The knowledge base Collaborating on Quality of Education and Student Success was developed by nine groups of experts of the Quality of Education Expertise Group. The knowledge base brings together a variety of relevant sources. A set of ten implementation principles enables lecturers to collaborate on improving the educational quality of their study programme.
Lecturers can use the knowledge base as working material. For instance, Machiel Blok, the Domain Advisor for the Marketing Management programme, started working with three communities at his study programme. He used the knowledge base as a tool to help develop a shared educational vision. Machiel talks about his special approach, “I think that every study programme should read the knowledge base and should start working with it.”
A tool with questions
During an off-site work retreat attended by leading lecturers and the chairman of the Marketing Management curriculum committee, Machiel made use of the knowledge base in a highly creative manner. Using AI, he created a tool containing questions incorporating information from the knowledge base and implementation principles. The responses provided by colleagues were processed into an analysis that they then reflected on. “The outcome was the best of both worlds: man and machine”, says Machiel. “In this way we put our vision on paper in one day.”
As a Domain Advisor, Machiel is enthusiastic about the tool. “The expertise of the circles surrounding the various aspects of educational quality is clear. It contains clear guidelines on what you, as a study programme team, should consider when developing your programme further and how you can discuss this with each other. When you speak a common language, this is reflected first in the vision and then in the actions. That is important.”
Student Participation
At the next meeting, the vision will be discussed with students in Years 2, 3 and 4. Machiel explains what that will be like, “We will ask students what they think of the current vision and what steps could be taken to realise the new one. We believe it is crucial for students to participate in developing the new vision, thereby adhering to the second implementation principle from the knowledge base that we have a clear picture of who our students are and what they need in order to develop a sense of learning and be inspired to learn.”
Knowledge base touches every lecturer’s work
Machiel has many other creative ideas for using the knowledge base, “I envisage a game that would enable study programme teams to work actively with the knowledge base,” he says. “Reading the document takes a couple of hours. If you then spend an hour and a half playing a game and discussing educational quality based on propositions, you will have made significant progress.”
Moreover, Machiel argues, you can inspire each other that way. “The knowledge base touches every lecturer's work. Everyone leaves the room after discussing it with the idea that it was very helpful to them.”