News item | 12-05-2022 | 17:00
The Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Robbert Dijkgraaf, presented the Higher Education Premiums today during the annual ComeniusFestival in Nieuwegein. The premiums were awarded for the second time to innovative projects in higher professional education and university education. The first prize of the Dutch Higher Education Premium for the teams of universities of applied sciences went to Pulsed by Fontys University of Applied Sciencesamong the university teams this one went to Shaping Resposible Futures by University of Twente TU
The ComeniusFestival celebrates the importance of educational innovation for higher education. By awarding the premium to six different teams of teachers instead of choosing one winner or letting individual teachers win, the minister wants to value and encourage collaboration and innovations in education. Teams may use the amount of money won to make a special contribution to the renewal and/or improvement of higher education with an extraordinary project. The winning teams will receive 1.2 million euros for the 1e price, 800,000 euros for the 2e price or 500,000 euros for the 3e price.
Minister Dijkgraaf: ‘We must give lecturers and teaching teams plenty of room to innovate. To challenge, connect and offer tailor-made solutions to students in new ways. It’s great that with this prize we are honoring top education professionals and helping them to take their beautiful projects further. And I hope that these projects can and will be rolled out more broadly, that will benefit all of us.’
First prize
The master insert Shaping Responsible Futures from University of Twente TU let students from different study programs collaborate on societal challenges in a transdisciplinary way† The jury found it powerful that students work on a challenge-based basis in a transdisciplinary context within the DesignLab environment and was impressed by the transdisciplinary aspect of the master’s insert. Involving students from different backgrounds, such as philosophy or technical studies, gives the students a completely different view of the assignments that the stakeholders put forward.
Pulsed by Fontys University of Applied Sciences is formed by an enthusiastic team that develops educational profiles, educational programs and didactic approaches that transcend education, with the aim of training (young) people to become ‘self-directed professionals’. The jury was very impressed with the number of projects developed and realized by this team. In particular, the jury was very enthusiastic about the innovative Empower initiative, in which students who drop out in the first and second year work on their personal and professional development process. The diverse initiatives have a major impact on students and teachers, as the team has already reached with more than 2000 teachers and 1000 students.
Other winning teams
The second and third prizes for the teams of universities of applied sciences go to the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Inclusive Community Lab and Codarts Rotterdam, University of the Arts, Codarts Student Life program respectively. The Inclusive Community Lab† by NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Also known as ‘Just at Truus’, it is a place where students from various MBO and HBO courses work on the poverty problem. The Codarts Student Life Program of Codarts Rotterdam focuses on a preventive approach to the physical and mental well-being of students in the courses of Codarts.
The second and third prizes for the university teams go to Leiden University, The Learning Mindset and University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Law Practice. The The Learning Mindset team has developed a toolkit that integrates journaling into the teaching of Leiden University College. Journaling is a form of structured written reflection, inspired by keeping a diary. The Amsterdam Law Practice allows students to reflect effectively on their professional role and their experience in experiential legal education on the basis of legal professional ethics and theories.
Prize for innovative education
The Dutch Higher Education Premium was established as a recognition for innovation in education at universities and colleges of higher education and is also intended as an important sign of appreciation for educational teams that deliver top performance. It is also an incentive for teachers to continue working on educational innovation and knowledge sharing. The prize-winning teams become members of the ComeniusNetwork in order to share and use knowledge from educational innovation more widely.
From next year, Minister Dijkgraaf also wants to award the prize to education teams within MBO, where there is also a lot of beautiful and promising happening in the field of innovation, renewal and collaboration with society.