Jasper Homminga is an engineer, and a teacher at ATLAS. He originally studied mechanical and biomedical engineering. In pursuing a PHD, he saw what it’s like to be involved in research, but also what it’s like to teach.
Originally, research was his focus, but now he recognises teaching is what fulfills him most. He’s still involved in research, but less so, cutting it out of his job completely within the next year or so. He has also indicated that if he does carry on with research, it will probably be related to teaching, or ATLAS specifically.
While talking, he mentions how enjoyable it is to see a concept “click” for a student he’s teaching. In Enschede, he joined the faculty for biomedical engineering. This was a study where, “years of choices were already made for you”. Lectures and classes were set for you, even if you didn’t want to be involved in the given field. He saw the problem with this system, and helped to restructure the entire course, to allow for more freedom.
After doing this, he gave a talk on this redesign, and Kees Ruijter, one of the founders of University College Twente, saw how useful his expertise could be. Kees asked Jasper to help in the design of the curriculum, and that’s how Jasper got involved. After giving his input, Jasper was asked to join the faculty, and later became one of the full time ATLAS teachers. Originally, Jasper was of the opinion that the original, more common system had merit; lectures were best. Through his time with ATLAS, however, with the staff, he’s seen that a more open plan has its own advantages. In engineering, there can only be so much teaching of theory. At a certain point, you just need to put your knowledge into practice.
Here at ATLAS, he’s also been given the opportunity to let the students learn what is important for them. Not every student has to learn every topic. Given the smaller classes, the students in ATLAS are less of a number than they would be in other studies. As a teacher here, you can personalise your approach to a higher degree.
On top of that, the fact that the faculty isn’t so bound by what is typically done is nice, he says. The freedom to try new things out is appreciated. Both Jasper and the students of ATLAS seem to be making excellent use of that freedom.
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