What I do

I devote my energy to
inspiring, training and supporting
teaching staff, programme coordinators, team leaders and higher management
in making future-fit engineering education

Presentations

Change starts with vision and inspiration

Almost everything developed for the 20th-century workforce is being dismantled and reconstructed, and higher education is no exception.

I inspire a conference audience or your educational staff by an interactive (keynote) presentation that will open their mind and make them think about the impact of change in science, technology and society on higher education, engineering education in particular.

Workshops

From awareness to action

We are two decades into the 21st century, yet most higher education is still geared to succeeding in the 20th. Many universities themselves express doubts about their ability to adapt to future developments.

In my workshops I provoke thought and discussion about necessary changes in the future of (engineering) education. I let the participants themselves discover the opportunities and possibilities.

I provide a format that best suits your facilities, participants, context and culture, so that we meet your specific wishes and goals.

I produce workshops such as panel sessions with inspirational debates about deadly dilemmas. Or categorising cards that list current and new attributes of academic engineers, while visualising the choices made. Or in a different format that meets your wishes.

Review, advise, support

Different perspectives from a critical friend

You may have to acknowledge that your educational system and the pathways of the future will be better served by alternative, innovative structures or approaches, however uncomfortable this first make you feel.

I can advise your team leaders, coordinators and teaching staff in curricular change, from jointly developing a vision and drafting a carbon sketch of a curricular change, to developing a communication (faculty buy-in) and collaborative implementation (what-when-actor) plan. By taking an active role or by listening to internal team discussions and asking out-of-the-box questions or doing the wrap-up.

Training

Making change happen, in a role with high responsibility and little empowerment

I give a half-day interactive presentation about a radical curricular reconstruction I led in my role of programme director. It is about the process of making change, from developing a vision, setting goals, and structuring the change process and involving the various stakeholders.

I discuss the process of curricular redesign, with its ups and downs, and reflect on my and your experiences.

The main intended learning outcomes are:

Getting insight in the complexity of curricular change;
Getting insight in ways to change and the importance of an integrated approach;
Understanding how to plan and break down the change process into phases with milestones and deliverables;
Reflecting on the dynamics between leadership and the colour theory of change;
Using peer feedback of staff as as key success factor .