Successful symposium Present-day Practicals.
On the 29th of August 2017 Janine Geerling and Marjo de Graauw, together with their collaborating partners at Kryt B.V., organized a national symposium on Present-day Practicals. During this first edition the focus was on the implementation and use of the digital support tool LabBuddy within practical courses.
What did we learn during this first edition?
Over 60 participants (teachers, educational advisors, ICTO members) from around the Netherlands joined to hear various speakers sharing insights on this years focus from recent educational literature and from their own experiences. The participants learned why the cognitive overload of students is often immense during undergraduate practicals, that the learning outcomes should be better aligned with the learning activities and assessments, and that students learn most when implementing a whole-task during a practical course. Five speakers from Wageningen University, Radboud University Nijmegen and Leiden University showed the participants how the digital support tool LabBuddy is used to overcome one or more of these issues in their own practical course(s).
Will there be a second edition?
The purpose of this symposium series is to increase the quality of laboratory education based on recent insights from educational literature and insights from teachers’ experiences during practicals. Based on the overall positive evaluations by the participants, the organizers will definitively try organizing a second edition with a new theme. Participants indicated that this first edition stimulated their thinking about their own education. They liked the open atmosphere, sharing of first-hand experiences amongst teachers, and the opportunity to cherry-pick best ideas for their own practical(s).
Don’t hesitate contacting us if you have questions and/or have suggestions for the next symposium on Present-day-Practicals!