Developing social innovation and entrepreneurship competences and skills of children and young people is on the agenda of European educational policy-makers. The European research and innovation project "DOIT -- Entrepreneurial skills for young social innovators in an open digital world" suggests using makerspaces and tools, within…

Over the last few years, cognitive load theory has progressed and advanced rapidly. The articles in this special issue, which document those advances, are based on contributions to the 3rd International Cognitive Load Theory Conference (2009), Heerlen, The Netherlands. The articles of this special issue on cognitive load theory discuss new…

Despite several years of successfully applying problem-based learning at Maastricht University, the Faculty of Medicine observed a slow erosion of problem-based practices and "PBL fatigue" among themselves and students. In response to this fatigue and new research into the development of the young adult brain, Active Self-Directed…

Workplace simulations (WPS), authentic learning environments at school, are increasingly used in vocational education. This article provides a theoretical analysis and synthesis of requirements considering learner skills, characteristics of the learning environment and the role of the teacher that influence good functioning in WPS and foster…

In the 1990s, courses on sustainable development (SD) were introduced in technological universities. After some years of practice, there is increased interest in the evaluation of the most effective ways for teaching SD. This paper introduces the use of conceptual maps as a tool to measure the knowledge acquired by students when taking a…

Gifted pupils differ from their age-mates with respect to development potential, actual competencies, self-regulatory capabilities, and learning styles in one or more domains of competence. The question is how to design and develop education that fits and further supports such characteristics and competencies of gifted pupils. Analysis of various…

This article discusses the way in which social identities structure the learning processes of students in two subjects in the Dutch secondary school curriculum--Care and Technology. It analyses interviews with 23 students and their teachers with a view to explaining the disappointing results in these subjects in terms of breaking through gender…

In this paper, the authors describe a mechanism for the introduction of small variations in the original learning design process defined in a particular Unit of Learning (UoL). The objective is to increase the UoL reusability by offering the designers an alternative to introduce slight variations on the original design instead of creating a new…

While much of the literature on action learning focuses on managers developing their capacity to learn and transform their own organizations, this article explores how action learning has been used in inter-organisational settings. Two settings are presented: the first an EU-funded management development programme called the National Action…

This article presents a new classification scheme for learning environments in secondary education, based on a review of recent literature on new learning and a review of existing classification schemes. This new classification scheme emphasizes new forms of learning and is organized around three main aspects of learning environments that may be…

In this article, the authors theoretically and empirically explore the concept of learning evaluation. They shed light on the positioning of the learning evaluation amid scholarly work one valuations. Moreover, they describe the learning evaluation in practice in the Netherlands by going into a specific project called the Stimulation Program on…

Describes a study of medical school students in The Netherlands that tested the assumption of problem-based learning that learning issues, generated by students while discussing a problem, are used as guides for self-directed learning activities. Faculty objectives and student-generated learning issues are compared. (LRW)

Focuses on the question "What kind of learning processes are intended in the subjects 'Care' and 'Technology' in the Dutch common curriculum?" Demonstrates that Care and Technology are not 'practical' subjects in either the learning-domain dimension or in the learning-outcome dimension. Includes references. (CMK)

Nowadays many schools in higher education implement problem-based learning to foster active learning processes by students. In some schools with a number of years of experience with this approach, phenomena can be observed which indicate signs of wear. The implementation of a large-scale innovation such as problem-based learning (PBL) seems to…

The integration of science and technology education has been a topic of worldwide debate. However, the focus of the debate has been too much on the degree of integration of subjects at the expense of such important but related issues as the nature of the constituting disciplines, educational levels (state, school, classroom), and the objects of…