Eight lecturers honoured with the Open Education Ambassador Award

On 7 March, in the occasion of Open Education Week 2023, eight TU Delft lecturers received the award in recognition of their commitment to openly share knowledge and educational resources with the world.

The awardees, who promote open practices and are also active in online education with their MOOCs, received the accolade from Willem van Valkenburg, Executive Director TU Delft Extension School for Continuing Education, in a ceremony at the Teaching Lab in the presence of colleagues, deans and directors of education.

Each nominee remarked on their wish to continue to share knowledge and best practices inside and outside TU Delft and across departments and disciplines, in this way both inspiring others and positively affecting learners around the world. They also recognised and were grateful for the  collaborative efforts and contributions of individuals in their course teams, the faculty coordinators and the online learning developers.  

A very special contribution
In addition to being ambassadors for Open Education, each lecturer was also recognised for distinct actions in favour of ‘openess’.

Annemiek van Boeijen
For contributing to openness through the online course Culture Sensitive Design Thinking, which she developed for both online and campus education with the intention of fostering cross-learning between practitioners and student. Additionally, for encouraging participation from other educators so that lecturers in design schools around the world can in turn teach their own students, contributing to raising awareness of how cultural and social contexts influence design choices aimed at solving societal (global) challenges. Annemiek’s involvement in the Delft Design Approach and the Delft Design Guide, which are published in OpenCourseWare, further demonstrate her commitment to open education.

Arjo Loeve
For contributing to openness through the MOOC Forensic Engineering: Learning from Failures, which material is available on OpenCourseWare, including the engaging video ‘The treehouse of failures.’ In addition to having reached thousands of learners worldwide, the course is used in Bachelor’s programs at several universities in the Netherlands, and at TU Delft in the Master’s program in Biomedical Engineering and in Clinical Technology. The MOOC being a co-production with the faculties of Civil Engineering & Geosciences and Aerospace Engineering further demonstrates Arjo’s commitment to collaborate across disciplines to promote open practices and deliver a great learning experience.

Bart van den Dries
For contributing to openness through the Pre-University Calculus MOOC, which since its launch successfully reached thousands of learners worldwide and is also available on OpenCourseWare – additionally serving as an inspiration for other MOOCs. By filling a critical knowledge gap – and preparing individuals for university-level study – it makes a positive impact on their education and future prospects, both as prospective TU Delft graduates and as global citizens.  

Carmine Varriale
For contributing to openness through the openly licenced MOOC Sustainable Aviation: The route to climate neutral aviation; the re-use on campus of content from the online course for professionals Aircraft Performance Physics and Simulation; and the publication of his research in open access journals, in addition to creating valuable engagement opportunities for learners – on campus and online – to deliver a great learning experience.

Carola Hein
For contributing to openness through the MOOCs (Re)Imagining Port Cities: Understanding Space, Society & Culture, and Water Works: Activating Heritage for Sustainable Development. In addition to publishing the course materials under an open licence, Carola encourages learners to post their final assignments as a blog on the public site Port City Futures and to share photos taken during the course in both Sketchdrive and WeLikeSharing (a TU Delft public image library), thus promoting a wider access to knowledge and resources for the whole word to (re)use. Moreover, for her steadfast advocacy of open practices in various contexts, most recently with the open book Oil Spaces: Exploring the Global Petroleumscape, and as UNESCO Chair Water, Ports & Historic Cities.

Doris van Halem
For contributing to openness through the Drinking Water Treatment MOOC that makes such critical and life-changing knowledge freely available around the world, and especially in those regions where access is most needed and often limited. Additionally, Doris’ commitment to making a positive impact to the lives of others through knowledge sharing is further demonstrated by her role as program leader of the ‘Water for Impact’ initiative of the Delft Global programme.

Timon Idema
For contributing to openness in various forms, including the open book Mechanics and Relativity, and the openly licenced MOOC Pre-University Physics, which reaches thousands of learners worldwide making a real difference to their education and future outlook, both as prospective TU Delft students and as global citizens. Additionally, for his constant enthusiasm in involving other colleagues in open education.

If you wish to know more about open and online education at TU Delft, visit the call for proposals page or email extension-school@tudelft.nl.