‘The quality of research at this university is getting better and better, if the evaluation of the Peer Review committees is anything to go by. They declared a full 20 chair groups ‘excellent’. Cause for celebration. Source: http://resource.wageningenur.nl/en/science/show/Great-scores-for-Wageningen-research.htm

 

During recent presentations I have listed various learning (and education) theories (without having the time to elaborate on these, except for competence theory). The list is requested by various colleagues, and is as follows: Continue reading Learning theories listed

The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, from the flagship landgrant university of Texas, Texas A&M University at College Station, as well as the Association of Professional Futurists in the USA, invited me to share my thoughts about the future of education. Inclined to see this question in the perspective of competence domains which will be important during the next decade or two, I have brought together a number of these domains which we have been and still are studying at the Education and Competence Studies group of Wageningen University. Continue reading Future-oriented competence domains listed

These are a couple of photo impressions of my tour from Houston to Atlanta during the last three weeks. I had the privilege to meet with various colleagues and present in the field of Agricultural Education and Extension and Educational Sciences at Texas A&M in College Station, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, and Georgia State University in Atlanta. Continue reading Photo impressions of tour to USA October 2015

‘By securing the 47th place on the renowned Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, Wageningen University can now officially call itself one of the fifty best universities in the world. Excellent results in the area of research, teaching and citations compared with other universities were largely responsible for Wageningen’s high score. Furthermore, Wageningen finished way ahead of all other Dutch universities on this list’. Source:

http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/newsarticle/Times-Higher-Education-Rankings-Wageningen-University-among-the-50-best-universities-in-the-world.htm

Elsbeth Spelt is defending her PhD thesis on October 26, at 11:00hrs in the Aula of Wageningen University, Generaal Foulkesweg 1, Wageningen, the Netherlands. The thesis describes an application of the constructive alignment theory of Biggs and Tang and the learning theory of Illeris to advance the current scientific understanding on teaching and learning of interdisciplinary thinking in higher education. The developed conceptual framework shows aspects of teaching and learning of interdisciplinary thinking that may need to be taken into account by teachers in higher engineering education. Further research and implications are provided to improve education on interdisciplinary thinking. The thesis is available online: http://www.my-thesis.nl/spelt.html Continue reading Elsbeth Spelt’s PhD thesis defence October 26, 11:00hrs Aula of Wageningen University

Research about complex problem solving and opportunity identification competence is published in the International Journal of Lifelong Education. Full reference: Baggen, Y., Mainert, J., Lans, T., Biemans, H.J.A., Greiff, S. & Mulder, M. (2015). Linking complex problem solving to opportunity identification competence within the context of entrepreneurship. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 34, 4, p.p. 412-429. DOI: 10.1080/02601370.2015.1060029. See: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02601370.2015.1060029

The peer review of the Wageningen School for Social Sciences resulted in excellent scores for the chair group Education and Competence Studies. For all assessment criteria, Research quality, Relevance to society and Viability, the group received the maximum score of ‘excellent’. Thanks to all who have contributed to this fantastic result!

On September 23 a series of Master Degree ceremonies were held. See impressions Continue reading Impressions of Master graduations at Wageningen University

On September 10, during the Open Business Meeting of the Vocational Education and Training NETwork (VETNET) at the European Conference of Educational Research (ECER) in Budapest, Pekka Kämäräinen was appointed as Honorary Member VETNET for his enduring commitment for the network. Again: well-deserved and congratulations! Thanks Ludger Deitmer for these pictures. Continue reading Pekka Kämäräinen appointed as Honorary Member VETNET