Programme VU Education Day 2025

In this session, Mieke and Koen will build further on their keynote, exploring how education can transform by focusing more on interconnectedness and the intrinsic value of the living world - and what this means for the way we collaborate, teach, and engage with the world around us.

By: Mieke Lopes Cardozo and Koen Wessels
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Using drawings in your lesson can stimulate imagination. Every teacher or teaching assistant can make use of visual communication. With just a marker and a few simple drawing principles, anyone can learn it! 

Visual language supports didactics, communication, learning strategies, and thinking skills. As a teacher, you can  use drawings to support the learning process, but you can also encourage students to draw themselves in order to process the material in a deeper way. This makes the lessons more engaging. In a fast-changing world where online videos are often less than two minutes long and reading is becoming less common, keeping listening, reading, and learning exciting is more important than ever.

By: Het Huis van Verbeelding
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Adding visuals to a presentation or text can greatly improve the audience’s understanding of the story you are telling, but it's easier said than done. In this workshop, we will explore various methods you can use to give your own teaching a visual boost, with inspiration taken from various disciplines and forms of media. Afterwards, in a hands-on designing session, you’ll  create your own visual product that you can use in your teaching. For instance, you might design a graphical abstract, signature course icon, visual roadmap, or something else entirely. The best part? Anyone can do it! You don’t need to be an artist to craft a visual story.

By: Mats Riet, junior lecturer Earth Sciences
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

SpringLab VU – the 'Students as Partners' (SaP) platform offers a space where co-creation education is provided based on the needs of students. In this environment, the student collaborates with experts in providing education. The focus is on stimulating students' curiosity in (and outside) their field of study, whilefostering intrinsic motivation. By exploring their personal interests, students gain additional experience in personal development and build connections to the future work field and society.

By: Aäron Spapens, project leader SpringLab VU & Geert Schenk, co-founder SpringLab VU
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Experience an innovative method that helps you discover where you can make an impact to break through fixed educational patterns. We will use imagination: the ability to evoke ideas and emotions without directly perceiving them. 

By: Susan Voogd, Hilde Remmers, and Charlotte Meijer, CTL 
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

In this workshop, we’ll visit the VU art gallery and experience the Art-Based Learning method firsthand. Art-Based Learning is a reflective, slow-learning approach where you learn from art, rather than about art, to gain new insights.

By: Jaro Pichel, trainer and coach at the VU Centre for Teaching & Learning
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Are you a programme director or coordinator and would you like to discover and expand your creative scope for action in shaping education? In an era where workloads and developments such as artificial intelligence bring new challenges, it is essential to make the most of your role at VU Amsterdam.   

During this inspiring session, we offer you the opportunity to explore your own motivations in teaching, find inspiration from best practices, explore opportunities to redesign your programme, and engage in conversation with experienced leaders in education.    

The purpose of this session is to provide you with inspiration and networking opportunities to develop your educational programmes effectively and innovatively.   

Registration: As this is a separate session for a selected group of participants, you cannot register via the VU Education Day sign-up form on the website. Please register for this workshop directly via this registration form. Note that there are 25 spots available for the workshop on a ‘first come, first serve’-base. You will receive a confirmation after your registration.

By: Kerstin Haemmerling, CTL
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Let's Collaborate! Practicing collaboration skills through AI-powered avatar training
This workshop is designed for educators who want to use AI technology to improve student collaboration skills. Participants will be introduced to an innovative AI-powered avatar application that simulates realistic team scenarios, alowing students to practice giving and receiving feedback in a safe, controlled environment.  

The interactive session will cover the development and implementation of this tool, offering best practices for integrating it into your curriculum. Educators will also learn how to use the accompanying support toolbox, which provides guidelines for designing, guiding, and assessing team assignments.  

This workshop will be given by the students who helped research, develop and implement the tools and their unique perspective will show you how students experience working in teams and how you can help them develop their collaboration skills. 

By: Filippos Pratziotis, third year Bachelor student Communication Science (international track) & Pratischa Koirala, third year Bachelor student Communication Science (dutch track), under guidance of Esther Schagen, senior teacher Communication Science and educational advisor CTL 
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Mind the Body – on multisensory imagination and why we need all our senses for aesthetic experiences
Can you imagine smells? Or movements? We will begin this interactive lecture with a meditation based on Diderot's ideas on multisensory imagination. We'll smell the scent of Monet's gardens, listen to the music that inspired Mondrian and one can even attempt a (historical) dance pose. 

Dr. Caro Verbeek is an assistant professor and curator specialized in sensory history, with a focus on smell, touch and synaesthesia. She is known for her out-of-the-box methods, using embodiment and the senses as (overlooked) academic tools and as means to inclusion and well-being. She founded and teaches the course ‘Knowing by Sensing’.

