Activities ELA
Webinars 2025
Three webinars: Methods for activating learning
Many lecturers remain hesitant to adopt active learning approaches and digital technology in their teaching. From February to April 2025, the Working Group Eurolecturer Academy will organize a series of three webinars with experiences from the teaching practice about using activating teaching methods. In the first two webinars, the speakers will present experiences about how they use questioning techniques, foster collaborative learning among students, using teaching and learning methods such as POGIL and SCALE-UP and what kind of challenges they encounter. The third webinar will discuss possibilities of artificial intelligence tools such as LearnLoop, EtAlia en IguideME to support students’ learning and what were their experiences in the university STEM courses.
Webinar 1
February 4, 2025, 10.00-11.00 (CET)
Mauro Mocerino
Teaching chemistry using the POGIL process
The Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) approach enhances chemistry instruction by promoting active learning and critical thinking. In POGIL, students work in teams to explore chemical concepts through structured, guided activities that encourage collaboration, problem-solving, and inquiry. This method shifts the focus from passive learning to student-driven discovery, fostering deeper understanding of chemical principles. Research suggests that POGIL improves student engagement, conceptual comprehension, and retention, making it an effective strategy for teaching chemistry at various educational levels.
Mauro Mocerino, Curtin University, Perth, Australia has enjoyed teaching chemistry at Curtin University for almost three decades. During this period he has sought to better understand how students learn chemistry and what can be done to improve their learning. This has developed into a significant component of his research efforts. Mauro’s other research interests are in the design and synthesis of molecules for specific intermolecular interactions including drug–protein interactions, host–guest interactions, crystal growth modification and corrosion inhibition. |
Webinar 2
March 18, 2025, 16.00-17.00 (CET)
Gerald Feldman
Establishing a Collaborative Student-Centered Learning Environment using the SCALE-UP Pedagogy
The time-honored conventional lecture (“teaching by telling”) has been shown to be an ineffective mode of instruction for science classes. To enhance critical thinking skills and develop problem-solving abilities, collaborative group-learning environments have proven to be far more effective. In the SCALE-UP pedagogy, students sit together in groups of three, where they carry out pencil/paper exercises (“ponderables”) using small whiteboards and perform hands-on activities such as demos and labs (“tangibles”) during class. Formal lecture is reduced to a minimum and the instructor serves more as a “coach” to facilitate these academic exercises. I will present an overview of the SCALE-UP concept and describe its implementation at George Washington University. I will also discuss empirical data collected from assessments given to SCALE-UP collaborative classes and regular lecture classes at GWU for a comparative study of the effectiveness of the two methodologies.
Gerald Feldman, Department of Physics, George Washington University, Washington, DC USA Gerald Feldman is a Professor in the Department of Physics at George Washington University. Aside from his research work in experimental nuclear physics, he has had a long-time interest in developing students’ conceptual understanding of physics and linking this to enhance their problem-solving skills. Focusing on an active-learning approach, he introduced the SCALE-UP collaborative group-learning pedagogy at GWU in 2008, and he has spent four semesters in Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands) promoting active student engagement and implementing pilot programs for testing the efficacy of SCALE-UP in a European setting. |
Webinar 3
April 24, 2025, 10.00-11.00 (CEST)
Erwin van Vliet, Luc Mahieu and Olaf Vrijmoet
Personalized feedback using AI tools
In this session, we will present three tools that utilize artificial intelligence: IguideME, EtAlia, and LearnLoop, which are used in higher education to provide personalized feedback. The aim is to offer insights into the learning process, help lecturers create materials for learning through questioning and assessments, and provide automated, prompt feedback to students. This improves the quality of education and creates more ease and space for both students and instructors.
