‘Education innovation is a shared effort’

Cuijpers adds that he enjoys discussing teaching and educational innovations with colleagues. "But making it important enough to actually find the time for it is a challenge."

For him, the pilot came at the perfect moment: "I think it's an excellent program for when you start to feel a bit isolated as a teacher. It brings new ideas, but above all, it gave me the sense that I'm part of a larger whole."

Small investment, big return

Cuijpers and Mestrom say the program takes surprisingly little time. It includes a pre- and post-discussion, a single observation of your partner's teaching, and two group sessions-all scheduled together. "About twelve hours total," Cuijpers says. "That's nothing. You get new ideas without feeling weighed down."

Mestrom adds, "We take continuous development for granted in research. Why not in teaching? It doesn't have to be a huge time commitment-you can start small, like with this program."

New insights in practice

The program gave both teachers practical takeaways. Mestrom, for example, realized that loosening learning goals lets students explore on their own and take true ownership of their learning experience.

You consciously think about how you design a learning experience. That was probably the biggest gain for me.

Pieter Cuijpers, associate professor at Mathematics and Computer Science

Cuijpers is exploring how the neuroscientific insights from Mestrom's quizzes might be applied to assignments in his CBL projects. "Looking behind the scenes at someone else's classroom and reflecting on it together pulls you out of your routine for a while. You consciously think about how you design a learning experience. That was probably the biggest gain for me."

More than feedback

During the first group meeting, the participants are asked to tell what characterizes them as a teacher. Mestrom: "It sounds light-hearted, but it resulted in surprisingly deep conversations about who we are and why we teach the way we do."

That personal element makes the program powerful, Mestrom believes: "It's not about judging, but about seeing and learning: 'I have seen...' instead of 'I'd do it like this'."