DKE: KE @ Work: bridging the gap between academic curriculum and the workplace?

In September 2014 the Department of Data Science and Knowledge Engineering (DKE) started with the special track Knowledge Engineering @ Work. KE @ Work has been set up to give students the possibility to get relevant work experience, to build up a professional network, to enhance their professional skills and to apply what they have learned in class to real life situations. But also the companies (a.o early identification of talented future employees) and the university (a.o. first hand access to contract research projects) benefit from this program.

In July 2016 the students from the first cohort will graduate. What have we learned these past two years from our interaction with the companies with regard to the professional skills of the students and how have we implemented these lessons to improve the learning experience for the second and third cohort? In this session we will share with you the challenges and best practices from managing 26 KE @ Work student contracts with companies such as Vodafone, Medtronic, Mercedes, Mediaan and Open Line.

FHML ERD /EdLab: On how to support students’ self-study: Step 6, the blind spot in PBL

When students enter our university, they are least supported in what is probably the most determining step of the ‘7-jump’: step 6; ‘self-study’, or ‘self-directed learning’. Student advisors provide training to those who run into difficulties, but this training often comes after the damage is done and primarily reaches those who visit the student advisor. Yet, research shows that about 85% of students almost never use effective learning strategies, such as self-testing and spacing learning sessions. It is time for integration of training of effective learning strategies with PBL. Training these strategies will positively affect learning achievements, as it will help students to learn to self-direct their learning behavior.

The goal of this workshop is:to describe evidence for effective learning strategies and discuss how these learning strategies could be integrated with PBL, and how these strategies could be trained. Input from and interaction with teachers and students present is core to this workshop, in order to come to guidelines and description of future steps to be taken to support students’ self-study skills.

This workshop is aligned with the EDLAB project ‘Self-regulated learning’.

KU Leuven: Mindmates, together our minds can achieve greater things

Out of a long tradition of care for students at the KU Leuven the project MindMates was launched. It’s a university-wide prevention program that is coordinated by the Student Health Centre of the KU Leuven and scientifically monitored by the research project Fortune. The goal is to promote mental wellbeing among all students, by reinforcing the protective factors and reducing the risk factors. In this lecture we will present MindMates.

Language Centre: Intercultural communication

When you think of intercultural communication, you might think of learning languages. However, communication is much more than learning or speaking a language. In an international classroom setting, it is important that both students and teachers are aware of intercultural differences. Furthermore, intercultural sensitivity is an important skill for students to acquire to maximise their employability potential in an increasingly internationalised environment.

The intercultural communication workshop focuses on three key areas: cultural awareness; aspects of and differences in communication and culture; and resolving intercultural differences. The workshop will be communicative and interactive so, should you wish to participate, you are asked to download and install an app called ProConnect on your handheld device (smart phone/tablet) in advance.

ROA: Competencies: requirements on the labour market and acquisition in university education

To take advantage of new and rapidly changing opportunities in a knowledge-driven economy, the acquisition and maintenance of competencies that are valued in the labour market are crucial for Maastricht university graduates. But what does it mean to talk about competencies in the light of a knowledge-intensive economy? 

In this session, we discuss in interactive manner different questions related to the competency requirements and the acquisition of competencies. Given the strong international orientation of Maastricht University, are there differences in labour market requirements in the Netherlands compared to other countries? To what extent are such competencies acquired during the university study and to what extent afterwards, during the first years on the labour market? What are the strengths and possible weaknesses of the Problem-Based Learning environment we provide to our students? To answer these questions, we discuss results of the alumni surveys that yearly are carried out 1.5, 6 and 11 years after graduation at Maastricht University as well as results of a European Employer survey.

SBE: Prepare yourself for your future career by combining your thesis with an internship!

At SBE, the student can now combine his/her master's thesis with an internship (the Thesis-Internship Programme, or TIP). They conduct research on a pressing topic in a real company, and at the same time gain professional experience and contacts to kick-start their career. What does it involve? The TIP programme is entirely individualised. What are their academic interests? What sector or industry do they want to work in? Based on their answers, they direct their search for a research topic and host organisation. Together with the organisation, they then narrow down the research area to a specific problem. Doing consumer research for a high-tech start-up? Measuring a stockbroker's performance in a way that emphasises social impact?

The best research topic is one that is interesting for both company and student, and that can be studied from both an academic and a practical point of view. The students task is to investigate the problem using rigorous academic methods, and translate the findings into an innovative, forward-looking solution for your company. In addition to their thesis for UM, they produce an executive summary and deliver a presentation to the company board.

UCM: UCM ThinkTank – a Reality Check for Credit

ThinkTank is project for credit offered at UCM, in which teams of 10 students analyze, research and develop recommendations on behalf of external clients who deal with complex issues concerning strategies and policies. For four intensive weeks, ThinkTank offers students the opportunity to work on all four aspects of scholarship as they were identified by Ernest Boyer: discovery, integration, application and teaching.

For most UCM students, ThinkTank is the first opportunity to compare what they have learned with what is needed in the work field, and to appreciate hands-on the complexity and realities of ‘knowledge at work’. In this presentation we will present the structure and aims of the project, in comparison to the way in which students experience the project. The juxtaposition of educational design and student experience will be used to engage participants in a discussion of how course design can help student become aware of the demands of the professional world, and the relevance of what they learn in a predominantly theoretical setting.

UM Career Services: Enhancing Students’ Employability through Staff Development

To heighten the employability at the UM, solutions are needed which effect the majority of students. As a central service, UM Career Services (UMCS) is always concerned with this question. Yet, while successful in many ways, reaching a large population of students directly remains a difficult task. At the same time, the expertise at the UMCS has the potential to benefit many students throughout our university. So the question becomes: How can we reach students with career expertise on a large scale in an indirect way? The answer lays in teaching staff the skills necessary to heighten the employability of their students with whom they have a direct link.

In this workshop we want to explore the possibilities and pitfalls when it comes to enhancing students’ employability through staff development.

UM Marketing & Communication: Enriching the dialogue with prospective students

How does the approach on bridging the gap between secondary and higher education contribute to study success in the first year and eventually employability? And vice versa; how can we use study success (and failure) and employability to improve the transition from high school to university? The Marketing & Communications department is responsible for communication with prospective students, policy-making, and creating and maintaining a stable relationship network with secondary education in the Netherlands. The goal of this workshop is to create synergy by bringing different parts of the organization together.

University Library: Academic skills and the role of peer-to-peer advising

The 21st century skills are a set of abilities that students need to develop in order to succeed in the information age. One of the 21^st century types of skills is Literacy Skills: Information Literacy, Media Literacy and Technology Literacy. The UM Library works, in close cooperation with faculties, on a set of information skills that students need to develop during their stay at university and to prepare them for their future profession.

We would like: to share our ideas of how to teach and practice literacy skills with you (online and face-to-face); to share peer-to-peer initiatives in (academic) skills support at faculties (to find cooperation); to present the UM library skills and support; to discuss what kind of support and advising from the UM library is needed for today’s student in developing his/her skills. Next to that, and as an example of peer-to-peer advising, we present our Peer Point service (evaluation of last year support and future plans).