The article ‘Agricultural education in the Netherlands: from crystallizing to dissolving?’, of M. Mulder and H.J.A. Biemans, is just published. It goes into the recent national policy developments regarding agricultural education, or ‘green education’ as it is called, in the Netherlands. The Dutch government has decided to move the governmental responsibility to the Ministry of Education. This historic change may be good in terms of administrative efficiency, but it may be disastrous in terms of quality and effectiveness. Time will learn if green education, including Wageningen University, is sufficiently resilient to maintain its extremely high reputation.

Full reference: Mulder, M. & Biemans, H.J.A. (2018). Agricultural education in the Netherlands: from crystallizing to dissolving? The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 24(1), 1-5.

Download paper here: 2018 Mulder & Biemans – Agr Ed i t Neth from cr to diss – JAEE

Dear website visitor,

I wish you a Happy and Healthy 2018!!!

Thanks for visiting this site. As I wrote last year, it seems to fullfil a need, since each year more unique visitors (56K) seem to use the information from the site. The same holds for the number of visits (73K), the number of times pages were visited (1.3Mln) and the total number of hits (1,4Mln).

Thanks for your interest! Continue reading Happy and Healthy 2018!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2018!!!

Continue reading Merry Christmas and a Happy 2018!!!

As posted on December 5, the manuscript of  Machiel Bouwmans was accepted by the journal Educational Management Administration & Leadership. Today the manuscript is published online and is now downloadable. See the page ‘Publication List’ on this site.

Research of Elsbeth Spelt et al on interdisciplinary learning of student in higher science and engineering education has now been published in the European Journal of Engineering Education.

The research contends that students in the field of science and engineering need to work in interdisciplinary teams. As a consequence of this research is needed on teaching and learning of interdisciplinary thinking. In this study 615 student experiences were analysedusing the theory of Illeris who distinguishes three dimensions of learning: the cognitive, emotional, and social dimension. These  dimensions are very relevant in interdisciplinary work and learning, as understanding and accepting theories, concepts and strategies of ‘other’ disciplines implies a knowledge component, feelings about other views and interactions with professionals with different views and interests. Students reported 214, 194, and 207 times on these dimensions, thus showing that these are indeed important. For each learning dimension, students identified key learning experiences of interdisciplinary learning, such as understanding, frustration, and engaging with peers. The study showed that students appreciated the cognitive dimension relatively more than the emotional and social dimensions, which reflects the real difficulty of interdisciplinary teaching and learning.

Full reference:

Spelt, E., Luning, P.A., Boekel, T. van, & Mulder, M. (2017). A multidimensional approach to examine student interdisciplinary learning in science and engineering in higher education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 42(6), 761-774.

The publication can be downloaded from the page Publication List.

There has been an enormous growth in temporary agency workers, caused by the economic crisis since 2007. Who is responsible for providing opportunities for competence development of these workers? Workplaces of these workers give ample opportunities for workplace learning, but what about structural competence development? Is the temporary work agency responsible for this, the organization in which the worker is fulfilling an assignment, or the temporary worker him/herself? Find answers in the upcoming publication of Nienke Woldman et al, which is accepted for publication by Human Resource Development International.

Full reference: Woldman, N., R. Wesselink, P. Runhaar & M. Mulder (accepted). Supporting Temporary Agency Workers’ affective commitments: exploring the role of opportunities for competence development. Human Resource Development International.

As soon as the manuscript is published, more information will be given in this site.

The paper of Machiel Bouwmans et al on team-oriented HRD is accepted for publication in the journal Educational Management Administration & Leadership. When the paper is published we will give further information. For now, the reference is: Bouwmans, M., Runhaar, P., Wesselink, R., & Mulder, M. (Accepted December 5, 2017). Leadership ambidexterity: Key to stimulating team learning through team-oriented HRM? An explorative study among teacher teams in VET colleges. Educational Management Administration & Leadership.

Just back from the Launch Conference of the Journal of Vocational and Continuing Training, which was initiated by Professor Joy Papier, from the Institute of Post-School Studies of the Western Cape University, Cape Town, South Africa. I could only participate in the first day of the conference, but the speakers list was impressive, as is the intended list of members of the Editorial Board. The field of Vocational Education and Training research was missing an academic journal in the field from the African content, and because the scope of the journal will be pan-African, it will be a valuable asset for the field. Continue reading Impressions from Cape Town

Congratulations to Karen Evans, winner of the 2017 European Vocational Education and Training Research Award. Well deserved!

 

 

IQRA University in collaboration with the University of Education, Lahore is organizing an International Conference in the field of Education & Social Sciences. The conference will provide a platform for national and international academics and practitioners to present their research on innovative and current trends in the field of Education and Social Sciences. It is also an attempt to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners and bring them together to discuss the ideas for future. The focus of the conference is Building a Sustainable Future. Researchers are invited to submit their ideas in the form of extended abstracts (500 words) in the related fields. For further information: http://www.geistscience.com/conference18/international-conference-on-innovation-and-emerging-trends-in-education-social-sciences-2018/