18 educators participated in the first intake of the Research Fellows program, in which educators conduct research on their teaching practices. The first intake ran from September 2021 to July 2023 and was divided into four themes: Online and blended learning, (Formative) assessment and feedback, Didactics within specific disciplines, Pedagogical approaches.

Rosanne van Wieringen (IIS, former FMG) explored Impact Learning as a Research Fellow within the theme “Pedagogical Approaches”. She investigatedhis within the UvA wide educational initiative Placemaking: estafette for city makers, where students from different disciplines work in co-creation with local parties to improve the campus areas of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

The Placemaking team of teachers won the Dutch Education Prize of 2023; an amount of no less than 1.2 million euros, with which they can further develop their project.

Read Rosanne’s story and experiences as a research fellow below and also see the first results of her research.

More about Education Research Fellows Programme

Transformative competencies

“Universities are expected to train a new generation of academic professionals who can respond to societal challenges. Therefore, it is important that students are equipped with transformative competencies by experiencing transformative practices built into curricula. Transformative learning, about the process of actively changing a worldview, is therefore increasingly being introduced into academia. Placemaking provides education in which students experience transformative practice.” Transformative learning involves a different kind of learning: learning to look at a situation differently, learning to adopt a different perspective, developing a different frame. Transformative education is practical, experimental, co-creative, personalized, is about interdisciplinary learning, where students study multiple perspectives on the same topic.”

Student perspective on transformative learning

“The goal of this research is to understand what transformative learning means according to students. Therefore, this educational research focuses on students’ perspectives on what they perceive to be important competencies to become transformative practitioners. The key insights from the research are that while taking Placemaking, students did indeed acquire and improve competencies to shape transformative practices. These included competencies such as co-creating, collaborating with different stakeholders, creative thinking and action, problem and conflict resolution, and perseverance. Students also expressed that they did not feel fully competent in acting and solving challenges through a single experience. Therefore, this type of teaching should be reflected more often in the academic curriculum. In a more abstract sense, this research provided insight into the importance of articulating and reflecting on what and how students learn. Questioning what they learn is of mutual value; it made students’ learning experience more meaningful and created awareness in their competencies on the one hand, and it gave the instructor insight into what goes well and what could be better emphasized on the other.”

Two-year research track for teachers

“In the faculty (FMG) newsletter there was a call to participate, precisely also as a teacher, in the fellow track. With my then supervisor, program director Michaela Hordijk of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, we came up with a proposal of research and submitted it. That way I could be nominated from the FMG. After an intake with the supervisors of the track, I could start the two-year research track. The kick-off of this first batch of fellows started in June 2021. From the academic year 21/22 the official time of the trajectory started to run. During the monthly meeting with the project leaders/ supervisors of TLC and the other research fellows, it was nice to exchange experiences and get an idea of where others stand and what others are doing. There was room to reflect and provide each other with feedback. My supervisor from the TLC was Natalie Pareja Roblin. She was always available for a progress meeting and pushed me to get work done at the right times. The expertise that all the supervisors have in doing educational research is inspiring. Because it really is a different branch of doing research.”

It is valuable and relevant to conduct research on the education we provide

“The research cycle has been completed and the 2-year term is over. In June 2023, together with the other fellows, I presented the results of the research. Everyone presented the results in a poster. In it everything is in a nutshell and I think it is also perfectly readable for a layman. The research article I want to write about the research and its interesting results is almost finished. What the track has taught me is that it is valuable and relevant to do research on the education we provide. It gives insight into why we do what we do and how we can improve that education by making it more relevant to the students’ lives. For me, the added value of this trajectory is that time is offered to reflect on education in a research-based manner and to be able to introduce supported and substantiated educational innovations. The value of education has thus been made more important than it already is at the UvA. The track demonstrates the importance of education in a research-driven educational institution. The value of Placemaking education has proven itself, as it has won the Dutch Education Prize of 2023! A great honor! The jury particularly praised the way social and personal impact is made with Placemaking in different ways. That we are making that impact with Placemaking education we were able to demonstrate in part by doing this educational research project!”

Tips from Rosanne for future research fellows

“Focus your research on an educational issue that you face in your daily work so that it connects with your teaching and its (continued) development.

What I ran into is monitoring the time it takes to conduct thorough research into an educational practice. Doing this research often got snowed under by daily (teaching) tasks. Therefore, my tip for future research fellows is to block out a half-day in the week when you will be working on the research.

It also helps to find a fellow doing similar research or someone from the program or faculty who can act as a critical friend. This helps in staying sharp and staying on task.”