The studies reported in this thesis were situated in the context of an innovation of Dutch secondary school biology curricula. As in any innovation, the practical knowledge of teachers determine... Show moreThe studies reported in this thesis were situated in the context of an innovation of Dutch secondary school biology curricula. As in any innovation, the practical knowledge of teachers determine the outcomes through the decisions they make while planning and teaching their lessons. The aim of the studies was to clarify the relation between teacher knowledge and the decisions they make while designing innovative lessons, in order to be able to effectively support teacher professional development. The results show that the design decisions teachers make when planning their lessons are guided by personal rules-of-thumb, which are strongly associated with desired lesson outcomes, such as having fun, having students understand the relevance of biological concepts, or triggering preconceptions. Such rules-of-thumb and desired outcomes can be represented in the form of a so-called goal system. Especially the core goals in such a system predict the way a teacher will interpret and implement an innovation. The studies further show that innovative lesson design can be effectively supported by a combination of model lessons and heuristics. More extensive design models, on the other hand, seem to be less effective, because such models fail to align with teachers’ preferred design routines. Show less
In higher education, group learning activities (GLAs) are frequently implemented in online, blended or face-to-face educational contexts. A major problem for the design and implementation... Show more In higher education, group learning activities (GLAs) are frequently implemented in online, blended or face-to-face educational contexts. A major problem for the design and implementation of good quality GLAs that lead to the desired learning outcomes is that many approaches to GLAs have been studied, but with different terminology and with various components of the design of GLAs. The central aim of this thesis was to provide insight into how teachers in higher education can be supported in the design, implementation, and evaluation of GLAs by developing a theoretically and empirically underpinned framework for the design of GLAs. In the first study, the beliefs and practices of teachers in higher education regarding collaborative learning were explored to establish whether there is a need for support in the design and implementation. In the other three studies, a framework was developed for the design, implementation and evaluation of GLAs, its empirical validity was examined and its usefulness for understanding the relation between GLA design and perceived learning outcomes was explored. Show less
