The delicate balance between teaching and research in university makes professional agency an imperative topic to be studied in teacher development research. The importance of teacher agency for p...Show moreThe delicate balance between teaching and research in university makes professional agency an imperative topic to be studied in teacher development research. The importance of teacher agency for professional development and sustainable educational change is increasingly recognized. This interview study highlights lecturers’ experiences regarding ways to influence and develop their teaching practices. Lecturers stated that they would like to do more educational development. Findings also indicate that the concept of professional agency should be adapted to the particular context of university teaching. Our study therefore provides a more specific interpretation of professional agency applied to teaching. Show less
Rumiantsev, T.; Rijst, R.M. van der; Admiraal, W. 2023
Introduction: Although learning-centred education would be most effective if all medical educators held learning-centred beliefs, many educators still hold teaching-centred beliefs. A previously... Show moreIntroduction: Although learning-centred education would be most effective if all medical educators held learning-centred beliefs, many educators still hold teaching-centred beliefs. A previously developed theoretical model describes a relationship between beliefs, educational identity and ‘mission,’ meaning that which inspires and drives educators. To increase our understanding of why educators hold certain beliefs, we explored the empirical relationship between educators’ beliefs and their awareness of their educational identity and mission. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews with medical educators. We performed a deductive thematic analysis employing two existing models to examine educators’ beliefs about teaching and learning and their awareness of their educational identity and mission. Results: Educators demonstrated both teaching-centred and learning-centred beliefs, which aligned with an awareness of their educational identity and mission. While educators who were unaware of both their identity and mission displayed teaching-centred beliefs, educators aware of their identity and mission displayed learning-centred beliefs. Those who were aware of their identity, but not their mission, displayed either teaching- or learning-centredness. Conclusions: Medical educators’ awareness of identity and mission are related to their beliefs about education. Further research is needed into whether beliefs can change over time by increasing identity and mission awareness. Show less
Over the past forty years, scholars have been studying students’ choice of higher education programmes to unravel the complexity of the choice process. Recent studies have shown that students may... Show moreOver the past forty years, scholars have been studying students’ choice of higher education programmes to unravel the complexity of the choice process. Recent studies have shown that students may commit to a programme, i.e. they make a choice to enrol in that programme, when they find a programme that attunes well with their interests. Students may nonetheless decide to switch from one programme to another before final enrolment and research has not yet sufficiently explained why they do that. The present study therefore focused on the mechanisms underlying students changing their minds after they had previously committed to a higher education programme. Eighteen semi-structured interviews with Dutch pre-university students in their final year at school were held just before final enrolment: students retraced their higher education programme choice process over time with the help of a timeline and a storyline. Interviews were thematically analysed. We identified two mechanisms whereby students, sometimes quite suddenly, switched in their commitment from one programme to another and two mechanisms that could hold them back from committing to another programme despite having doubts. This paper provides detailed theoretical insight into how students make higher education programme choices over time and concludes with practical recommendations on how to support students. Show less
Ottenhoff, M.W.; Hoeven, I. van der; Gesundheit, N.; Rijst, R.M. van der; Kramer, A.W.M. 2021
Background: The educational beliefs of medical educators influence their teaching practices. Insight into these beliefs is important for medical schools to improve the quality of education they... Show moreBackground: The educational beliefs of medical educators influence their teaching practices. Insight into these beliefs is important for medical schools to improve the quality of education they provide students and to guide faculty development. Several studies in the field of higher education have explored the educational beliefs of educators, resulting in classifications that provide a structural basis for diverse beliefs. However, few classification studies have been conducted in the field of medical education. We propose a framework that describes faculty beliefs about teaching, learning, and knowledge which is specifically adapted to the medical education context. The proposed framework describes a matrix in which educational beliefs are organised two dimensionally into belief orientations and belief dimensions. The belief orientations range from teaching-centred to learning-centred; the belief dimensions represent qualitatively distinct aspects of beliefs, such as ‘desired learning outcomes’ and ‘students’ motivation’.Methods: We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 26 faculty members, all of whom were deeply involved in teaching, from two prominent medical schools. We used the original framework of Samuelowicz and Bain as a starting point for context-specific adaptation. The qualitative analysis consisted of relating relevant interview fragments to the Samuelowicz and Bain framework, while remaining open to potentially new beliefs identified during the interviews. A range of strategies were employed to ensure the quality of the results.Results: We identified a new belief dimension and adapted or refined other dimensions to apply in the context of medical education. The belief orientations that have counterparts in the original Samuelowicz and Bain framework are described more precisely in the new framework. The new framework sharpens the boundary between teaching-centred and learning-centred belief orientations.Conclusions: Our findings confirm the relevance of the structure of the original Samuelowicz and Bain beliefs framework. However, multiple adaptations and refinements were necessary to align the framework to the context of medical education. The refined belief dimensions and belief orientations enable a comprehensive description of the educational beliefs of medical educators. With these adaptations, the new framework provides a contemporary instrument to improve medical education and potentially assist in faculty development of medical educators. Show less
