Today's society demands a new generation of academics, who can direct and reflect on their own learning and development. It calls for (innovation of) assessment that stimulates learning. This workshop will contribute to enabling students to become self-directed learners, not only during their academic education, but also as professionals.

This workshop will give you, as a university teacher, a kickstart for innovating your assessment practice. In the first part of the workshop, we will explore the five building blocks for meaningful assessment: assessment with the right purpose in mind, powerful feedback, alignment with pedagogical beliefs, alignment with learning outcomes and authentic assessment tasks.

In the second part of this workshop, we will discuss ways to make your own assessment practice more authentic, how to give students valuable feedback and how to let students take the lead in taking control of their own learning process.

How do we train our students to become change agents?

The future generation will soon have the task of providing solutions to major complex social transition issues, think of the energy crisis, climate change and demographic changes due to migration, refugee flows and ageing, for example. Do they have the right knowledge, skills and attitude to manage these transitions? In this training you will learn more about the transition cycle, a methodology that offers students tools for (learning) how to shape transitions.

This cycle was developed by IIS and consists of several phases: imagine, connect, act and assess. The methodology helps create a vision for the future, map the system, determine opportunities for change, implement an intervention to realise change and monitor the learning and change process. We then make the link to your teaching; how can you apply this methodology in your own course?  

Learning objectives of the training

After completing this training, teachers will be able to:  

• Use imagination and creativity to create a vision; 
• Critically analyse your vision by creating a systems and stakeholder map; 
• Develop a strategy to address a transition challenge and implement an intervention; 
• Monitor the intervention and critically reflect on both the outcome and process of the transition cycle and;
• Supervise student projects applying the transition cycle. 

The first batch started in February 2023.

Are you a teacher involved in interdisciplinary education? Do you teach a course, supervise students or develop new interdisciplinary education? Then this multi-day teacher training course is the depth you are looking for. In early 2024, Machiel Keestra, Linda de Greef and Jasper ter Schegget took a number of UvA teachers on 4 workshop days where they looked at various aspects of interdisciplinary teaching. Reflection on their own teaching was central to this.

Are you a teacher involved in transdisciplinary education or would you like to grow further in this? Do you teach a course, supervise students and develop transdisciplinary education? Then this multi-day teacher training is the deepening you are looking for. In four sessions, we work on a number of themes related to transdisciplinary teaching. From setting up a course with associated learning objectives, to learning activities and testing these learning objectives. We will also consider your role as a teacher and how to involve social partners in your teaching. A preparation time of 2.5 hours is requested per meeting. Beforehand, there is an intake interview to see if this is a good time for participation. After the training days, a coaching session is offered to help develop your teaching further.

In 2015, the United Nations established the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the goal of achieving a more sustainable world by 2030. However, despite this strong and inspiring vision, progress lags behind expectations. A major reason for this is the lack of the inner skills needed to tackle the growing complex challenges. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the framework of Inner Development Goals (IDGs) was designed.

The Inner Development Goals are based on scientific research and developed for and by teachers nationwide. They encompass five dimensions and 23 skills and attributes that are crucial for effectively tackling complex problems. Some of these essential skills include empathy and compassion, critical thinking, communication and co-creation skills, creativity, courage, the ability to mobilise others, appreciation of diversity, perseverance and resilience. During our Brown Bag Lunch, you will have the opportunity to learn more about this framework and how to integrate the IDGs into your teaching or work.

In addition, the interactive workshop on the Transition Makers Toolbox offers creative tools you can use to help students or colleagues develop skills for tackling major societal transitions. In this workshop, you will discover the capabilities of the Transition Makers Toolbox and learn how to apply these tools in your teaching or work context. This toolbox is designed to provide practical and innovative solutions that match the required inner skills as defined by the IDGs. Whether you are a teacher, researcher or professional, these sessions provide tools to work effectively and compassionately towards the Sustainable Development Goals.