Marte Vroom, Annegien Langeloo, Wietske de Vries & Marca Wolfensberger - Research Center Talent Development in Higher Education and Society, Hanze University of Applied Sciences
The Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on honors teachers
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced higher education to (partially) transform to online education, including online honors education. This has resulted in honors teachers rethinking their honors programs and reflecting on what is important for honors students. The research center for Talent Development in Higher Education and Society is therefore examining the impact of the pandemic on honors teachers. We conducted focus groups among (honors) teachers from Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Groningen) on the impact of the pandemic, with a special focus on building community as one of the cornerstones of honors education. To create a community through an online environment, other strategies are needed than we are used to in offline education. Some honors teachers felt more stress and discomfort during this time, whereas others felt more connected with their colleagues and students. In our presentation we will reflect on lessons learned during the transformation to online education and how to move forward. We will present the next steps in our research into the impact of COVID-19 on higher education teachers and their teaching. We will conclude the session with an open discussion and break out rooms to facilitate a discussion and share experiences and best practices.
Marte Vroom is research assistant at the research center Talent Development in Higher Education and Society at Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Having also a background in Educational Sciences, she is very much interested in how co-creation and community building impacts honors education, especially in times of a pandemic. She is an honors student herself and is now finishing her Bachelor of Science in Human Geography and Spatial Planning and is preparing for her research master Urban and Economic Geography at Utrecht University. She is aspiring a career as a researcher in the academic field.
Annegien Langeloo is a post-doc researcher at the research center Talent Development in Higher Education and Society at Hanze University of Applied Sciences. She is conducting research on the impact of the corona pandemic on higher education teachers’ well-being and attitudes towards blended learning. She furthermore conducts research on the informal barriers first generation honors students might experience when entering an honors program.
Wietske de Vries is a researcher at the research center Talent Development in Higher Education and Society and Hanze University of Applied Sciences. She has recently obtained her Master’s degree in Pedagogical Sciences at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. She is currently conducting research on the impact of the corona pandemic on higher education teachers’ well-being and attitudes towards blended learning. She is involved in the organization of the World of Talent conference.