Erwin van Vliet, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands is an Associate Professor at the SILS Institute, a neuroscientist, and the programme director of the Bachelor’s programme in Psychobiology. He combines his expertise in research and teaching to innovate learning experiences using an evidence-based approach. He actively integrates educational technology, such as IguideME, to empower the learning process, provide personalized feedback, and enhance the quality of course design. |
Luc Mahieu, LearnLoop, the Netherlands Luc loves learning, but thinks that education doesn’t serve that need well. With a background in industrial design and machine learning, he is determined to turn universities into knowledge hubs that facilitate students in venturing and learning whilst contributing to society. The key is to give the students the tools, curate the materials and assess their development through their learning process so we can give them a degree for it. |
Olaf Vrijmoet, EtAlia, the Netherlands |
Webinars 2024
Three Webinars: Digital technology in STEM practical courses
Teaching and learning in laboratory courses, or any courses where students perform experiments, require designing active learning activities and engaging students in the learning process. Digital educational technology can be used in learning activities to support students’ learning and communication. In co-operation, the Working Group Eurolecturer Academy and the DISTINCT project, organised a series of three webinars where three different approaches are presented on how digital technology can be used in a pedagogically relevant way to improve students’ learning.
Webinar 1
March 7, 2024, 9.30-10.30 (CET)
Richard de Boer and Charita Furumaya
Optimizing Practical Courses: Design Challenges, Educational Theories, and E-Learning Strategies for Enhanced Student Skills
Practical courses serve as optimal components within the curriculum for essential research and problem-solving skills. The challenge is to structure them effectively and efficiently. Students must come to the laboratory adequately prepared to achieve all the anticipated learning objectives in lab sessions. In the webinar, we’ll discuss course design challenges, talk about educational theories and showcase e-learning examples enhancing student learning experiences.
Richard de Boer (Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) As a Life Sciences lector, Richard de Boer employs research-based learning in practical education. This involves replacing theoretical learning with real-world problems from the field. It promotes self-directed learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving, cultivates communication and collaboration skills, and encourages reflection and feedback to enhance skills and understanding. |
Charita Furumaya (LabBuddy, The Netherlands) As a lab education consultant at LabBuddy, Charita Furumaya works together with teachers to enhance their practical courses by supporting them with e-learning. This ensures students arrive at the lab well prepared and understand what they are doing. |
Webinar 2
April 18, 2024, 9.30-10.30 (CEST)
Alexandra Yeung
Using Electronic Notebooks in teaching and research
Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) have recently gained popularity in academia and industry while paper laboratory notebooks (PLNs) are becoming obsolete from the digital world. This is due to many benefits of ELNs such as efficiency, accessibility, and data integrity. In response to changes to industry practice, ELNs have been implemented to help students develop skills that are easily transferrable and prepare them for a technological rich workplace. This webinar will provide insights into students’ and teaching staff’ experiences with using ELNs, particularly LabArchives.
Alexandra Yeung is currently a senior lecturer and the Chemistry Major Coordinator in the School of  Molecular and Life Sciences at Curtin University, Perth, Australia. Alexandra’s research area is chemistry education, or more broadly science education. Her broad aim is to improve students’ perceptions of chemistry as well as their understanding of chemistry, particularly in a blended learning environment and through science inquiry activities. This is achieved by investigating how students learn chemistry, ways to foster student engagement and ways to improve their learning. |
Webinar 3
May 23, 2024, 9.30-10.30 (CEST)
Bartosz Trzewik
Revitalizing Chemical Laboratories: Leveraging Remote Materials in a Post-Pandemic World
As the world transitions beyond the pandemic era, the landscape of education and laboratory practices continues to evolve. We will delve into innovative ways in which remote materials such as movies, quizzes, and online resources can be repurposed to enhance traditional chemical laboratories in normal situations, creating a dynamic and efficient learning experience. Our expert panel will share practical tips, case studies, and best practices for educators, offering a roadmap to maximize the potential of remote resources while maintaining the authenticity of in-person laboratory instruction.
Bartosz Trzewik is a senior lecturer at Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry of J agiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. His scientific interest focuses on the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. He conducts organic chemistry classes, mostly in laboratory, for students of chemistry and related fields at basic and advanced levels. His current research topic concerns the development of teaching competences of STEM lecturers, with particular emphasis on the use of MOOCs in this process. |
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Disclaimer: The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
