Reason
Students grow up and study in a rapidly changing and complex world. Preparing them for their future field of work requires more than just knowledge transfer. The dynamic context requires a lifelong learning attitude and generic competences such as flexibility, critical thinking skills, collaboration skills, self-awareness and resilience. Several faculties are still looking for ways to effectively integrate these skills into their curricula. What are success factors for Personal and Professional Development (PPD) curricula in education at our university that enable us to respond to the demands of future professional practice?
Hypothesis
A future professional develops both in-depth subject knowledge and generic, cross-curricular competences. In recent years, several faculties have introduced individual programmes to guide students towards their role as professionals of the future, with an emphasis on PPD. The content of these programmes varies and is at different stages of development within faculties.
Desired solution
Using a research voucher, Nils, Annelies and Petra aim to investigate which educational interventions in the field of PPD are effective or can be developed. Their goal is to properly prepare current students for future challenges in the field. This research therefore focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of PPD and teacher professionalisation programmes, in collaboration with various faculties.
Plan of action
The study begins by conducting an inventory of the various PPD activities within the faculties of Radboud University, including content and review of programmes. Next, focus group interviews are conducted to explore views and misconceptions about what PPD is and should be. In addition, questionnaires are administered to teachers about their views on PPD, the need for professionalisation, and to explore the outcomes of existing initiatives. Finally, a longitudinal measurement instrument will be developed to evaluate the yield of the various PPD programmes, followed by evaluation among students and teachers. Maarten Dietz has been appointed to carry out the research. The results will be shared widely within the university at the end of the project.