Three of the seven summitted proposals haven been accepted for funding from the EWUU Education research fund named “Adaptive expertise development through transdisciplinary education and lifelong learning”. 
These innovative education research projects are geared towards a sustainable collaboration across the four EWUU institutions.

Project: Supporting Students to Ask Meaningful Feedback Questions 

Researchers: Renske de Kleijn (UMCU), Judith Gulikers (WUR), Tamara Koehler (UU), Claudia Tielemans (UMCU), Leonie Brummer (UU) 

How students can become more active and effective users of feedback to develop adaptive expertise and lifelong learning skills is the main question within this project. As many students struggle to understand, apply, or critically engage with feedback, often accepting changes passively or ignoring feedback altogether. The researchers will analyse existing datasets to identify characteristics of students’ feedback questions in different learning environments and professions. The ultimate goal is to define what makes “good” feedback questions and support students in becoming reflective, self-directed learners and adaptive experts. 

Project: Insight in students’ learning processes during interdisciplinary team training 

Researchers: Roos de Jonge (UMCU), Rene van Donkelaar (TU/e), Anneke Berendts (WUR), Sanne ter Meulen (UMCU) 

This research project examines how challenge-based learning can prepare students to address complex healthcare problems that require interdisciplinary collaboration. It focuses on the Bio-Tech-Med Nutrition Interdisciplinary Team Training (BITT) course, where students from medicine, biomedical sciences, human nutrition, and engineering work together on real-world disease-related challenges. Thereby building competencies such as communication, collaboration, critical reflection, and understanding across disciplines. The researchers identified a gap between the course’s intended learning goals and what students actually experience and perceive during interdisciplinary teamwork. The study seeks to understand how students experience the learning processes and how these contribute to developing integrated collaborative practice. 

Project: Understanding the role of uncertainty in learning during community-engaged learning 

Researchers: Rahul Pandit (UMCU), Anneke van Houwelingen (UU), Jantien van Berken (UU) 

Navigating uncertainty in community engaged learning (CEL) environments builds adaptive expertise. This research project investigates how students develop this by in real-world collaborations with societal partners, where challenges are often complex, unpredictable, and less structured than traditional education. Although these experiences can foster professional, interpersonal, and civic competencies, many students struggle with unclear expectations and changing situations. The study focuses on how students interpret and respond to uncertainty while working with diverse stakeholders outside formal teaching settings. The ultimate goal is to improve support strategies that help students learn effectively from uncertainty.