Sole Pera

Background 

Sole Pera is an Associate Professor at the Web Information Systems group of the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, with a special interest in the human side of information retrieval. Furthermore, Sole has always been interested in education. Which is why, when the opportunity presented itself, she did not hesitate to opt for an associate professorship with a focus on education.   

Towards IDEE 

The IDEE theme Students taking responsibility for their learning process strongly appealed to Sole when she first heard about the project, because it addresses questions that were already very much on her mind before the start of IDEE. When it comes to supervising MSc students, one of the maxims that Sole teaches by is that whenever a student comes to her expecting a clear-cut “just-tell-me-what-I need-to-do-answer”, she will refuse to comply. Instead, she will sit with this student, and help them narrow things down and discover for themselves what project it is that they are intrinsically motivated to work on. 

As part of IDEE 

To Sole, discerning your own interests, discovering what it is that you belief in and are most passionate about, is a skill that is indispensable to becoming a lifelong learner. Currently, she feels that this skill is most effectively taught when it is possible to spend time with students one-on-one. Unfortunately, however, this is often not the context within which teachers operate. Consider for instance that BSc Computer Science classes are attended by hundreds of students at a time. This is why Sole sees IDEE as a unique opportunity to discover other ways in which to stimulate students to become more autonomous, to take more ownership of their learning process, ways that are apt to deal with large number of students. 

 Did you know that ...?

• Sole is looking forward to the piloting phase of IDEE, and is curious to see what the IDEE innovations will bring to her courses.