Education Research Fellows Programme
In September 2021, the UvA TLC network launched the interfaculty ‘Education Research Fellows Programme’. The programme supports UvA teachers in conducting research into their ow teaching practice, and thereby contribute to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at the UvA. Its goal: to better understand student learning and improve teaching.
Activities and guidance from the programme
UvA teachers participating in this programme set up and then carry out their own SoTL project for 1 day a week for two years. In addition, the Education Research Fellows Programme offers monthly meetings in the form of guest lectures or working sessions. The fellows also receive individual support from a mentor with knowledge and experience in conducting educational research. Their (preliminary) results are shared in a symposium organized annually by the programme.
18 UvA teachers participated in the first cohort of the programme, which ran from September 2021 until July 2023. The programme’s second cohort consists of 14 participants and has started in September 2023.
Goals of the Education Research Fellows Programme
- Encourage an evidence-informed approach to teaching and learning.
- Develop expertise to conduct systematic research on one’s own teaching practice.
- Actively share research findings with colleagues within one’s own faculty and beyond.
- Community building in the field of SoTL through contact with other fellows from their own cohort and with fellows from other batches.
First batch of fellows
18 educators participated in the first batch of the programme between September 2021 and July 2023. Read more about their studies and results.
Second batch of fellows
The second batch of fellows started in September 2023. In the overview below, you can read which fellows have started their research.
About the research
Teaching ‘Difficult’ Topic
Today’s students are turning the critical lens with which we teach our budding social scientists to look at the world back upon their own education at the UvA to question issues such as social inequality, racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, environmental injustice, and ‘Western’ academic hegemony. This project explores qualitatively the experiences (central concerns, main grievances, needs and wishes) of students and teachers at FMG related to such ‘difficult’ subjects in academia. Informed by Critical Pedagogy, in this research project, higher education is situated in historical and political context, and the traditional power dynamics of holders of knowledge (teachers) and recipients of knowledge (students) is disrupted.
About the research
Universities have seen a rapid increase in the number of teachers for educational tasks. To strengthen their teaching capacity, universities are promoting teacher careers through professional development opportunities. One such initiative has been a structural policy allocation of 0,2 fte for the scholarly development of teaching staff at the University of Amsterdam. An understanding of academic teachers’ behavior towards their scholarly development is needed to match future implementation strategies for professional development. This article assumes that teachers’ scholarly development can be conceptualised as the development of a ‘research disposition’; as both consumers and producers of research – to improve their practice and contribute to the knowledge base on teacher education.
René Glastra-van Loon is educational advisor and trainer at UvA Teaching & Learning Centres (TLC-Central).
About the research
Clinical competences in Extended Reality: Train before you treat
The extended reality training tool, Dente, aims to enhance undergraduate dental students’ transition from preclinical to clinical training, boosting academic performance, confidence, and well-being. Master 1 students will be divided into control and study groups, undergoing initial physical model tests (T0). The study group receives additional Dente training guided by an assessing teacher, while the control group attends regular sessions without Dente. Both groups face a subsequent model test (T1), compared via a rubric. Student self-perception, confidence, and simulator satisfaction will be assessed via questionnaire. Additionally, the simulator’s educational validity will be considered.
About the research
Using literature as a tool in language education class and how to asses
How can we use literature in the language class to achieve a better level of both linguistic and cultural knowledge? What are effective ways of assessment when literature is used in the language class?
Traditional language methods often emphasize grammar and vocabulary, lacking authenticity. Integrating literature offers a more holistic understand of language and culture. I will conduct a literary study. Based on this study texts will selected, and new types of assessments will be tested. Students will be asked to answer a pre- and post- course questionnaire, to evaluate the course and the assessments.
About the research
What: Multidisciplinary team meetings (MDTM) are meetings with healthcare professionals of several disciplines and professions discussing individual patient cases to determine the diagnosis and /or treatment. MDTMs are an opportunity to train the interprofessional skills of healthcare students. Which is, because of the evolving healthcare landscape, very important now. In the master of Medicine, students get MDTM simulation training and have to participate in MDTMs during their clerkships.
