Under the heading of Research findings you find the research evidences available for higher education. Main topics are: the student, the teacher, the curriculum and the course level. The evidences can be used to design, develop and implement higher education. The research explains why some educational activities are very active and others are not. This understanding can be used by the teachers, students and management to improve the quality of their education.
The research topics are prepared by the staff working in the CEL.
Student level
Specific research is focused on the students. What is the influence of the students' personality on the study results? How can motivate the students? What is known about the study skills and the self study of the studnets in higher education? What support is necessry besides the activities of the teacher?
Teacher level
The role of the teachers is imortant, also in higher educ ation. What are the Teachers' qualities? What are possibilities for the teachers tp develop themselves? And what evidencies can be found in the education research to support the teachers in the design, development and theit teaching of complex skills.
Curriculum level
The curriculum is the students’ experience of learning: Teacher provides framework for learning within the discipline and responds to students’ needs and specific interests. Student engages with the knowledge of the discipline. The focus will be on the learning environment in which the students will study and learn. From research evidencies are availble how to design and develop a curriculum.
Course level
Learning environment
The crucial didactical element of a course is the learning environment (Short & Weisberg-Benchell, 1989, Valcke 2007, Reigeluth and Carr-Chellman, 2009 and Seel and Dijkstra, 2004) ) in which the students are studying and the teachers are teaching. The course might be a course with traditional lectures, group work and a test, a MOOC, a blended learning course et cetera. The learning environment induces the students into the necessary learning processes, helps to maintain the momentum in the learning and supports the learning of students when necessary. From the various learning theories, it appears that the learning of students improves if they experience the learning environment as meaningful.