Ongoing Grassroots

Grant holder:

Dr. Tom van Riet – Medical Specialist Amsterdam UmC, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Pathology

The objective is to improve the education of dental students in tooth extraction. Therefore,  the knowledge and experience, gained from research on the forces required for successful extraction, will be integrated into the curriculum. The goal is to create a training setup using a force meter. This setup allows students to practice tooth extraction on plastic or cadaver jaws, with optimal feedback provided through an interface. The collected data also contributes to developing a virtual setup for future use.

The project aims to validate the effectiveness of the training setup through a questionnaire validated by the Faculty of Psychology at UvA. The questionnaire measures the self-confidence of dental students in tooth extraction. Ultimately, the project aims to improve the student’s proficiency and confidence in tooth extraction. This benefits both the students and their future patients.

Grant holder:

Prof.dr. E.T. (Ed) van Bavel – Professor of Vascular Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine

This project aims to create a simulation environment that enables medical students and others to better understand the regulation of glucose and diabetes. A simulation of this kind is currently not available worldwide. The current alternatives are either too simple (illustrations, videos) or too complex and based on non-standard digital environments. The simulation will allow students to ‘play’ with food intake and insulin injections and -pumps. It also provides them with information on the glucose levels and damage that can be caused by high glucose.

This project helps students understand physiological control systems. This is not only essential for the treatment of diabetes but also contributes to a better understanding of physiology in general. All the building necessities are already available and the simulation will be integrated into a structured self-study program. It is initially developed as a standalone laptop application and will eventually be made available online with free access for academic purposes.

Grant holder:

Jeanine L. Suurmond – Faculty of Medicine

This project aims to create an interactive web-based map of Amsterdam. The map will allow students to click on a person’s image residing in a particular neighbourhood to gain insight into their health status and social determinants. These social determinants include poverty, housing, education, and neighbourhood safety. Additionally, the map displays indirect factors affecting health determinants such as the number of bus lines, supermarkets, day-care centers, and medical facilities in a neighbourhood.

This interactive map enables students to complete tasks such as describing an anamnesis if one of these people were to visit the clinic or adding a person to the map based on their research. By providing a comprehensive understanding of the social and health determinants affecting individuals, the project educates students and promotes effective patient care.

Grant holder:

Robert L. Hulsman – Faculty of Medicine

The objective of the project is to develop an e-learning tool for second-year medical students that prepares them for conducting their first difficult conversations with patients.  The e-learning tool consists of an interactive and engaging online platform. This platform will use video examples of medical professionals conducting difficult conversations with simulated patients. These videos are recorded with the Audio Visual Center at UvA and incorporated into an e-learning tool developed with Articulate Storyline and Kaltura. The goal is to provide students with practical skills and knowledge they can apply in their future medical careers.

Grant holder:

Tim M. Feenstra – Faculty of Medicine

This project trains and assesses the suturing skills of medical students more effectively. Due to limited resources and feedback in operating rooms and surgical training, adequately developing students’ suturing skills can be challenging. Therefore, the project aims to train Artificial Intelligence algorithms to evaluate videos of suturing skills on suture pads used for training.

By being provided with structured feedback, students will improve their suturing skills and be better prepared for clinical work during their surgical clerkship. Ultimately, the project aims to improve the confidence and competence of medical students in performing surgical procedures.

Grant holder:

C.J. (Chei) Billedo – Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, CW: Youth & Media Entertainment

The main objective of using the ‘Civinc’ chat application in class is to provide students with a safe and anonymous environment.  An environment that allows them to discuss and reflect on issues related to good representation in the media. By discussing opposing views, students are able to differentiate their personal opinions from scientifically-informed positions. It also helps them to surface their biases.

The use of ‘Civinc’ encourages critical thinking and the use of evidence-based research to support group positions. Ultimately, the use of the app aims to equip students with the tools to make informed recommendations for media content creators. Previous success suggests that it may be useful for other courses and contexts as well.

Grant holder:

Dr. M.A. (Mathijs) Booden – Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Powl Docenten ILO

The objective of this project is to enable synchronous coaching for the course ‘Onderwijspraktijk’. This course is the practical component of the ILO teacher training program. The synchronous coaching technique benefits the course because it allows teachers-in-training to receive immediate feedback on their teaching practice during a lesson.

Grant holder:

Stephanie K. Medlock – Faculty of Medicine

The objective of this project is to set up a second instance of OpenMRS that can be used across multiple courses. The current instance, contrarily, is refreshed every 3 weeks and is suitable for use in a single course only. The goal is to enable interdisciplinary training and facilitate the exchange of information among different courses. Additionally, the project aims to assess the impact of OpenMRS on the curricula where it is being used.

Grant holder:

Prof. dr. ir. F.T. (Franciska) de Vries – Professor of Earth Surface Science, Faculty of Science, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

The objective of this project is to develop visual aids for students. These visual aids help the understanding of the vital role played by interactions between plant roots and soil organisms in food production, soil formation, and ecosystem processes. The project aims to collaborate with soil experts, plant biologists, and designers. This collaboration will benefit the development of visually compelling representations that can be used in classroom lectures, field trips, and lab sessions.

The project also evaluates the effectiveness of these visual aids in improving student comprehension and knowledge retention. Therefore, it lays the foundation for the development of new soil ecology courses at the university. Ultimately, this project promotes the importance of these interactions between plant roots and soil organisms. So that the future generation of soil scientists and ecologists will understand and appreciate this importance.

Grant holder:

Dr. M. (Marlies) Oostland – Assistant Professor in Cellular and Circuit Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences

Recent technological advancements have revolutionized systems neuroscience research. These advancements simultaneously allow for the measurement and manipulation of the activity of tens to hundreds of neurons within a waking, moving animal. However, this has not yet been widely incorporated into undergraduate education. Backyard Brains is a portable and affordable setup for the required technology. It could provide an opportunity for students to conduct in vivo electrophysiology experiments themselves.

The Grassroots grant enables the purchase of multiple Backyard Brains setups to be used in the Biology, Biomedical Sciences, and Psychobiology programs. The hardware can be used in different ways across various courses, allowing students to gain practical experience with neuron networks and behaviour.

Grant holder:

Dr. C.R. (Nina) Scheres – Faculty of Science, College of Life Sciences, College of Science

The objective is to develop a digital platform that facilitates easy and increased interaction among honours students in Life Sciences (BMW, PB, and Bio). The platform will allow students to create profiles and  communicate with each other. And additionally, to find information about the honours program and courses, access an interactive calendar of honours events, and showcase their work.