up immediately in game-based educational experiences. When reading the handbook ("Ludodidactiek: Ontwerpen voor Didactici") by Willem-Jan Renger and Evert Hoogendoorn, I kept thinking about one of the key insights from my University Teaching Qualification: "Be a guide on the side, rather than a sage on the stage." 🦉 #calculus #hku #maastrichtuniversity #problembasedlearning #calculus #comenius #ludodidactiek

Congratulations Johan Adriaensen, Mirko Reithler and Robyn Ausmeier and good luck with your project!

Students as colleagues As the academic year 2023-2024 is coming to a close, I want to highlight the excellent work done by the three EDLAB – Maastricht University Centre for Teaching & Learning student assistants I enjoyed working with this year. Each of them had quite distinct and different roles. Yet, all of them were prime examples of the added value students can bring to the work we do around the design and delivery of education and the knowledge dissemination and community building we do to enhance the impact of that work. In fact, the term student ‘assistant’ does not do justice to the contributions these students have made. It would be better to refer to them as student colleagues or discard the student prefix altogether and simply call them team members. For quite some time, Iveta Dzivite collaborated with several EDLAB colleagues on various projects. I got to know her as a resourceful member of the small team that organised the UM Education Days 2024. She helped shape this important event through her creative ideas and proactive, practical work. Tara Scheer was a member of the team that runs the small yet exciting project “Mend the Gap”. In this project, we intend to showcase various ways of bringing research and teaching closer together to benefit students and academics alike. Tara created a very detailed and well-structured overview of the literature on this topic, and based on that work helped us define our strategy, research questions and intended outcomes. In the UM Advising project, which resulted in an overarching vision for student guidance at UM, Majella Votta took charge of the ‘student journey game’, a playful yet highly effective tool for probing into the student experience from the student perspective. Her coordinating work with the game also enabled her to extrapolate from what students shared during the game sessions and include the student voice into our overall approach. All three student team members did much more than what can be captured in a simple task or job description. While they executed their primary tasks superbly, they each combined a keen eye for detail with a thorough understanding of the bigger picture. They brought the student perspective to the table, allowing us to see how what we do connects to the student experience. Their work shows that there is no necessary binary opposition between being a student or being ‘staff’ (even though we sometimes endearingly refer to the latter as ‘the Dark Side’). By working in teams with students and staff who share responsibilities, expertise, enthusiasm and creativity, AND each bring different perspectives, the outcomes become more balanced and often simply better. Sure enough, all of the above applies to ALL students who have worked with us at EDLAB or are still doing so. Because I collaborated with Iveta, Tara, and Majella, I highlight their contributions here, but a great thank you goes out to all!

EDLAB and the professional development for teaching and learning team wish all UM employees and students a great summer!☀️ 📌Want to work on your professionalisation in your own time and space this summer? Check out these suggestions: - Shared courses and workshops beyond UM📚 Are you eager to hear more about the latest educational developments and learn from colleagues from other universities? Then this is your chance! UM is part of a national collaboration, specifically designed to bring you together with a diverse community of teaching staff from different institutions. Face-to-face meetings, online courses, webinars and hybrid activities will be offered at various locations, dates and times in 2024. Learn more and sign up via this link: https://lnkd.in/e4nFP5kB - Various teaching & learning webinars💻 Join EDLAB on UMployee or click this link (https://lnkd.in/ewMB5Qsx) to directly see an overview of our webinars for teaching and learning. Note: to watch some webinars you might have to log in with your UM account. Have a great summer and see you next academic year! #teaching #learning #summer #education #EDLAB

Join us at SHE, Maastricht University for one of these 4 exciting (and funded!) PhD opportunities!

