CHEPS published the results of an exploratory study into the infrastructure for educational innovations in higher education in the Netherlands. The study found that at least 64 groups – at universities and universities of applied sciences – are actively researching or developing educational innovations for higher education. Most institutions have educational services (e.g. a Centre for Learning and Teaching) that help diffuse the innovations within institutions.
To improve the infrastructure, more should be done to diffuse the insights into educational innovation to teachers, researchers and policy makers. Bottlenecks currently include: (1) limited cooperation in research, development and diffusion of educational innovations within and between higher education institutions, (2) limited resources – and the related time contains – for the development and research of innovations, (3) lack of clarity about the term educational innovation (what does it encompass?), (4) knowledge of innovation is written in jargon and important details (e.g. used implementation process) are often missing in publications, making it difficult to translate innovations into practice elsewhere, and (5) institutional structures and culture may not be fully supportive for educational innovations.
Respondents in our study (policy makers, educational advisors, teachers, researchers) made several suggestions to address these bottlenecks. For example, improving the availability, amounts, and awareness of grants for educational innovations, and developing a national platform to connect existing networks and to share knowledge on innovations.
The report can be found here (in Dutch). Also see a news item in ScienceGuide about our study here (in Dutch).
