A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bac... more A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bachelor-master system. The students take a new course 'Problem Solving and Engineering Design' to introduce them from the first semester onwards into real engineering practice and teamwork. Throughout the three semesters of the first phase of the bachelor, a gradual transition from solving closed engineering problems to working on open-end design projects is implemented. The teamwork is much more coached and monitored in the first semester than in the third semester. The new course was introduced in September 2003 and was taken by all 420 freshman engineering students. Formal student feedback was obtained at the end of the first semester. The overall feedback was very positive. Only few student teams had to be catalogued as performing rather poorly. The vast majority of the students appreciated this new course and commented that they had learned more in a team than when they had to do the same tasks alone. The integration of the team assignments with the other regular courses will be improved before the start of the next academic year.
Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age, 2004
ABSTRACT Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the University of Leuven (K.U.Leuve... more ABSTRACT Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) introduced a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in the summer of 2001. However, just implementing a VLE is not enough. To achieve an optimal use of it, the process must be supported at a centralized level (university-wide) on the one hand and at a decentralized level (the 14 faculties) on the other hand. Centrally, coordination and management is needed to integrate and overview local projects in each faculty. Decentrally, each faculty is in the best position to support the needed help concerning problems with the learning environment at the faculty. In this paper the support-strategy as it was set up by the faculty of economics and applied economics will be illustrated and proved by some realizations. KEYWORDS e-Learning, K.U.Leuven, Faculty of economics and applied economics, Faculty support unit 1. INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2001 the K.U.Leuven introduced the TOLEDO-project (Toetsen en Leren Doeltreffend Ondersteunen / ‘The adequate support of learning and assessment’). A Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard) and an electronic assessment tool (Question Mark Perception) were launched simultaneously. At a central (university) level, a multidisciplinary team consisting of people with technical and/or educational profiles supports the project. At a decentral (faculty) level, within each faculty, one or more persons with a discipline specific profile were recruited to support the implemenation and use of the VLE within that faculty. In this paper, first the context in which the Toledo-project was introduced within the K.U.Leuven will be described briefly. Next and against this general background, the support-strategy of the faculty of economics and applied economics will be illustrated.
Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the university of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) introd... more Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the university of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) introduced a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in the summer of 2001. Completely in line with this objective, educational benefits at the micro-level (i.e. course level) are reported by both faculty and students in nearly all disciplines at the university. Beyond 'intended' outcomes at the micro-level however, a great deal of 'unintended' consequences at both the mesolevel (i.e.within the university) and the macro level (i.e. between institutions of higher education) can be observed. The paper documents the effect at all three levels.
A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bac... more A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bachelor-master system. The students take a new course 'Problem Solving and Engineering Design' to introduce them from the first semester onwards into real engineering practice and teamwork. Throughout the three semesters of the first phase of the bachelor, a gradual transition from solving closed engineering problems to working on open-end design projects is implemented. The teamwork is much more coached and monitored in the first semester than in the third semester. The new course was introduced in September 2003 and was taken by all 420 freshman engineering students. Formal student feedback was obtained at the end of the first semester. The overall feedback was very positive. Only few student teams had to be catalogued as performing rather poorly. The vast majority of the students appreciated this new course and commented that they had learned more in a team than when they had to do the same tasks alone. The integration of the team assignments with the other regular courses will be improved before the start of the next academic year.
A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bac... more A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bachelor-master system. The students take a new course 'Problem Solving and Engineering Design' to introduce them from the first semester onwards into real engineering practice and teamwork. Throughout the three semesters of the first phase of the bachelor, a gradual transition from solving closed engineering problems to working on open-end design projects is implemented. The teamwork is much more coached and monitored in the first semester than in the third semester. The new course was introduced in September 2003 and was taken by all 420 freshman engineering students. Formal student feedback was obtained at the end of the first semester. The overall feedback was very positive. Only few student teams had to be catalogued as performing rather poorly. The vast majority of the students appreciated this new course and commented that they had learned more in a team than when they had to do the same tasks alone. The integration of the team assignments with the other regular courses will be improved before the start of the next academic year.
Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age, 2004
ABSTRACT Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the University of Leuven (K.U.Leuve... more ABSTRACT Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) introduced a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in the summer of 2001. However, just implementing a VLE is not enough. To achieve an optimal use of it, the process must be supported at a centralized level (university-wide) on the one hand and at a decentralized level (the 14 faculties) on the other hand. Centrally, coordination and management is needed to integrate and overview local projects in each faculty. Decentrally, each faculty is in the best position to support the needed help concerning problems with the learning environment at the faculty. In this paper the support-strategy as it was set up by the faculty of economics and applied economics will be illustrated and proved by some realizations. KEYWORDS e-Learning, K.U.Leuven, Faculty of economics and applied economics, Faculty support unit 1. INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2001 the K.U.Leuven introduced the TOLEDO-project (Toetsen en Leren Doeltreffend Ondersteunen / ‘The adequate support of learning and assessment’). A Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard) and an electronic assessment tool (Question Mark Perception) were launched simultaneously. At a central (university) level, a multidisciplinary team consisting of people with technical and/or educational profiles supports the project. At a decentral (faculty) level, within each faculty, one or more persons with a discipline specific profile were recruited to support the implemenation and use of the VLE within that faculty. In this paper, first the context in which the Toledo-project was introduced within the K.U.Leuven will be described briefly. Next and against this general background, the support-strategy of the faculty of economics and applied economics will be illustrated.
Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the university of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) introd... more Aiming at educational innovation and optimalisation, the university of Leuven (K.U.Leuven) introduced a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in the summer of 2001. Completely in line with this objective, educational benefits at the micro-level (i.e. course level) are reported by both faculty and students in nearly all disciplines at the university. Beyond 'intended' outcomes at the micro-level however, a great deal of 'unintended' consequences at both the mesolevel (i.e.within the university) and the macro level (i.e. between institutions of higher education) can be observed. The paper documents the effect at all three levels.
A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bac... more A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bachelor-master system. The students take a new course 'Problem Solving and Engineering Design' to introduce them from the first semester onwards into real engineering practice and teamwork. Throughout the three semesters of the first phase of the bachelor, a gradual transition from solving closed engineering problems to working on open-end design projects is implemented. The teamwork is much more coached and monitored in the first semester than in the third semester. The new course was introduced in September 2003 and was taken by all 420 freshman engineering students. Formal student feedback was obtained at the end of the first semester. The overall feedback was very positive. Only few student teams had to be catalogued as performing rather poorly. The vast majority of the students appreciated this new course and commented that they had learned more in a team than when they had to do the same tasks alone. The integration of the team assignments with the other regular courses will be improved before the start of the next academic year.
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Papers by Herman Buelens