Alessandro Bombelli “It all starts with education”

Written by Heather Montague

With a reputation for an open, interactive teaching style and incorporating fun and innovative ways to learn, Dr. Alessandro Bombelli was named TU Delft Educator of the Year for 2023 at the TU Delft Education Day held on 9 November. As assistant professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, he actively seeks and uses student feedback to continually improve courses and engage students. 

Teaching for impact 

During his PhD studies, Alessandro did a fair amount of teaching and that experience influenced his path to becoming an educator. As a teaching assistant, he discovered that he was good at teaching, the students were engaged, and he enjoyed it. “Those are probably the moments I cherish the most from my PhD,” he said. In 2019, Alessandro started at TU Delft as a lecturer and said he enjoys working at the university. “I like to do research and do consider myself a researcher, but I feel like teaching is where I can be a bit more impactful,” he added.  

At universities, Alessandro noted that there is a focus on getting grants for research, which facilitates contributions to society and builds reputations for both researchers and the institution. But there’s not a lot of money or glory involved when it comes to education. “If you focus too much on education, it's not really good for your career,” he said.  “I think people working mostly on education do it because we are intrinsically motivated, not because we want to bring in grants or get promoted a bit faster.” For that reason, Alessandro feels that people who put most of their efforts into education should be acknowledged a bit more. 

Innovative learning experiences 

There is always room for innovative learning experiences in Alessandro’s classroom. He often incorporates interactive elements like games or puzzles as part of his lectures to engage students and enhance their understanding of complex concepts. It doesn't work with all lectures, he explained, as there is limited time and the need to teach a certain number of topics. And it doesn’t work for all students, as some are satisfied with traditional learning methods. “I know there’s no silver bullet to educational approaches, but changing the tone of a lecture can really help some students,” he said. “I'm not saying that I put on a show, but I like my lectures to be as far as possible from being boring.” 

His students have said that Alessandro demonstrates a light-hearted approach that contributes to a positive and enjoyable learning environment. They also note that he skillfully incorporates humour, using jokes and personal favourite memes, which not only alleviates the stress of demanding coursework but also enhances the overall classroom experience. “I think I'm very easy going in the classroom and try to be fun,” said Alessandro. “Some people like my sense of humour, some others may not, but I like to engage with them as much as I can.” 

Unique teaching tools 

One example of a new teaching tool Alessandro plans to implement with students was developed in collaboration with two colleagues teaching similar topics and the TU Delft Game Lab. The group, part of the Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management, builds games and simulations for both research and educational purposes. Together, they created a card game that replicates the knapsack problem – a theoretical exercise where someone is constrained by a fixed-size knapsack and must fill it with the most valuable items. The game requires participants to make hard choices with the goal of retaining the highest possible value. The pedagogical reason behind the game is that it replicates the way a mathematical model works where some combinations or some choices are not feasible. 

Alessandro pointed out that there are also a lot of established resources available nowadays. “I think what we're doing is to some extent unique, but there's a lot of material out there which I'm also grateful for because we don't have to necessarily reinvent the wheel,” he said. One example is The Burrito Optimization Game, an educational resource designed by a professor to introduce players to the power and capabilities of mathematical optimisation. 

Continuous improvement 

One key aspect of Alessandro’s teaching approach is that he consistently seeks out student feedback and uses it to improve the learning experience. He recognises that there is always room to adjust. “If students want me to do something slightly different, as long as there is polite conversation we can discuss it,” he said. “If I disagree, I disagree, but if I agree, I'm happy to comply.” Part of this process means actively encouraging students to give feedback throughout a course, as Alessandro noted that they can sometimes be hesitant to do so.  

Earlier this year, Alessandro decided to incorporate self-reflection and feedback as part of a group assignment. During the University Teaching Qualification programme, he learned about the DAKI approach, which stands for Drop-Add-Keep-Improve. He asked students for inputs on what should be dropped, added, kept, or improved. Interestingly, because it was part of the assignment and counted towards their grade, Alessandro said he got roughly 80 feedback points when he would normally receive about 15. He then posted on Brightspace with a summary of the feedback and shared what he was planning to change, letting students know he values their input. 

More than recognition 

It was an honour to be recognised with the Educator of the Year award, but it’s more than that to Alessandro. “I think whatever we achieve, it's a reminder that it comes with expectations, and it's also motivation to do a bit better,” he said. He hopes to continue learning, and is already doing so through involvement in TUnder, a sort of matching programme that facilitates educators to learn from each other. Ultimately, Alessandro said he is driven to help students learn, retain knowledge, and build confidence they can take with them through life. 

On what he values, Alessandro said: “I understand we are a technical university and research is what brings money and reputation. I value and enjoy research and personally like that it helps creating connections with colleagues that might start as collaborations and end up being true friendships. But I also think universities were born to be primarily educational institutions. If we work at a university, it’s most likely because we received a good enough education that made us willing to go the extra mile to investigate something a bit more. So to me, it all starts with education.”