The symposium highlighted the multifaceted and urgent nature of contemporary challenges in education. The Educational Leadership Programme offered by the Radboud Teaching and Learning Centre helps Radboud lecturers not only to reflect on these issues, but also to develop tools to tackle them together. Upon obtaining their certificate, participants join an inspiring community of education professionals who are committed to continuous innovation and quality improvement in higher education.
The symposium focused on three themes: The role of trust in education, What an AI opener! A thorough look at our testing, and The Value and Contribution of the Educational Leadership Programme. Participants Bas Verhoeven, Merel van der Wal, and Frank van Caspel share insights from the symposium.
The role of trust in education
"During the course, we explored how trust forms the basis for learning and development. At Roskilde University (Denmark), we saw how students are given responsibility within clear frameworks – a stark contrast to the highly controlled Dutch education system. Greater trust in students and lecturers can strengthen education at Radboud University and bring it more in line with our educational vision. This requires clearly formulated expectations, room for ownership and assessment that truly contributes to learning. By encouraging cooperation and dialogue between students and lecturers and utilising differences as a source of learning, we are building a culture of trust, commitment and growth." - Bas Verhoeven, Surgery Educator
What an AI opener! A thorough look at our assessment
"The emergence of generative AI is putting pressure on the validity of our assessment practices: a take-home essay, for example, no longer guarantees that learning objectives are actually being achieved. The traffic light approach (allowing or prohibiting AI) appears to be a false solution. For a valid assessment, we need to go back to basics: carefully formulate learning objectives and design our assessment methods in such a way that they actually measure what we intend to measure. During the sessions throughout the course, it became clear that lecturers want more time for structural revisions and advocate for a stronger design of learning objectives and the learning environment." - Merel van der Wal, Assistant Professor of Methods and Theme Leader of Educational Research at the Radboud Teaching and Learning Centre
The value and contribution of the Educational Leadership Course
"The programme creates a close-knit network of colleagues from all faculties and various disciplines who are passionate about education. This network is a powerful driver for interfaculty collaboration and educational innovation. The added value lies not only in individual development, but above all in the formation of a sustainable network that can support educational innovation across the university. Continuing the programme now requires strategic choices from administrators. Participants remain in contact with each other and will commit to continuing the process from the various positions they hold within the organisation." - Frank van Caspel, Lecturer in Philosophy of Cognition and Language
The Radboud Teaching and Learning Centre is proud of the new cohort of lecturers who can lead innovation in education.
