Project introduction and background information
Universities are confronted with a world in which continuous change has become the new normal, characterised by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA). The struggle with the nature, number, speed and scope of developments leads to the question of which innovations can be an answer to which developments.
Objective and expected outcomes
This project tries to answer that question by executing research aimed at that question and formulating conclusions in resulting articles. The research and articles are listed below with the latest research on top.
Results and learnings
Education design for new educational challenges of universities
A literature review has led to a draft article. The draft is a starting point for writing the new vision for Education at Wageningen University and for the new 4TU.CEE plan. When published, the article will be available for general use.
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Covid-19 forced remote teaching and university education after it
During Covid forced remote teaching, research was done at Wageningen University to monitor the transition process in education. That research consisted of (1) large-scale student and teacher surveys, (2) a small in-depth teacher survey on requested innovation and (3) online student and teacher consultations. The results were combined into one paper to conclude on the design needed for university education in the years ahead.
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Balancing online and face-to-face teaching and learning activities
Article: The core of course design is the selection and combination of Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs). TLAs may involve various types of interaction, either face-to-face or with media. Traditional media, such as books, are increasingly being supplemented with online media, such as short video presentations known as knowledge clips. Wageningen University introduced knowledge clips to several second-year Food Technology courses, partially shifting from face-to-face interactions to online activities that facilitate acquiring, inquiring and practising. Student questionnaires and a student group interview were used to reveal differences in preferences towards knowledge clips and the other TLAs. Knowledge clips seem to be valuable parts of courses and work well in general, although students prefer to combine them with some face-to-face interaction. Besides individual preference, there seem to be two main reasons for this: (1) watching a large number of clips requires a considerable amount of discipline and a face-to-face meeting during the course is an intermediate goal to work towards, and (2) when knowledge clips are more difficult and raise questions, students prefer to work in a room with access to a teacher.