Zoekresultaten

SUSWELL continuous development courses

Time for citizenship in teacher training

Keywords: citizenship education, democratic education, teacher training,national curricula, social sciences- Citizenship education is in teacher training in the Netherlands linked to boththe pedagogical and didactic tasks of teachers.- The task of teachers to stimulate the development of values in students isaddressed a lot less often.- The idea of democracy and rule of law as a framework for citizenship is notmentioned in most knowledge bases.- As a result, some knowledge bases seem to lack direction, as if all opinionsand all ways of ‘dealing with diversity’ are desirable.Purpose: With this article we aim to provide insight into how citizenshipeducation receives attention in the formulated national curricula for teachereducation in the Netherlands and to what extent the different domains ofcitizenship and the different tasks of teachers with regard to citizenshipeducation are addressed.Method: For this study the knowledge base for all teacher training curricula atBachelor and Master level in the Netherlands were analysed. We looked at theextent to which citizenship (education) is addressed in teacher training and theways in which this takes place.Findings: The results of the study show that several domains of citizenship arementioned, albeit not often together in one knowledge base. Citizenshipeducation is linked to both the pedagogical and didactic tasks of teachers. Thetask of teachers to stimulate the development of values in students is addresseda lot less often. The fact that citizenship also involves moral development is onlymentioned in some knowledge base. Also, the idea of democracy and rule of lawas a framework for citizenship is not mentioned in most knowledge bases. As aresult, some knowledge bases seems to lack direction, as if all opinions and allways of ‘dealing with diversity’ are desirable.

Teacher training for religious education

Background: In the Netherlands, most of the academic curricula for teacher training in religious education (RE) focus on shortfalls of students, like a lack of knowledge about the plurality of worldviews and the diversity in interpretations of the Christian tradition. In our research project, the focus is not on the students, but on the university professors and lecturers who teach the subject of RE: professors and lecturers who train and educate students to teach RE. Aim: The main aim of the project was to gain a better insight into the inherent complexity of the professionalism of academics, that is, their own positionality in the plurality of the Roman Catholic traditions they adhere to in relation to their capabilities and commitment to the current curriculum – the ‘old’ one – and the new curriculum to be developed, in the context of the Dutch plural society. Setting: Respondents in this research were university professors and lecturers of the Teacher Training Institute of Tilburg University, located at Utrecht, the Netherlands. Methods: For this investigation, we used a research instrument based on the dialogical self theory and its self confrontation method for organisations to gain insight into professionals’ own and their colleagues’ positionality regarding teaching RE. Results: Preliminary results show that the self confrontation method for organisations has shown itself to be a challenging instrument to invite academics involved in the process of data construction and data analysis. Conclusion: Based on these results, we recommend to include the research population in a validation process to increase the sustainability of the results and to maximise engagement in the implementation phase of the new curriculum.

Monitoring training progress during exercise training in cancer survivors

OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of a submaximal exercise test in detecting change in fitness level after a physical training program, and to investigate the correlation of outcomes as measured submaximally or maximally.DESIGN: A prospective study in which exercise testing was performed before and after training intervention.SETTING: Academic and general hospital and rehabilitation center.PARTICIPANTS: Cancer survivors (N=147) (all cancer types, medical treatment completed > or =3 mo ago) attended a 12-week supervised exercise program.INTERVENTIONS: A 12-week training program including aerobic training, strength training, and group sport.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures were changes in peak oxygen uptake (Vo(2)peak) and peak power output (both determined during exhaustive exercise testing) and submaximal heart rate (determined during submaximal testing at a fixed workload).RESULTS: The Vo(2)peak and peak power output increased and the submaximal heart rate decreased significantly from baseline to postintervention (P<.001). Changes in submaximal heart rate were only weakly correlated with changes in Vo(2)peak and peak power output. Comparing the participants performing submaximal testing with a heart rate less than 140 beats per minute (bpm) versus the participants achieving a heart rate of 140 bpm or higher showed that changes in submaximal heart rate in the group cycling with moderate to high intensity (ie, heart rate > or =140 bpm) were clearly related to changes in VO(2)peak and peak power output.CONCLUSIONS: For the monitoring of training progress in daily clinical practice, changes in heart rate at a fixed submaximal workload that requires a heart rate greater than 140 bpm may serve as an alternative to an exhaustive exercise test.

Training in Collecting, Appraising and Synthesising Evidence for EFSA scientific assessments

The overall objective of project OC/EFSA/AMU/2018/01 was to support EFSA to develop in-house capacity to collect, appraise and synthesize evidence coming from literature sources in the context of food and feed scientific assessment. This objective had to be reached by offering 3 different types of training courses to EFSA staff (including Trainees) and Experts (of Panels, Working Groups and Member States). This report summarizes these trainings and their evaluation. Between 15 October 2018 and 24 November 2020, 9 trainings were delivered by a team of trainers from SYRCLE (SYstematic Review Centre for Laboratory animal Experimentation, www.syrcle.nl) and partners. A total number of 160 people participated in these trainings (an average of 18 per training), some of whom participated in more than one training (day). The individual trainings were evaluated using an online evaluation form, which consisted of general questions (e.g. about the training room or course material) and specific questions about the various parts of the training courses. The participants had the option of adding qualitative comments. Moreover, a so-called second level evaluation was used to assess the extent to which the trainings improved the capacity of participants to use the techniques explained in the courses in the context of EFSA assessments. With an average score of 8.23 (out of 10), the trainings were evaluated very positively. Major revisions of the content were only necessary for two of the courses and only after the first editions. Overall, the participants assessed their knowledge and practical skills to be higher after the training compared to before. Moreover, two of the online editions of the courses received an EFSA Golden Globe for the most successful EFSA scientific courses delivered in 2020. Based on the experiences with this series of trainings, recommendations are made for future EFSA trainings in evidence synthesis.

A qualitative study on the anxiety of IT students towards professional skills training

The importance of professional skills in future engineering jobs is beyond discussion. Increasing numbers of universities have integrated training for such skills in their engineering curricula to prepare students to become highly qualified employees. HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht also implemented professional skills training in the IT Bachelor program to help our students develop towards successful and highly demanded IT engineers. However, these courses consistently score low in our student satisfaction surveys. To find the cause of this negative evaluation, we previously studied the motivation, attitude and anxiety of IT students towards learning soft, or professional, skills. This former quantitative study indicates that our IT students tend to have a positive motivation and attitude toward learning professional skills, while ’anxiety’ in learning professional skills increases from the first to the third year. In this qualitative study, we try to find causes for the increasing anxiety among IT students. We interviewed six third and fourth year IT students and after analysing these interviews we found that these students have experienced the need for professional skills during their internship. Besides, they emphasize the need of obtaining these skills for future employment. From the analysis of the interviews, it also appears that IT students rather felt difficulty in obtaining communication skills then anxiety. A possible cause for this difficulty mentioned by students was the character of students and the influence of the teacher. To overcome this difficulty obtaining communication skills, students suggested that training skills in an authentic engineering situation is more effective than doing exercises with simulated cases. However, the results of this study did not yield a conclusive insight in the cause of increased anxiety, hence further research is needed.