Less sitting
Students spend a large part of their day sitting, yet prolonged sitting has negative effects on both physical and mental health. Nevertheless, physical activity is still barely integrated into university education.
With the project ‘Get academic education moving!’, Esther Tanck aims to change this. The goal is to make physical activity a natural part of academic education, starting within the Master’s programme in Biomedical Sciences.
Together with students and lecturers, the project is developing physically active teaching methods that suit various educational situations. These include walking coaching, varying working postures during group assignments, quiz questions that require students to move around the room, or short exercise breaks during lectures and seminars.
Healthy learning environment
In addition to developing new teaching methods, the project is working on a renewed educational vision in which physical activity is given a structural place. Lecturers are supported with workshops, practical examples and an inspiring online environment.
It is expected that incorporating more physical activity into the school day will help improve concentration, engagement and motivation, and enhance students’ well-being.
From master’s programme to wider impact
The project is launching within the Master’s programme in Biomedical Sciences, which has around 400 students, but the ambition extends further. In a later phase, the insights gained will also be applied within the Bachelor’s programmes in Biomedical Sciences and Medicine. In addition, the results will be shared with other faculties and universities.
In doing so, the project builds on previous experience with the TLC voucher project On the move at Biomedical Sciences. The new Comenius grant will enable this approach to be further developed, researched and sustainably embedded in education over a period of 2.5 years.
Project team
- Esther Tanck
- Moniek Munneke
- Alizeh Ahsan
- Jilke Ripping
- Danielle Dobbe
- David Drijkoningen
- Florieke Eggermont