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬: 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐲! (or: time to ditch the Emperor's new arguments) With a little more time to read, reread, and engage more with the literature around student advising, I returned to Crookston's famous article from 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟐, in which he makes a case for what he calls 'developmental advising'. Presented in opposition to the concept of 'prescriptive advising', the developmental approach does not tell students what to do nor solve their problems for them but 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. What struck me most about the article is how 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡 today. If we remove the references (primarily pointing at literature written in the 1960s), it reads like Crookston wrote it last week. Interestingly, the contemporary nature of the article doesn't just reside in how it makes a case for forms of advising that help students gain more control and ownership over their studies and personal development. The passage that puts many more recent statements and grand observations about societal trends in perspective is the one where Crookston argues for developmental advising by saying that: "Since these developmental tasks often center around helping the individual live effectively within a 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲, developmental counseling or advising helps the student become aware of his own changing self [...]" Rapidly changing society. 1972. That's deep into Boomer's going-to-college territory. I guess that after more than fifty years (and X, Y, Z generations later) the effect of the statement has (or should have) worn off a bit. Maybe we can replace it by saying that regardless of how, and how quick or slow, society evolves, its constituent members (and through that, society as a whole) will benefit from having a sense of ownership over their lives? And that education - and within that, Higher Education; and within that, advising - can play a formative role there? (𝐴 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 1994, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛, 𝐵. 𝐵. (1994). 𝐴 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑁𝐴𝐶𝐴𝐷𝐴 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙, 14(2), 5-9.)

We are looking for a cluster head for our new Maastricht University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences #Teaching & #Learning Hub. For details, please visit the Academic Transfer website 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/gYdP9yPG Please share! 🙏🏼 EDLAB – Maastricht University Centre for Teaching & Learning | UACES (University Association for Contemporary European Studies)

It's been an interesting day making new plans for our national shared offering of professional development activities for university teaching staff. It was also my first time visiting the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and we had a quick tour of their VU Onderwijswerkplaats | VU Education Lab where like EDLAB – Maastricht University Centre for Teaching & Learning, they also experiment with the latest educational tools and provide events and support for the teaching community.

🌟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐔𝐌 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞! 🌟 As we approach summer recess, it's the perfect time to plan for future innovation and growth. Are you looking to infuse fresh perspectives and innovative solutions into your organization? Look no further! Join forces with Maastricht University's PREMIUM programme and access a pool of highly motivated and talented master's students eager to tackle your organization's unique challenges. 🎓 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔:  Gain fresh ideas and approaches to complex problems. 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑷𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆: Identify and recruit top performers. 𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒆: Access specialized knowledge without the long-term commitment. 𝑬𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚: Boost your brand's presence within the academic community. 📅 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: January - May 2025 📅 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: September 30 🔗 Submit Your Proposal: https://lnkd.in/diQhegJ 💡 𝑩𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝑹𝑬𝑴𝑰𝑼𝑴, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏'𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆; 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒏𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔. 𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓! 🚀 #HonoursProgramme #Premium #MaastrichtUniversity #TalentAcquisition #Innovation #StudentSuccess #IndustryCollaboration

🎉Looking back on a successful EHON - Expertisenetwerk Hoger Onderwijs (SOP) annual conference! Around 60 colleagues from Dutch and Belgian universities participated in the recent SOP conference, organised this year at EDLAB. This year’s theme, "Beyond the UTQ: Paving the way for further learning and development," allowed us to discuss several sub-topics, such as sustaining staff engagement in continuous development programmes, bridging faculty development and workplace learning, or designing training to meet the needs of teaching staff, students, and curricula. The event included insightful and engaging talks, keynotes, discussions, and workshops, by colleagues from Maastricht University, Wageningen University & Research, Utrecht University, Eindhoven University of Technology, University of Groningen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam), Delft University of Technology, and Universiteit Twente. 👏 The participants also enjoyed their visits to DEXLab, The Plant @ FASoS, and Maastricht University Library's Special Collections. We thank our colleagues David Grigorjan, Arnoud W. and Odin Essers for their enthusiastic collaboration! #professionalisation #teaching #learning #development #education