Program Round 1

Keynote 'Been There, Scaled That: Distance Education Lessons for the Campus'
Rector Magnificus prof. dr. Theo (T.J.) Bastiaens, Open Universiteit

Campus universities are struggling to scale STEM education beyond short-lived digital pilots. In this keynote, we draw on decades of distance education expertise to focus on three core building blocks: modular course design, scalable feedback loops, and robust instructional architecture. Discover the proven pedagogical strategies you can steal right now to build flexible, high-impact STEM learning that truly lasts.

Human–AI Collaboration for Transformative Learning: Rethinking Pedagogy in the Age of AI
Omid Noroozi, Wageningen University & Research

Generative AI is reshaping education beyond the adoption of new technologies. The central challenge is how to redesign pedagogy so that AI strengthens, rather than replaces, meaningful human learning. This keynote explores how human–AI collaboration can support learner agency, transformative competencies, and deeper learning through adaptive feedback, reflection, dialogue, and collaboration. Particular attention is given to moving from first-order scaffolding, focused on immediate task performance, toward second-order scaffolding that develops learners’ capacity to regulate, evaluate, adapt, and transfer learning. The keynote considers how AI-enabled education can remain human-centered, inclusive, and focused on sustainable learning and development.

This session is part of the GenAIinCSEdu workshop series.

Transdisciplinary Learning: a creative session
Anne Velthorst, Anke Swanenberg, Ellen Torfs, Wageningen University & Research

How do you prepare your students to engage with complex societal challenges? Transdisciplinary learning equips students to address “wicked” problems by crossing disciplinary boundaries, working with diverse perspectives, and navigating uncertainty. Through creative exercises, you’ll develop a profile for a transdisciplinary graduate and explore how this can guide educational design. The session will also showcase inspiring examples from Wageningen University & Research.

From Innovation to Impact: Scaling Educational Change
Janneke Waelen, Vrije Universiteit

When does a great idea stop being an experiment and start becoming real change? And what does it truly take to scale that impact? In this interactive workshop, you will identify the right scaling strategy for your innovation, map the key players who will drive momentum, and translate change-management theory into actionable tactics. Leave with a clear, confident roadmap for your very next move.

Implementing Community Engaged Learning experiences? Think big, start small
Anneke van Houwelingen, Universiteit Utrecht

Community Engaged Learning is one of the ways to design authentic learning experiences, as it connects theory with real-life societal experiences and challenges. Integrating community engaged learning into curricula creates learning experiences that resonate with all participants involved. During this session, you will discover the 'what, why, and how' of Community Engaged Learning at the Faculty of Sciences of the Utrecht University. Not only will we delve into the core principles of this educational approach, but there is also room to discuss how it benefits students, teachers, and societal partners. This session will include inspiring examples of Community Engaged Learning within bachelor programs. These examples will cover a diversity of learning experiences, ranging from small-scale experiences to experiences for large multidisciplinary groups of students. So, are you looking for inspiration to bring authentic learning experiences into your course or program? Join this session to get inspired.

Peerfectly Skilled in Partnership (P-VIP): Towards a national usable method for online skills training
Ellen Rusman, Open Universiteit

The Research and Innovation Centre in Open Distance Education (ECO-lab) of the Open Universiteit is currently collaborating with 5 universities, three vocational education institutes and a business partner on the sustainable development of Peerfect, an online method for skills training. The Peerfect method is an (inter)active, practice-oriented online method for practicing skills, giving and receiving peer feedback via video-enhanced rubrics and goal-oriented reflection on one's own performance. This method, developed with teachers and students through design-based research, provides structured learning process support that allows students to practice their skills repetitively, both individually and collaboratively. To master complex skills, students need repeated practice and high quality, constructive and timely feedback. However, teachers in Higher (Distance) Education supervise increased numbers of students, which makes it challenging for them to repeatedly provide feedback and supervise students’ practice sessions. Peerfect helps to counteract this problem, by providing process support for both peer-and teacher feedback with video-enhanced rubrics, thus extending time-and place independent opportunities for practice of and feedback on students' skills.
In this session you will be familiarized both with Peerfect as a method for online skills training as well with the P-VIP project, which aims make the method sustainable and more widely usable for other (higher) education institutes, other skills, and for both online and blended learning scenarios.

Make active learning work in STEM – the STEM active learning guide
Nina Scheres, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Active learning can deepen student learning, boost engagement, and support long-term retention. But applying it in STEM comes with specific challenges. Not every method suits quantitative work, complex content or large groups, and active learning needs to be balanced with time for independent practice. So how do you introduce active learning in ways that genuinely strengthen learning?

The digital STEM Active Learning Guide helps teachers explore why and how active learning can work in STEM education. It provides research-based rationale and ready-to-use teaching formats, it addresses common concerns, shares examples from fellow teachers, and supports conversation within teaching teams.

In this interactive session, you’ll explore the guide through realistic STEM teaching questions. Discover how it can help you find suitable ideas for STEM topics, design active lessons without reinventing the wheel, and get colleagues on board, for more active STEM teaching.

Bring your laptop