Background/aim We aimed to investigate the magnitude and characteristics of injuries and illnesses in Dutch physical education teacher education (PETE) students.Methods During the first 21 weeks of the academic year, 245 first-year students registered their health problems online using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre (OSTRC) Questionnaire on Health Problems.Results A total of 276 injuries, 140 illnesses and 69 unclassified health problems were reported. We found an injury incidence rate of 11.7 injuries per 1000 hours (95% CI 10.4 to 13.2). Injury characteristics were: 42% overuse injuries, 62% causing absence from sports (median injury time loss=2 days) and 64% reinjuries. Most injuries were located at the knee, lower leg (anterior) and ankle. The duration of the illnesses was short (<1 week).Summary and conclusions We implemented a new registration method in the PETE academic programme. The results show that the risk for health problems is high for PETE students. Prevention is necessary, and to decrease injuries prevention programmes should focus on the lower extremities.
Before the start and during the first weeks of their first year, it has been observed by teachers that engineering students start with a high level of motivation, which often seems to decrease during the course of the first semesters. Such a decrease in motivation can be a main driver for students dropping out of University early. A qualitative research will be carried out to answer the main questions that have been raised within the engineering department of the Fontys University of Applied sciences: to what extent does a decrease in the motivation of first-year students exists, exactly when during the course of the first year does this decrease occur and what are the underlying reasons causing this decline in motivation? Gaining more insight in the motivation drop of students could result in modifications to the curriculum. The final objectives are reducing the dropout level of students in the first year and increasing the quality level of young propaedeutics. In [1] and [2] studies are carried out to measure student’s motivation constructs, which have been carried out for first year Engineering students. The authors describe a certain level of motivation drop for first year students at an Engineering University. In Geraedts 2010 [3] it is defined that Maslow rules for students can be seen as an element of a student’s perception onto his or hers education. Often it can be observed that in most cases undergraduates start their education as an unconscious insufficient competent student having a very limited view on the work arena and complexity of the engineering discipline. Quickly after the start of the education year this view develops into a more defined perception of what the content and complexity of the future work field is and what is expected of the student during his or hers education. It is hypothesised that this gain in insights of the student into the work field and the related expectations is a significant contributor to the decline of intrinsic motivation. In this paper the investigated hypothesis and possible other aspects that influence the motivation of students will be presented. Based on results, potential corrective and preventive measures will be defined and discussed. Corrective and predictive measures depend on the results of this study and could be aimed for instance at: 1) making adjustments to the content and/or structure of the first semester curriculum, 2) improving the support of students in making adaptations into a better learning strategy and 3) improve the information on-which students decide to start a mechanical engineering education. This paper will focus on the first year mechanical engineering students of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences. About 100 first year students will be questioned using predefined questionnaires and additionally 20 of them will be interviewed for validation. References [1] Brett D. Jones, Marie C. Paretti, Serge F. Hein, Tamarra W. Knott, An analysis of Motivation Constructs with first-Year Engineering students, Journal of Engineering Education; Oct 2010; 99, 4; Research Library pg. 319 [2] L. Benson, A Kirn, B. Morkos, CAREER: Student Motivation and Learning in Engineering, 120th ASEE annual conference & Exposition June 2013 [3] HGM Geraedts (2010) Innovative learning for innovation ISBN 978-90-5284-624-8 4751
This chapter discusses the role of education in the preparation of the next generation of entrepreneurs in nature conservation. Departing from the traditional conservation education, which emphasizes ecological management, the chapter is a plea for incorporating entrepreneurship in the curricula of educational programmes on rewilding ecosystems. An Erasmus Intensive Programme on European Wilderness Entrepreneurship is presented as a case study. A set of competences is defined and operationalized based on the evaluation of the first edition of the programme undertaken in Rewilding Europe’s pilot area in Western Iberia. Aspects of the learning strategies and learning environment are presented and reviewed. The conclusion of this chapter is that to learn wilderness entrepreneurship competences, an environment should be created in which students, teachers and stakeholder co-learn at the boundaries of their comfort zones.
