Bottom-up curriculum innovation through grants for lecturers

The aim of this case study is to evaluate the bottom-up approach of curriculum innovation in higher education through the implementation of Teaching Innovation Grants (TIGs). Through the TIGs, lecturers were granted hours to innovate their course. Of the 81 applications, 52 were granted. The TIGs were implemented in BSc and MSc courses on topics in economics and business. Each grant touched upon one or more of the educational themes - (1) internationalization, diversity &amp; inclusion, (2) ethics, responsibility &amp; sustainability, (3) digital business &amp; data science, (4) employability, and (5) active &amp; blended learning - the faculty board has formulated as ambitions for improving and renewing what and how we teach in our degree programs. Overall, the TIGs has facilitated lecturers in innovating their teaching. They perceived the workload as manageable, but intensive. Support by teaching assistants and/or educationalist was an important factor for a successful implementation.</p

Students' experiences with learning mergers and acquisition skills in a multi-disciplinary learning community

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the implementation of an extra-curricular multi-disciplinary, multi-level Learning Community (LC) on Mergers and Acquisition (M&amp;A) of Small-Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This LC was developed according to established guiding principles, namely the theme extends beyond the theme of the regular courses, and it should attract both BSc and MSc students of different disciplines, and enhances students’ professional preparation and employability. The LC consisted of 8 meetings of 2 hours and one meeting for a whole day during a full semester. During the whole day, students played a game in which they had to purchase a company using all acquired knowledge and skills. In the guest lectures offered, students discussed different aspects of M&amp;A with professionals within the field. The LC is evaluated by students on e.g. the content of the LC, what they have learned, the social aspect and guidance, and what could be improved. Overall, the students appreciated the content and structure of the LCs, especially the game, the guest lectures, and the fact that they worked together with students of different disciplines.Ossevoort, M.; Tavenier, D.; Riezebos, J. (2020). Students' experiences with learning mergers and acquisition skills in a multi-disciplinary learning community. En 6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. (30-05-2020):343-351. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd20.2020.11053OCS34335130-05-202

Evaluation of learning communities: principles to guide practice

[EN] The aim of this paper is to evaluate the implementation of extra-curricular learning communities (LCs) that are open for all students at the faculty of Economics and Business. The LCs were developed using established guiding principles that included the choice of the theme, the educational concept, and the scheduling. During 5 semesters, 37 LCs, of which 17 unique LCs, were executed. According to the guiding priniciples, the themes extended beyond themes of regular courses and attracted both BSc and MSc students from different degree programs. Furthermore, the theme enhanced students’ professional preparation and employability. The combination of insight from practice with theory was positively evaluated. Despite the guiding principle, half of the LCs were topic-based instead of project-based. Since students strongly agreed that all LCs were a good learning experience, we have modified this guiding principle. Most points of improvement given by the students concerned the scheduling. They missed the structure they have during regular courses. Especially in the beginning of the LC they want to have more meetings to get a head start. Overall, great commitment of lecturers as well as students led to a successful realisation of these multi-disciplinary, extra-curricular and multi-level LCs.Ossevoort, M.; Riezebos, J. (2019). Evaluation of learning communities: principles to guide practice. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1069-1077. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9255OCS1069107

A platform for the influencers: spreading educational innovations via a professional learning network

[EN] To further the spread of educational innovation and the sharing of good teaching practices our faculty decided to set up a professional learning network (PLN). With the PLN the aim is to reach an early majority of lecturers by asking influential lecturers to share their practical experiences.Via the PLN meetings for lecturers are organized, web-based resources are made available and educational support is provided. In meetings lecturers present good practices for their colleagues. The topics of the meetings connect to faculty policy (such as: technology enhanced learning, inclusion of international students).Analysis of visitors to the meetings shows the target audience has been reached. Visitors are mainly lecturers, associate professors and professors, spread evenly across all departments of the faculty. On the topic of Technology Enhanced Learning, 71% of the visitors to the PLN are outside a group of early adopters. Overall, meeting visitors are found to be innovators, early adoptors and early majority.In conclusion we found that a PLN can be used as a platform for influencers to reach an early majority of lecturersWinnips, K.; Riezebos, J.; Ossevoort, M. (2019). A platform for the influencers: spreading educational innovations via a professional learning network. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 135-142. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9222OCS13514

A Teaching Strategy with a Focus on Argumentation to Improve Undergraduate Students' Ability to Read Research Articles

The aim of this study is to evaluate a teaching strategy designed to teach first-year undergraduate life sciences students at a research university how to learn to read authentic research articles. Our approach—based on the work done in the field of genre analysis and argumentation theory—means that we teach students to read research articles by teaching them which rhetorical moves occur in research articles and how they can identify these. Because research articles are persuasive by their very nature, we focused on the rhetorical moves that play an important role in authors’ arguments. We designed a teaching strategy using cognitive apprenticeship as the pedagogical approach. It was implemented in a first-year compulsory course in the life sciences undergraduate program. Comparison of the results of a pretest with those of the posttest showed that students’ ability to identify these moves had improved. Moreover, students themselves had also perceived that their ability to read and understand a research article had increased. The students’ evaluations demonstrated that they appreciated the pedagogical approach used and experienced the assignments as useful. On the basis of our results, we concluded that students had taken a first step toward becoming expert readers