EDLAB

Maastricht University Centre for Teaching & Learning

 

EDLAB brings together the Maastricht University Teaching and Learning community to enhance educational practices and enrich the student learning experience.

Nestled in the city part at the Tapijn barracks, we are an educational expertise centre dedicated to creating and sharing knowledge, resources, and support for the Maastricht University community. We aim to drive professional development, foster innovation, facilitate knowledge exchange, and conduct educational research to build a strong educational community.

 

Cultivating a Culture of Learning
Advancing Education Innovation
Enhancing Knowledge and Practice
Stimulating Students
Reaching Out

Cultivating a Culture of Learning

edUMinded

EDLAB is committed to fostering a culture of learning at UM, and our activities are open to both teaching staff and students. We offer a diverse range of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for teaching staff, including workshops, training courses, and online resources. Additionally, we host conferences, seminars, the annual UM Education Days, and interactive Teach-Meet and Student-Meet sessions, which provide opportunities for staff and students to network and gain valuable insights from experts in the field.

Our online magazine, edUMinded, serves as a platform to showcase the perspectives and experiences of the Teaching & Learning community at Maastricht University and to foster ongoing dialogue and engagement with education enthusiasts in Maastricht and beyond.

Workshops and events

Advancing Education Innovation

At EDLAB, we define innovation as the intentional process of creating new ideas and practices to address educational needs and create new opportunities in Teaching & Learning. Innovation can be about educational methods and practices, technology, learning environments and human interactions.

What is Innovation?

UM Education Days at EDLAB

To be innovative is to explore and experiment, to have an open mind and learn from successes and failures. Innovation is driven by curiosity and the desire to do things even better than they are done now. At EDLAB, we see innovation as a process that is ongoing and happens at various levels.

  • Innovation is ongoing because it is a mindset rather than a single accomplishment. We reflect on what we do, we look for new perspectives and opportunities, and we learn from the new ideas and practices we explore and try out.
  • Innovation happens at various levels: what is new for one person may not be new to others. From the perspective of those who teach at UM, innovation may range from:
    • I have never done this before, to
      • no one at my faculty has ever done this before, to
        • no one at UM has ever done this before, to
          • no one in the field of education has ever done this before.

At EDLAB we see innovation as an expression of curiosity and a source of inspiration, a way of maintaining a high quality of education for our students by actively engaging the educators.

UM Education Days

Over 120 members of the UM Teaching & Learning community – teaching staff, support staff and students – from across the university came together at EDLAB for the first edition of UM Education Days on 1-2 June 2022. It was a vibrant event filled with inspiring exchanges on educational practices and perspectives.

Enhancing Knowledge and Practice

EDLAB fosters the UM vision of student-centred, active learning. We provide a set of conditions necessary to facilitate innovation at all levels and ensure continuity. Through our various activities, we connect people and their expertise, develop new knowledge, and support practical implementation.

  • We offer a creative space that is accessible to all those who want to collaborate and explore new possibilities in education, where we share successes and where failure is perceived as a form of feedback and a firm basis for learning.
  • We safeguard sustainability by providing support in the process of adopting and implementing new ideas and practices, generating backing for innovative projects across UM, offering continuing professional development and providing expertise and connecting experts across the UM Teaching & Learning community.
  • We provide a solid foundation for innovation by nurturing the scholarly perspective, connecting research with practice and researchers with practitioners. We offer grants and support research aimed at deepening our shared understanding and broadening our scope.

These three core conditions for innovation are at the heart of everything we do at EDLAB. 

The UM Education Days gave me time to reflect – this should be done more often!
UM Education Days participant

Stimulating Students

Excellence Education

Maastricht University offers a range of Excellence programmes for ambitious, motivated, and high-performing students. At EDLAB we further develop, implement, and centrally coordinate these programmes. In a challenging, interdisciplinary learning environment, students engage in extracurricular opportunities that help them develop their talents, increase their knowledge, and strengthen their CVs.

Students as education partners

The EDLAB Student Advisory Board (ESAB) represents the student community and hosts several Student-Meet sessions throughout the year.

The PREMIUM excellence programme showed me that creativity is a core competency of our times. There is often simply no ‘right’ solution to complex challenges in real life.
Nicola Grande, SBE student

Reaching Out

EDLAB engages with external parties and stakeholders in the field of knowledge on education, be they teaching staff from other educational institutes, organisations that collaborate with EDLAB's Excellence programmes, external professional training companies, or other Centres for Teaching & Learning in the Netherlands and abroad.

Twitter feed

    • RT @OscarvandenW: In “Under 350” words I wrote this short review of Peter Hagen’s inspiring book Power of Story for #edUMinded - the online…

      2 days 19 hours ago
    • Photo by EDLAB

      Are you a teacher seeking to improve your coaching abilities? Or are you a student intrigued by the power of motivation?

      These are some of the activities offered by EDLAB in the coming weeks! Check our website for more information and to register! 

      👉 https://t.co/2um3J1DC7V https://t.co/war7r1MHB8

      3 days 21 hours ago
    • Photo by EDLAB

      'Encourage students to write the story of their education,' says Academic Advising specialist Peter L. Hagen in his book ''The Power of Story: Narrative Theory In Academic Advising". A review by Oscar van den Wijngaard.

      https://t.co/FeBSDsDkRd https://t.co/VOEoxPxdGy

      4 days 19 hours ago