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The postdoc candidate, Giuliana Scuderi, will strengthen the connection between the research group Biobased Buildings (BB), (collaboration between Avans University of Applied Sciences and HZ University of Applied Sciences (HZ), and the Civil Engineering bachelor programme (CE) of HZ. The proposed research aims at deepening the knowledge about the mechanical properties of biobased materials for the application in the structural and infrastructural sectors. The research is relevant for the professional field, which is looking for safe and sustainable alternatives to traditional building materials (such as lignin asphalt, biobased panels for bridge constructions, etc.). The study of the mechanical behaviour of traditional materials (such as concrete and steel) is already part of the CE curriculum, but the ambition of this postdoc is that also BB principles are applied and visible. Therefore, from the first year of the programme, the postdoc will develop a biobased material science line and will facilitate applied research experiences for students, in collaboration with engineering and architectural companies, material producers and governmental bodies. Consequently, a new generation of environmentally sensitive civil engineers could be trained, as the labour market requires. The subject is broad and relevant for the future of our built environment, with possible connections with other fields of study, such as Architecture, Engineering, Economics and Chemistry. The project is also relevant for the National Science Agenda (NWA), being a crossover between the routes “Materialen – Made in Holland” and “Circulaire economie en grondstoffenefficiëntie”. The final products will be ready-to-use guidelines for the applications of biobased materials, a portfolio of applications and examples, and a new continuous learning line about biobased material science within the CE curriculum. The postdoc will be mentored and supervised by the Lector of the research group and by the study programme coordinator. The personnel policy and job function series of HZ facilitates the development opportunity.
Physical rehabilitation programs revolve around the repetitive execution of exercises since it has been proven to lead to better rehabilitation results. Although beginning the motor (re)learning process early is paramount to obtain good recovery outcomes, patients do not normally see/experience any short-term improvement, which has a toll on their motivation. Therefore, patients find it difficult to stay engaged in seemingly mundane exercises, not only in terms of adhering to the rehabilitation program, but also in terms of proper execution of the movements. One way in which this motivation problem has been tackled is to employ games in the rehabilitation process. These games are designed to reward patients for performing the exercises correctly or regularly. The rewards can take many forms, for instance providing an experience that is engaging (fun), one that is aesthetically pleasing (appealing visual and aural feedback), or one that employs gamification elements such as points, badges, or achievements. However, even though some of these serious game systems are designed together with physiotherapists and with the patients’ needs in mind, many of them end up not being used consistently during physical rehabilitation past the first few sessions (i.e. novelty effect). Thus, in this project, we aim to 1) Identify, by means of literature reviews, focus groups, and interviews with the involved stakeholders, why this is happening, 2) Develop a set of guidelines for the successful deployment of serious games for rehabilitation, and 3) Develop an initial implementation process and ideas for potential serious games. In a follow-up application, we intend to build on this knowledge and apply it in the design of a (set of) serious game for rehabilitation to be deployed at one of the partners centers and conduct a longitudinal evaluation to measure the success of the application of the deployment guidelines.
The project Decolonising Education: from Teachers to Leading Learners (DETeLL) aims to develop a multi-site approach for interventions towards inclusion and decolonisation in order to change the hierarchical nature of higher education in the Netherlands. DETeLL identifies the model of the ‘traditional teacher’ as embodying the structural exclusions and discriminations built into the classroom and proposes the figure of a ‘Leading Learner’ as a first step towards a radical change in the educational system. In collaboration with the education departments in the Theatre and Dance Academy at ArtEZ, the post-doc will build up a research and teaching programme that engages with students and teachers in the faculty to create a prototype of an inclusive and diverse educational practice. RELEVANCE: Education should be the critical space in which changes occur in order to shape best possible futures. In DETeLL’s acceptation, decolonisation refers to a complete change in the way of thinking and behaving. It does not refer only to the urgency of dealing with historical colonial legacies embedded in society, but also to the subversion of the deeply oppressive colonial culture that (also unconsciously) regulates public and private living, whether this is related to gender, race, class or sexuality issues. RESULTS: 1) Create a theory and practice-based scientific base-line of decolonisation and art education; 2) Provide a definition of ‘Artist educator as Leading Learner’ following a practice- based methodology of intervention; 3) Design and Pilot a new teaching programme for theatre education at ArtEZ to be then upscaled to all educational departments in a follow-up project); 4) Produce a strong interdisciplinary and international output plan: 3 academic publications, 2 conferences, 4 expert group workshops. NETWORK: ArtEZ; University of Amsterdam (UvA); Ghent University; UCHRI; Hildesheim University; Cape Town University. The partners will serve as steering committee through planned expert group meetings.
