dr. L.S. (Laura) Cuijpers

Science is a joint endeavour that requires curiosity, rigorous methods and sharing knowledge in discussion within and between disciplines. As the incremental acquisition of knowledge is a process over generations and the aim of university education is to teach students academic thinking and doing, academic teaching and scientific research are inseparable. I aspire to create an academic environment that fosters discussion and invites exploration. Acting on this aspiration, I developed a Movement Workshop for students to explore theoretical concepts on motor learning (e.g., affordances, constraints, control parameter and self-organisation) through movement exercises and joint reflection upon their experiences. To support students in their process of building on their future, I developed the educational module Creating your own course to challenge and support students to develop their plans for the future. 

To develop my educative skills beyond the University Teaching Qualification (BKO) I graduated from the Educational Leadership Program, a postdoc program in the UMCG to professionalize academic teaching. This program is designed for academic staff that aspires a significant role in academic teaching and provides a career path towards professorship based on educational excellence, for instance through innovative educational design or research on educational innovation. As one of the first academic teachers partaking in this program, I was able to contribute to the program, for instance by organising the final educational course module on Personal Development in Academic Teaching. 

For coming lecture years, one of the challenges will be to restore the community aspect of our university as we return to physical teaching. The intention to move towards a more hybrid form of education poses the challenge to use online forms of teaching to create more opportunity for real life interaction and discussion instead of replacing it. In response to the announcement of the Dutch universities to continue university education digitally – “because it is a possibility”, I wrote the article “Digital the new normal? Why we should be hesitant towards a digital university” that was published by Joop BNN Vara.

I coordinated the interfacultary minor Sport Science and developed several course modules to innovate education at the Center of Human Movement Science and Department of Developmental Psychology. I teach in both bachelor- and master courses and supervise students (PhD, master and bachelor) in their research projects. I am experienced in teaching theoretical, methodological and practical courses in Dutch and English, both on- and offline.