A collaborative approach to strengthen research skills in secondary education
Project introduction and background information
The final project (in Dutch 'profielwerkstuk')Ā is an important examination component in the final years of Dutch secondary education. It provides students with the opportunity to explore a topic of their choice within their selected academic profile and to demonstrate and develop research-related skills. However, many students find it challenging to identify a suitable topic and to narrow it down sufficiently to formulate a feasible research question or design challenge. The educational value and success of a final project largely depend on successfully completing this crucial first phase. Many secondary school teachers indicate that they find it difficult to guide students effectively through this process. The University of Twente (UT) can play an important role in strengthening the connection between scientific research, higher education, and secondary education.
Contact persons for this project are Sander Wenderich (s.wenderich@utwente.nl) & Laura Holsbeeke (l.holsbeeke@utwente.nl), working at Pre-U,Ā the Pre-University programme of the UT. Pre-U connects the expertise of the UT with school curricula and extracurricular learning to inspire and prepare secondary students for a successful transition to higher education. Pre-U also offers support for the final project, with for example workshops, an online learning environment and the inspirational videos that are developed in the current project.
Objective and expected outcomes
The aim of this project is to support the start-up phase of the final project in collaboration with secondary school teachers. A series of short videos on engaging UT research topics will provide students with inspiration for selecting a topic and guidance in narrowing down ideas into a suitable research question or design challenge. For teachersĀ supervisors, the videos serve as additional tools to support students more effectively.
The project offers:
Support for Secondary School Students andĀ Supervisors
- Inspiration for selecting a suitable topic.
- Guidance in narrowing down ideas and topics into a well-defined research question or design challenge.
A Platform to Showcase the University of Twente
- Strengthening collaboration between secondary schools and the University of Twente while increasing awareness of UT research themes and expertise.
- Highlighting UT facilities and demonstrating how they can be used in practice to support studentsā final projects.
Lifelong Learning and Collaboration
- Collaboration between secondary school teachers and UT staff contributes to the professional development of both secondary and university teachers, particularly regarding skills that support successful progression into higher education.
- Strengthening collaboration between 4TU.CEE, Pre-U, and Pro-U, while fostering greater involvement across departments and initiatives within the university.
Results and learnings
The first five videos are now available and we continue working on creating a broad, diverse range of topics.