Category Archives: Innovative teaching

Entering into the “Transition Twenties”

For my blog followers 2019 must have been disappointing, with only three blogs in the past 12 months. I put my available time instead in writing a paper for the CESAER university network “Engineering Education for 21st Century Europe“, and … Continue reading

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Integrated-learning-in-context as a holy grail?

After the MIT/Olin Colloquium late April, I took the chance to learn more about the highly praised teaching and learning method at Olin College. Its keywords are integrated learning in context, design thinking and intrinsic motivation. At Olin the students … Continue reading

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A colloquium to influence the global state of engineering education

Late April 2019 an illustrious cohort of 76 creative, passionate, and engaged educators, thought leaders, educational entrepreneurs, directors, administrators, students and change makers from 16 institutions from around the world gathered at MIT and Olin College. Their purpose was to … Continue reading

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How the pilot of the Joint Interdisciplinary Master Project fell into place

In my June 2018 blog about the Joint Interdisciplinary Project I presented the background and first steps in the development of a 10-week full-time interdisciplinary project for second-year Master students at TU Delft, under the auspices of the 4TU.Centre for … Continue reading

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Success in study and career highly depends on grit

September 15, 2018 TU Delft was thrilled by the success of the Human Power Team. This student team won the world speed challenge for women for cycling in the Nevada desert with a speed of 120 km/h. Two weeks later, … Continue reading

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The magic of an Unconference on Impact-Focused Education

Mid July I received a personal invitation to join an “Impact-Focused Education Unconference” at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. I was skeptic about the unconference with its wordings of “unplanning” and “unorganisation”, but decided to discover new pathways toward innovative best … Continue reading

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Can staff competencies sufficiently be enhanced through Kaizen?

Today’s higher engineering education faces an existential crisis. The changing world of work, the blurring of boundaries between disciplines and between industry and academic boundaries, the rise of continuous learning, the evolving globalisation and digital behaviour, and the increasing international … Continue reading

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Joint Interdisciplinary Master Project at TU Delft: the idea whose time has come.

Thursday 24 May, Buccaneer Delft, the 4TU.Centre for Engineering Education, TU Delft staff, students, and industries organised the kick-off of the so-called Joint Interdisciplinary Project (JIP) pilot for about 30 Master engineering students. The location was  special: the Buccaneer, a … Continue reading

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Six driving forces that will fuel change in TU Delft education 2018-2024

What kind of university TU Delft strives to be? What changes does TU Delft foresee in its engineering education for the next six years? In January 2018 TU Delft published its updated TU Delft Vision on Education 2018-2024 and Strategic … Continue reading

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Only a consolidated body of knowledge enables professionals to connect the dots

Post written by Birgit Pepin, 4TU.CEE leader of TU Eindhoven “To navigate through such uncertainty, students will need to develop curiosity, imagination, resilience and self-regulation; they will need to respect and appreciate the ideas, perspectives and values of others; and … Continue reading

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Hands-on learning the new mantra for engineering education at TU Eindhoven

February 1st, the day after the second National Interdisciplinary Education Conference (NIEC 2018), the Eindhoven team of the 4TU.Centre for Engineering Education organised the Education Innovation Day at TU Eindhoven (TU/e). I got the invitation to run two workshops on … Continue reading

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What if 200 engineering deans are thrilled by the futurist Industry 4.0, but nobody has the courage to adapt the curriculum?

Mid October 2017 over 200 engineering deans from all over the world convened the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) at Niagara Falls to discuss “issues of importance to engineering education”: the exponential change in engineering and technology, its impact on … Continue reading

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Can Virtual Reality enhance our education?

“VR/AR will prepare students for Industry 4.0”; “Engineering education cannot keep up with the pace of change in technology”; “We don’t know what the implications are of VR/AR technology on teaching and learning”; “VR/AR is the next frontier in education”; … Continue reading

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How to transform disposable fulltime lecturers into innovative power?

Research universities have put the primary focus on the quality of research already for decades. Scientific staff is encouraged to research and publish. Appraisal cycles and career advancement rest on research achievements, with teaching achievement playing only a marginal role, … Continue reading

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If you can’t change your curriculum fast enough with innovation and entrepreneurial skills, try a complementary programme

After the CDIO Annual Conference in June, an icewalk on the Athabasca glacier, a visit to Lake Louise with its vivid turquoise waters, followed by a hike to Lake Agnes in the Banff National Park, and spectacular views of the … Continue reading

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Do professional role models or profiles enable students to jump head-first into the world of work, get the job they really want, and achieve results?

Why do so many students begin an academic study in engineering? Often it is the promising good employability! Is n’t it surprising then that many students in academic engineering studies start thinking about their future career at a late stage … Continue reading

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A workshop about worldwide innovations in engineering education. Be inspired or confused.

What if 86% of the employers in your country would say they have difficulty in recruiting people with the right skills? You think it is unrealistic? It is not. A recent study (2016-2017) about talent shortage  by ManpowerGroup shows that … Continue reading

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Different ways to include Global Engineering Preparedness and Entrepreneurial Mindset Learning in engineering programmes

In my role of the TU Delft academic liaison for the Global E3 university network I attended the Global E3 Annual Meeting in Bethlehem (US) 22-26 May. This city is home to Bethlehem Steel, famous for its historic huge steel … Continue reading

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If you can invent a second wheel, you don’t want to reinvent the wheel, do you?

“The guy who invented the first wheel must have been an idiot. The guy who invented the other three was a genius”. Reinventing wheels This quote by Sid Caesar illustrates that (scientific) discoveries in technology need further development to raise … Continue reading

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What trends and developments do 70 engineering deans in Europe care about most?

Deans of engineering programmes face a wide range of rapid developments. Interdisciplinary engineering research and education are gaining momentum. Yet, teachers and researchers are struggling with the boundaries that are created by departments and faculties, and current metrics for performance … Continue reading

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