Active Blended Learning at SBE: Our Educational Vision

What do SBE students think of activating exercises in tutorials? How do they experience connection with others? What simple structures empower students at this stressful time of year? In this SBE Active Blended Learning newsletter we asked students for their perspective on our three pillars of ABL - Activate, Connect, and Empower. 

It was new, and it motivated us to interact" (Lal Ece Yükseltürk, 2nd Year EBE) "We needed input from others" (Justine Tange, 2nd Year EBE)

For this edition we spoke with bachelor students about their experiences with an activating role-play activity devised by SBE lecturers Yaser Al-Dhabyani and Michail Kokkoris to structure the Marketing 2 tutorials.

In each tutorial, teams of students present academic articles to the class while adopting particular personas—acting as analysts, diplomats, or explorers. Each week, the group takes on a different persona, approaching the article with varied priorities and presenting it in different styles. For example, the explorer persona requires students to apply a key insight from the course material to a real-life creation.

Students told me that this format was both challenging and fun. The creative element meant that teams had to truly work together. "The instructions were really clear, but we didn't know exactly how to tackle the exercise, so we had to discuss what we were going to do," explained one student, who requested anonymity. This creative element also encouraged engagement and attendance: "I wanted to come to class to see how others played their roles."

Read the first edition of SBE ABL Newsletter for more insights, and share your feedback!

Read this Newsletter to learn how SBE teachers are using ChatGPT to create case study materials that activate students. We connect you to the VU rules on ChatGPT in education. And we invite you to tell us - what do you want to learn about Generative AI tools? So that we can empower you further to teach with confidence in this new era of education.

What advice can I give my students about using Generative AI in class? 

This link summarises the VU's stance on student use of Generative AI. As an SBE teacher, it's useful to know what students are hearing from the VU. Here are selected key points from the page: 

• Students are not allowed to use generative AI unless the lecturer or examiner of your course indicates if and how this is allowed.
• Teachers cannot force students to use Generative AI (so, for graded assignments an alternative must be offered for students who prefer not to use it).
• Students should always be critical of the text generated by ChatGPT.
• Students have to create their texts themselves (e.g. essays) so that it is possible to assess their knowledge.
• If parts of generative-AI output are used verbatim (e.g. because of the nature of the task), students should cite this as the source and quote it correctly.
• Data entered into ChatGPT is (or can be) stored, so no sensitive information should be entered into it (e.g. company data from research internships).
• Generative AI uses a lot of energy.

Do you want SBE-approved text on this issue to include in your course manual? First, enrol in the SBE CTL Resources Canvas page by clicking here. Then go here - you have ready-made options to choose from!

Read this second edition of SBE ABL Newsletter for more insights, and share your feedback!

In this SBE Active Blended Learning newsletter we asked students for their perspective on our three pillars of ABL - Activate, Connect, and Empower. We spoke with bachelor students about their experiences with an activating role-play activity devised by SBE lecturers Yaser Al-Dhabyani and Michail Kokkoris to structure the Marketing 2 tutorials. The Student Assessor from the SEB board told us what helps students connect. The SBE academic advisors share simple things educators can do to support and empower students at this stressful time of year. They also shared that students sometimes feel unsure about how they should approach a teacher and gave practical advice on how to help them.

How can we effectively structure communication with students? 

• Clearly communicate your availability and preferred methods of contact at the beginning of the course, and around assessments
• Encourage students to ask questions via these methods and reassure them that their inquiries are welcome.
• Creating a Canvas forum for general questions allows students to see previously asked and answered queries. You can refer students to this page when they come to you with general, non-sensitive questions.

Read this third edition of SBE ABL Newsletter for more insights, and share your feedback!

In this fourth SBE Active Blended Learning newsletter we balance high tech with low tech approaches to teaching and learning. 

We introduce you to how one of the latest GenAI tools, NotebookLM, can potentially threaten or support student activation; we highlight a movement-based tutorial activity can facilitate student team formation; and we inform you about a workshop being offered specifically for SBE educators, on teaching large groups using mixed classroom principles. 

Read the fourth edition of SBE ABL Newsletter for more insights, and share your feedback!

In this fourth SBE Active Blended Learning newsletter we focuse on feedback loops. A feedback loop is not just giving feedback, it's a system where students’ actions lead to visible results, and those results influence what happens next.

People are more motivated to engage when they see that what they learn returns in later tasks, that their input helps shape decisions, and that their efforts have real consequences. In this newsletter, we offer tips and insights for incorporating feedback loops in your teaching, to help students see their place in the bigger picture, and to get them to work, show up, and engage!

How to connect theory to practice in your teaching?

• Start Small. You don’t need to revise your entire course to integrate theory with practice. Begin with small steps: include a “management summary” slide that explains how concepts, theories, and methods are used in practice. Or link them to real-world job requirements (“Who uses this concept in a company, and for what purpose?”). 
• Resonate with Students’ Lifeworld. Examples, cases, and assignments work better when they speak to students’ everyday experiences. Teaching becomes more effective when students can personally relate to the material. Refer to products or services they know. Show live websites, link to real LinkedIn profiles, and reference local retail stores to bring theory to life. 
• Use GenAI to Your Advantage. Want to use real-world cases, but students don’t prepare? You can condense longer materials (e.g., cases, articles, practitioner pieces) into shorter, classroom-ready content. Or, ask your GenAI tool to generate a fictitious case that accompanies students through the period, including synthetic data and generated e-mails or reports.

Read the fifth edition of SBE ABL Newsletter for more insights, and share your feedback!

Ready to move beyond the basics of ChatGPT and discover a broader range of generative AI-tools?

Join this dynamic workshop to explore creating images, music, or videos (e.g., for knowledge clips) using OpenAI and various apps. Learn how to make smart use of tools that can support you in creating teaching materials.

Facilitator: Stephan Eltink, VU CTL
Date and Time: Thursday the 21^st of May 2026 from 13.00-15.00. 

Please contact me Stephan Eltink for more details.