A central aim of university teaching is to transform students’ conceptual understanding of disciplinary knowledge. In order to achieve this, lecturers make decisions on subject matter and teaching... Show moreA central aim of university teaching is to transform students’ conceptual understanding of disciplinary knowledge. In order to achieve this, lecturers make decisions on subject matter and teaching approaches. However, there seems to be little attention for the role of subject matter pedagogy in university teaching. This study aims to explore a knowledge base of teaching through lecturers’ accounts of a relation between subject matter, theory and practice in Child and Education Studies (CES). Four narratives of the lecturers suggest that subject matter is central to how a relation between theory and practice is taught. At the same time, orientation towards teaching was relevant to teaching subject matter. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that every lecture runs into their own limits when teaching theory and practice. The findings suggest that university pedagogy is informed by specific subjects rather than the discipline. Implications for teaching and academic development are discussed Show less
Background: Mentors guide students in their challenges at school and in life. At-risk students in last-resort programs who are at a high risk of leaving school unqualified are especially in need of... Show moreBackground: Mentors guide students in their challenges at school and in life. At-risk students in last-resort programs who are at a high risk of leaving school unqualified are especially in need of highly competent and adaptive mentors. This study therefore aimed to identify mentor qualities as perceived by at-risk students and their mentors that meet students’ needs and mentors’ capabilities.Methods: Face-to-face individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with students and mentors of two specialized programs in the Netherlands. Sensitizing concepts, derived from literature, were used to identify themes. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analyses and was validated by performing an audit.Results: The mentor qualities that at-risk students and their mentors reported were classified in three different themes. Mentor tasks consisted of guiding and motivating students and providing them with tangible methods of support. Relationships between mentor and student were based on levels of respect, equality, and bonding.Characteristics of mentors related to empathy, care, and trust.Research implications: Emotional responsiveness deserves further exploration as it appears to be an underlying concept of being a good mentor. Future research might explore mentor qualities in the context of other last-resort programs for at-risk students.Practical implications: Findings implicate that mentors have to walk a tightrope between keeping professional distance and being sensitive, suggesting constant attention to their professional development is needed.Originality: In the context of last-resort programs, an alternative perspective on mentoring at-risk students is outlined, based on perceptions of both students and mentors Show less
Vereijken, M.W.C.; Rijst, R.M. van der; Dekker, F.W.; Driel, J.H. van 2020
The learning benefits of peer assessment and providing peer feedback have been widely reported. However, it is still not understood which learning activities most facilitate the acquisition of... Show moreThe learning benefits of peer assessment and providing peer feedback have been widely reported. However, it is still not understood which learning activities most facilitate the acquisition of feedback skills. This study aimed to compare the effect of a modeling example, i.e., a model that demonstrated how to give feedback, on the acquisition of feedback skills. The participants were second-year bachelor students in pedagogical sciences (N = 111). They were assigned randomly to a practice condition, in which they practiced giving feedback on oral presentations, or a modeling example condition, in which a teacher demonstrated how to give feedback on a good and a bad presentation. Students then gave feedback to a presenter in a video (direct feedback measure). One week later, they gave each other peer feedback on oral presentations (delayed feedback measure). On the direct feedback measure, students in the modeling example condition used assessment criteria more often in their feedback, and produced significantly more overall feedback, and significantly more positive and negative judgments than students in the practice condition. There was no significant difference in the amount of elaboration and feed-forward between the two conditions. On the delayed feedback measure, there were no significant differences between the two experimental conditions. The results suggest that, at least in the short term, a modeling example can stimulate the use of assessment criteria and judgments in feedback. The results and implications for future research and practice are discussed. Show less
Rijst, R.M. van der; Verberg, C.P.M.; Post, L.; Admiraal, W.F. 2019
Curriculum development initiatives, especially those involving educational technologies, provide a rich learning space for university teachers. In-depth interviews with teaching staff (n = 11) were... Show moreCurriculum development initiatives, especially those involving educational technologies, provide a rich learning space for university teachers. In-depth interviews with teaching staff (n = 11) were qualitatively analysed to gain insight into the variety of individual learning paths and to identify potential relationships between learning paths, motivation, and conceptions of teaching and learning through educational technology. Three distinct learning paths relating to teachers’ learning preferences and activities were identified: learning by performing daily teaching activities; deliberately experimenting with new teaching approaches; and reflecting on teaching experiences. The relationships between learning paths and relevant factors are described and implications for professional development practices are discussed. Show less
Blankenstein, F.M. van; Saab, N.; Rijst, R.M. van der; Danel, M.S.; Bakker-Van den Berg, A.S.; Broek, P.W. van den 2018
Research skills are important for university graduates, but little is known about undergraduates’ motivation for research. In this study, self-efficacy beliefs and intrinsic motivation for several... Show moreResearch skills are important for university graduates, but little is known about undergraduates’ motivation for research. In this study, self-efficacy beliefs and intrinsic motivation for several research activities were measured three times during an undergraduate research project (N = 147 students). In order to promote self-efficacy for writing and collaboration, a collaboration script was developed and tested on half of the students. Twelve students were interviewed three times to gather in-depth information about motivational and self-efficacy beliefs. All measures except intrinsic motivation for research increased significantly during the project. Interview results suggest that enactive mastery and positive social interdependence promoted self-efficacy. Feelings of relatedness seemed to promote intrinsic motivation for writing. Lack of autonomy and low perceived relevance may explain why motivation for research remained stable. The script had no impact on self-efficacy beliefs. Relatedness, autonomy and positive social interdependence may boost motivation for research, but more evidence is needed. Show less
