Prof. dr. Martin Kropff, Rector Magnificus, and Prof. dr. ir. Pim Brascamp, Director of the Education Institute of Wageningen University visit ECS

On March 2 2012 Prof. dr. Martin Kropff, Rector Magnificus, and Prof. dr. ir. Pim Brascamp, Director of the Education Institute of Wageningen University visit ECS. Staff members presented their research and education portfolios, and PhD students explained posters of their projects. The session proceeded in an excellent atmosphere, many questions were raised, and various interesting ideas were shared for further activities. ECS thanks both Prof. Kropff and Prof. Brascamp for their interest in the work of the chair group. Continue reading Prof. dr. Martin Kropff, Rector Magnificus, and Prof. dr. ir. Pim Brascamp, Director of the Education Institute of Wageningen University visit ECS

Dr Suzanne Verdonschot visits ECS

Dr Suzanne Verdonschot, board member of the Netherlands Association of HRD professionals (NVO2) visited ECS on March 2, 2012. The special tasks of Suzanne in the board is to link science with practice. ECS shared its programme with Suzanne, and the conclusion was that there are various opportunities for cooperation, since linking research with practice is also an important feature of the work of ECS. It was agreed that the NVO2 will help ECS in finding good candidates for PhD projects in the field of corporate training and competence development. Vacancies for these and other PhD projects are advertised on the website of ECS: www.ecs.wur.nl. NVO2 will also look into the possibility to link organisations with research of ECS. Finally ECS has stated that we are willing to organise professional meetings to share experience between researchers and practitioners.

Continue reading Dr Suzanne Verdonschot visits ECS

Prof. Carlos A. Gómez visited ECS

This week, Dr Carlos A. Gómez,  Professor Principal in the field of Zootechnology at the National Agricultural University La Molina in Lima, Peru, visited ECS. Ideas for cooperation in the field of agricultural education development were explored.

Manuscript of PhD-student Ester Alake-Tuenter accepted

The manuscript “Inquiry-based science education competencies of primary school teachers:  A literature study and critical review of the American National Science Education Standards” of PhD-student Ester Alake-Tuenter is accepted for publication in the International Journal of Science Education.

Continue reading Manuscript of PhD-student Ester Alake-Tuenter accepted

Impressions of mission to Kenya, February 13-18, 2012

Continue reading Impressions of mission to Kenya, February 13-18, 2012

Horticulture curriculum development project Kenya

A Dutch consortium, of which ECS is part, conducts a 4-year project on capacity and curriculum development in the field of horticulture. The project has a strong sector development character. The Kenyan partners are the Practical Training Center in the field of Horticulture (PTC),  the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Department of Horticulture of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). All partners have a strong commitment to innovate and revise existing and develop new education and training programs to serve the production sector. A PhD-project will be included. The PhD-project will be on showing the impact of the new education and training programs on human resources development in the sector, and sector development itself. We are searching for an excellent Kenyan candidate with strong educational research skills who can combine practical work with sound data collection and processing, and scientific writing skills. Continue reading Horticulture curriculum development project Kenya

AERA 2012 SIG Workplace Learning newsletter and program

The AERA 2012 SIG Workplace Learning newsletter and program is out (thanks Judith Brown). Welcome to the program, and hoping to seeing many of you. Continue reading AERA 2012 SIG Workplace Learning newsletter and program

New publication

As a result of the PhD project of Omid Noroozi, a new publication appeared in an edited volume on collaborative and distributed research in the field of e-learning. The full reference is: Noroozi, O., Biemans, H.J.A., Busstra, M.C., Mulder, M., Popov, V., & Chizari, M. (2012). Effects of the Drewlite CSCL platform on students’ learning outcomes. In: Juan, A., Daradoumis, T., Roca, M., Grasman, S. E., & Faulin, J.  (Eds.), Collaborative and Distributed E-Research: Innovations in Technologies, Strategies and Applications. Hershey: Information Science Reference (pp. 276-289). For more information check: http://www.igi-global.com/chapter/effects-drewlite-cscl-platform-students/63513

New horticulture curriculum development and research project in Kenya

ECS is going to conduct a project on horticulture curriculum development and research in Kenya. We did this also in Uganda and Ethiopia. The core of the project is to develop 11 curricula at BSc and MSc level. In this project we will again test the principles for competence-based education which we formulated and evaluated already in various studies. This time we are planning to start with a base-line measurement of competentiveness of the curricula and teaching practices. This will also be monitored during the course of the project, to see whether the project will add value on key variables such as practicality of the curriculum, interactivity in teaching and learning, authentic assessment and career development perspective. To stimulate the sustainability of the project results a Kenyan PhD-student will be selected to study the development, implementation and impact of the curricula. The project will last 4 years, so the final results will be expected in 2016.

Werkbezoek Helicon Boxtel

Naar aanleiding van de conferentie over examineren in het competentiegericht onderwijs heb ik een bezoek gebracht aan de Bestuursondersteuning van Helicon in Boxtel. Dat was zeer informatief. Later meer hierover.

Continue reading Werkbezoek Helicon Boxtel