By: Dr. Caro Verbeek, assistant professor and curator specialized in sensory history
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Reimagining Learning: UDL Strategies for inclusive classrooms
This engaging 30-minute workshop invites you as a tutor or lecturer to reimagine your teaching practices through the lens of inclusivity. The workshop begins with an exploration of academic research on the prevalent challenges faced by neurodiverse students in higher education, introducing the concept of neurodiversity, and the theoretical foundations of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). You will then experience an interactive activity that simulates these barriers, offering a deeper understanding of the obstacles students encounter in everyday learning activities. The session culminates in a practical exploration of actionable strategies to create more inclusive classrooms. From instructional methods and assessment practices to syllabus design and fostering positive attitudes, participants will learn small yet impactful adjustments they can implement immediately. By the end of the workshop, participants will gain a greater awareness of inclusivity issues, practical knowledge of UDL principles, and the inspiration to take small but meaningful steps toward creating more inclusive learning environments at VU and beyond.  

By: Karina Gervytė, third-year clinical psychology student, research assistant CTL
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Use AI to (re)design your course
Discover how to leverage AI and Copilot to transform your teaching. Learn how to effortlessly create rubrics, make your course more interactive and blended, and turn exams into practice exams. Get inspired and experience how AI can enhance your creativity and efficiency.  

Whether you're looking for fresh ideas or practical tools, this session offers everything you need. Join us and use your imagination to shape the education of tomorrow. Dream big, inspire your students, and make a difference! 

By: Nienke Stumpel
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Theatre skills for presenters: how to engage your audience
Do you want to learn how to captivate your audience from the very first minute? In this dynamic flash session, you'll discover how to elevate your presentations using practical theater techniques. Practice using your voice, posture, and interaction to make a greater impact with your story.

Whether you're a beginner or looking to refine your presentation skills, this interactive workshop offers immediately applicable tips to help you present with confidence and inspiration. 

By: Arne Borst, junior lecturer for the Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences 
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

What will your course look like if you make more use of formative dialogue?
By comparing your own course with four other model courses, that extensively make use of formative dialogue, you can assess whether you'd like to participate in a project designed to help you make adjustments in your course and experiment with formative dialogue in your course. Will this help you save time and reduce stress during your course? Come and find it out for yourself! 

By: Sjirk Zijlstra, CTL expert in Self-Regulated Learning, Students as Partners and Formative Dialogue & Lucho Rubio Repáraz, CTL expert in Mixed Classroom, Inclusive Education and Formative Dialogue 
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Make your own AI tutor bot
In this session you will first play with an existing tutor bot designed for a specific topic to see how such bots could function, by posing questions and giving stars to users for example. Then we'll take a look behind the scenes to see how such a bot is programmed to behave the way it does. We finish off with a topic of your choice and testing it to see if it works. 

By: Dr. ir. Silvester Draaijer, programme manager VU Education Lab & Amelia Kalecińska, student-colleague at the VU Education Lab, BSc Computer Science student & Isabella Ivory, student-colleauge at the VU Education Lab, student at the Master programme Cognitive Neuropsychology, with a BSc in Artificial Intelligence 
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

The Inner Development Goals & tools for affective learning in higher education
How can we better support students in their personal and professional development to prepare them for the complex societal challenges of the future? In this interactive session, we will explore the Inner Development Goals and the importance of affective learning. This approach not only enhances cognitive skills, but also helps students develop essential attitudes and skills such as complexity awareness, resilience, and co-creation. During the workshop, you’ll experience how imagination can contribute to a fresh perspective through a practical tool from the Transition Makers Toolbox. Be inspired by new insights and practical strategies to integrate affective learning into your teaching.

By: Wouter Buursma, trainer and educational specialist VU CTL & Madison Carr, behavioural neuroscientist and Psychobiology teacher at VU and UvA
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English

Smarter Academic Year
Workload in education is a widely discussed topic, but how do you tackle it in practice? In this interactive session, programme director Patrick Overeem shares insights from the pilot project Smarter Academic Year within the Bachelor's programme in Political Science. This initiative designates periods 3 and 6 as lecture- and course-free, aiming to provide both students and teachers with more breathing space. Despite challenges such as exam scheduling and shared courses with other programmes, the project appears to be a success. 

We will then discuss opportunities within your own programme and how policy frameworks can sometimes be restrictive.

The session concludes with an open exchange of experiences and ideas. Could similar adjustments work elsewhere? What is already effective? What challenges do you face? Let’s inspire each other and explore concrete solutions together! 

By: Piet Bouman and Patrick Overeem
Location: t.b.a.
Language: English