“How can we boost learning effects of ‘outdoor’ teaching?”

Veronique Schutjens works on research projects on student self-regulation and, more specifically, learning from outdoor experiences in Geosciences. Under the motto: ‘Step out of your comfort zone into your learning zone’ (Association for Experiential Education (aee.org)), she focuses on 'distant learning spaces' (such as fieldwork, excursions, exchange programs) and on 'expert learning spaces' (such as internships, the field, society). She studies the conditions for and impact of both individual reflection, and peer interaction and feedback regarding outdoor experiences in Geosciences. Her aim is to increase the learning effects of outdoor experiences for students. She also want to inspire and support lecturers faculty-wide to investigate the learning processes in these outdoor learning environments, understand the mechanisms behind them, develop interventions, and adapt support accordingly (scaffolding). 

For over 30 years, Veronique's human geographical research has centered around determinants of spatial variations in entrepreneurial attitude and activities, and conditions for new firm creation, performance, and development of spatial entrepreneurial strategies. Recently, she shifted to analyzing effect of outdoor teaching on young adults' transferable skill development and the professional competencies needed in the ‘outside world', under varied reflective and interactive teaching conditions. While this shift seems a big step, the life course trajectories entrepreneurs and students follow have much in common: both groups encounter crossroads, barriers, and drivers along the way. Furthermore, both entrepreneurs and students need to identify, evaluate, and ultimately seize opportunities to respectively thrive and to learn. In Geosciences higher education settings however, the challenge is to investigate to what extent students' learning from outdoor experiences can benefit from evaluative and reflective teaching practices. Veronique therefore strongly supports Educational Scholarship and in particular Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

With two colleagues from Social and Behavioural Sciences, Veronique chairs the UU Dynamics of Youth research community “Youth Education and Life Skills” Dynamics of Youth community platform | Youth Education & Life Skills.