Brinksma Innovation Grant (BIG) for Judith ter Vrugte (BMS) | Home (EN)

The fourth Brinksma Innovation Grant (BIG), named after former rector Magnificus Ed Brinksma, was presented during the OAY-online broadcast on 31 August 2020. Researcher and lecturer Judith ter Vrugte was awarded the prize for her work on collaboration and teamwork as essential components of the Twente Educational Model (TOM) and the master programmes at the University of Twente.

The reason for integrating collaborative tasks in education is twofold: it prepares students for their future careers, because they can practice and develop their collaborative skills, and collaborative tasks have a positive influence on learning in general. For both purposes, it is essential that the cooperation between students is (or can be) excellent. It is important here that there is a general consensus among educational scientists, and specific instruction and feedback is of paramount importance in order to develop good collaboration skills. It is precisely that education and feedback that are currently lacking at TOM.

Minimum effort and maximum profit

The project focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of a digital education intervention that promotes the development of collaboration skills among university students. The intended design is: minimum effort, maximum profit. It allows for easy implementation in TOM, because it can be seamlessly integrated into already existing projects without imposing a lot of extra requirements on lecturers or students. Moreover, the design is generic, which means that it can be used across various disciplines and processes and has already been tried and tested successfully in technical vocational education.

The BIG was presented during the broadcast of OAY on UTour. Other academic prizes went to: Serge Lemay (TNW) (subject Signal Analysis). He was awarded the Central Education Award. The TGS Award went to Ana Ortiz Perez (TNW). Also, the graduation awards were awarded to the final-year students.