The design and use of online materials for blended learning have been in the spotlight of educational development over the last decade. With respect to didactical courses, however, the potential of online and blended learning seems to be underexplored; little is known about its affordances for teacher education, and for domain specific didactical courses in particular. To investigate this potential, as well as the ways to organize the co-design of such learning units, we carried out a small and short-term research project in which teacher educators in the Netherlands engaged in a co-design process of developing and field-testing open online learning units for mathematics and science didactics. We focused on the features of the designed online learning units, on the organization of the co-design process, and on the experiences with the learning units in teacher education practice. A first conclusion was that it was most fruitful to design building blocks rather than ready-to-use courses, and that students should have play a role in the materials. With respect to the co-design process, intensive meetings of small design teams seemed an efficient approach. The experiences in the field tests revealed that the learning units were inspiring, but needed finalization, and educators needed time to prepare the incorporation in their existing educational practices. In the future, the resulting learning units will be maintained and extended, and are expected to contribute to a community of practice of mathematics and science educators.
Over the past few decades, education systems, especially in higher education, have been redefined. Such reforms inevitably require reconsideration of operational notions and definitions of quality, along with a number of related concepts. This reconsideration aligns with the core of higher education reforms: improving efficacy and compatibility with emerging social demands while adapting to competitiveness and accountability trends. As primary players in the teaching and learning process, online tutors have a protagonistic role and, therefore, must be equipped with a suitable set of competencies and attributes in addition to content knowledge. This quantitative research aims to analyze the perceptions of 250 online tutors working in European higher education institutions, distributed in 5 knowledge areas: Business, Education, Humanities, Sciences and Health. This descriptive and exploratory nonexperimental study reveals the technological and pedagogical skills and competencies that online tutors consider fundamental for effective online teaching and proposes professional development actions to ensure quality online teaching.
In the housing market enormous challenges exist for the retrofitting of existing housing in combination with the ambition to realize new environmentally friendly and affordable dwellings. Bio-based building materials offer the possibility to use renewable resources in building and construction. The efficient use of bio-based building materials is desirable due to several potential advantages related to environmental and economic aspects e.g. CO2 fixation and additional value. The potential biodegradability of biomaterials however demands also in-novative solutions to avoid e.g. the use of environmental harmful substances. It is essential to use balanced technological solutions, which consider aspects like service life or technical per-formance as well as environmental aspects. Circular economy and biodiversity also play an im-portant role in these concepts and potential production chains. Other questions arise considering the interaction with other large biomass users e.g. food production. What will be the impact if we use more bio-based building materials with regard to biodiversity and resource availability? Does this create opportunities or risks for the increasing use of bio-based building materials or does intelligent use of biomass in building materials offer the possibility to apply still unused (bio) resources and use them as a carbon sink? Potential routes of intelligent usage of biomass as well as potential risks and disadvantages are highlighted and discussed in relation to resource efficiency and decoupling concept(s).
DOK4CT (in Dutch: Digitale Onderwijsmiddelen en Kennisontsluiting for Control Towers)In this project the practical applied knowledge, derived from innovative projects within the “Topsector logistiek”, is made accessible by Breda University and Deltago. This online Control Tower Course is specifically meant for logistic professionals and students in logistic orientated education. The project was made accesible and supported by the NWO, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. The scope of this project is limited to the area of Cross Chain Control Centers (4C) / Control Towers. The educational valorisation will be executed by the development of digital materials. These are used for student education as well as dissemination towards professionals in the logistics sector. Hereby, the interaction between students and professionals is an important additional benefit under the name of “social learning”. For example the interviews that Marcel Wouterse (Deltago and lecturer at Breda University of Applied Sciences) has created with key partners in the logistics sector were recorded and edited by students. By the use of digital educational tools and serious games, the benefits of Control Towers are now visible for students and professionals. The next phase is to introduce the gained knowledge in future organisations in order to support the Netherlands in the top of the logistics sector.Project goalThe goal of this project is to improve the exploitation of fundamental- and applied knowledge in the expertise area of Cross Chain Control Centers (4C) and Control Towers (CT).The tasks are divided in five subprojects:1. Preparations to transfer existing materials in digital learning tools;2. Shape digital education material (Webinars, online platform, knowledge clips and e-learnings)3. Develop and/or use several serious games (Convoy game / Synchromania)4. Promotion of the course to specified target groups (professionals / international students)5. Project managementExcising knowledge regarding Cross Chain Control Centers and Control Towers is used in this project. New knowledge will not be generated. The project focus lies on the disclosure of acquired knowledge by digital learning tools.
