Teaching Inspiration: Snacks, Drinks, Posters Await

'I had my bachelor's students design a board game in which the goal is to create a state,' says Hitomi Koyama at one of the stands in the sunny garden. 'They take one course on state structure, which they often find boring. By having them incorporate the literature from the lectures into a board game, they get a better sense of what it means for the state to have a monopoly on violence, for example.'

In addition, a board game gives students the opportunity to present themselves in a different way. 'Not all of my students speak English equally well or enjoy giving presentations. A board game is an opportunity for them to show that they have mastered the material in a different way. You could also apply this to other lectures.'

Dialogue, not debate

Next to Koyama, student assistant Jacob Bauer walks over with drinks for his teammates. 'With the Dialogue and Education project, we're trying to implement dialogue in education. You often see people trying to "win" a conversation, as if it were a debate, while you get further if you really listen to each other and try to achieve a common goal. This also benefits student well-being. We create modules for teachers, but I have also recorded a video and we're organising a conference in September. The great thing about the Education Market is that people can already practise our methods in an informal way.'

Networking

'An Education Market like this is a good way to find out what's going on in the field of education,' says information specialist Tessa Philippa from the University Library. 'We've already met someone who fact-checks historical sources,' adds her colleague Simone Lammertink. 'We might be able to do something with that too.'

Philippa: 'Because it's a social event, it's easy to network. We get ideas here, but we can also make contacts to implement our ideas in the Humanities.'