We want to investigate the (experienced) teamprocess (do students cross boundaries of their own discipline?), the quality of the diagnosis and treatment and process guidance of the teacher during the MDTM simulation training.
Why: To improve the quality of the training
How: By making audio recordings of the simulation MDTM and using the app Equitymaps, developing questionaries about boundary crossing for the students and set up focusgroups for the teachers and students.
About the research
Care for Courses
Do you know a course with low pass rates or unfavorable evaluations year after year? I bet you do: these are the courses students (you?) have nightmares about. The teacher tried several improvements, but it simply did not work. Frustrating for both teacher and students! Our newly started multidisciplinary Care for Courses team helps the teacher by analyzing the deeper-rooted causes and suggesting promising interventions. The Care team consist of a data analyst, an educational specialist, an assessment specialist and of course the teacher. How to make this multidisciplinary Care for Courses team work effective and efficient? In this research a systemic approach for the Care team is developed and tested.
About the research
In educational practice, Intensive Longitudinal Methods (ILM) can help to understand and enhance learning experiences. By collecting frequent, real-time data on students’ activities, emotions, and engagement levels, educators gain insights into and intervene in individualized learning trajectories. ILM empowers students to reflect on their learning processes, supports teachers in refining instructional strategies, and aids administrators in shaping institutional policies. Despite its benefits, ILM presents challenges such as data overload and privacy concerns, necessitating careful implementation. Leveraging mobile technology and sophisticated analysis techniques, ILM offers a promising avenue for personalized and responsive education tailored to students’ evolving needs.
About the research
Transdisciplinary education: does using a simulation tool in a course advances student development in the core aspects of transdisciplinary education?
This research studies the meaningful and feasible ways in which non-academic perspectives can be included into higher education. This transdisciplinary integration teaches students how to deal with uncertainties and interests of stakeholders while developing meaningful solutions to societal problems and adds to student’s perspective taking capacities. However, creating linkages between students and outside actors in the context of an educational program is challenging, amongst others because of planning and availability issues. Therefore, in this study a simulation tool will be developed and tested, to be used in courses to mimic a situation to include non-academic voices.
Other fellows (information about their research to follow)
| Naam | Faculteit |
| Inge van der Welle | FMG |
| Nicos Starreveld | FNWI |
| Carlos Serrano | ACTA |
| Dora Achourioti | AUC |
| Sandra Cornelisse | FNWI |
| Dominic Teodorescu | FMG |
| Regina Nockerts | FMG |
Related articles
Below you find our articles related to the Education Research Fellows Programma.
SIG Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
The SIG Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) aims to bring teachers who are interested in researching their own teaching practices together.
Recap: ISSOTL conference with UvA TLC researcher Svenne Groeneweg
Hundreds of academics from around the world gathered to talk about the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). UvA TLC researcher Svenne Groeneweg hosted a session with three other panellists from different higher education institutions on the different SoTL programmes here.
Rubrics: (when) are they useful as an assessment tool?
Research Fellow Joost van Kordelaar (FMG, former FNWI) researched rubrics as an assessment tool within the theme of (Formative) assessment and feedback. The psychometric properties of rubrics and assessor satisfaction formed the core of his project. He developed a dashboard that allows assessors to analyze psychometric properties, such as validity and reliability, of their rubrics. In addition, he examined assessor satisfaction of rubrics with a questionnaire survey.
Impact Learning in the Placemaking course: estafette for city makers
Rosanne van Wieringen (IIS, former FMG) is 1 of the researchfellows who investigated her own teaching practice with the aim of better understanding and improving it. Rosanne investigated what Impact Learning and transformative learning mean to Placemaking students.
First batch Research Fellows Programme
18 teachers participated in the first batch of the Education Research Fellows Programme, which ran from September 2021 to July 2023. The first results of the projects are now known.