UNStudio, een in Amsterdam gevestigd, internationaal toonaangevend architectenbureau, wil hun Green Mile-plan1 voor het centrum van Amsterdam uitwerken om een 'post-pandemisch groen stedenbouwkundig ontwerp' voor de stad te onderzoeken - kunnen groene gebieden worden (her) ontworpen om ruimte aan voetgangers te geven, terwijl voorkomen wordt dat mensen zich niet op dezelfde plek ophopen? De Corona-pandemie benadrukte ook de noodzaak om vaart te zetten achter duurzaamheidsdoelstellingen, waaronder de ambitie om groenere stedelijke omgevingen te creëren. In dit voorstel wordt stadsmeubilair voor de Green Mile ontworpen en gerealiseerd met hergebruikte materialen, en met post-pandemische stedenbouwkundige en bouwkundige principes. GPGroot en Schijf, leveranciers van rest- en gebruikte bouwmaterialen2, willen hun kennis over circulaire materiaalverwerking en -levering in de stedelijke context graag verder ontwikkelen. Het initiatief van UNStudio biedt een unieke kans om deze kennis te ontwikkelen, in samenwerking met de HvA en het onderzoek in de Robot Studio, dat zich tot nu toe met name richt op circulair gebruik van hout voor binnen-toepassingen. Het project volgt een iteratief ontwerpproces van parametrisch ontwerp en digitale productie. Bij het ontwerp wordt rekening gehouden met functionele eisen en beschikbare materialen, evenals met de specifieke kenmerken van de stedelijke context waar het prototype zou kunnen worden geplaatst. De productie van het prototype zal worden uitgevoerd met 6-assige robots in de HvA Robot Studio. De resultaten zijn ontwerpen en een prototype, maar ook kennis over het verbinden van parametrisch ontwerp en robotproductie met buitentoepassingen, met bijzondere aandacht voor rest- en gebruikte materialen. Innovatieve aspecten zijn de overstap naar structureel belaste buitentoepassingen en het gebruik van een breder scala aan materialen dan alleen hout. Hiermee kan het project bijdragen aan de ontwikkeling van “smart industry” en de circulaire economie, beide relevant voor de maatschappelijke uitdagingen zoals vastgelegd in de nationale Kennis- en Innovatie-Agenda’s voor wetenschap en technologie.
Tango is among the most widespread world music genres nowadays. However, only partial information about the elements and techniques of composing, arranging and performing tango has been documented and made available so far. This research project aims at investigating tango’s main aspects in the oeuvre of relevant tango musicians, promoting its creative practice and expanding its artistic community. By making the implicit knowledge in scores and recordings explicit and ready for creative use by the greater artistic community, tango can be preserved, on one side; and musicians can experiment and reach new artistic horizons, securing its continuation and development as vivid, contemporary music, on the other. The project has two research questions: 1. What are the main features and techniques of tango music composition, arrangement and performance? 2. How can musicians nowadays integrate these features and techniques into their practice to deepen their understanding and enhance their artistic creations and performances? This research uses a mixed method design, including the analysis of scores and recordings, literature review, interviews, observational studies and experimentation. It expands the artistic community on the topic and bridges two top-notch institutions devoted to tango learning: Codarts and UNSAM (Argentina). The research also endeavours improvements in the Codarts curriculum as it complements and expands its educational programme by providing students with research tools to enhance their creative practice. Theoretical and artistic outcomes will be documented and disseminated in concerts, concert-lectures, papers, articles and a tailor-made website containing compositions, arrangements, videos, text, musical examples and annotated scores, so as to record: a) the musical materials and techniques found in the analysed scores and recordings, together with their applications in practice and performance; b) the artistic processes, reflections and production of the participants; c) information on how to create, arrange and perform tangos.
