New editorial team FASoS Teaching & Learning Blog

By Patrick Bijsmans

It must have been about 15 months ago when, after a meeting with a group of faculty colleagues interested in teaching and learning research, Afke Groen and I started to think about launching a teaching and learning blog. We felt that there was a need for a more stable platform for the exchange of ideas, best practices and opinions. Now, just two years after the launch of the FASoS Teaching & Learning Blog, Afke has left the faculty to take up a new job at the Hans van Mierlo Stichting in the Hague.

Afke and I always had a blast working on the blog. We received all kinds of interesting posts from colleagues from inside and outside the faculty, and even from two students. We wrote some posts together too, some of which we sent to other blog sites. And we used the blog as an excuse to often go for lunch or coffee (or both!) to discuss the blog – and much more – and became good friends along the way.

This blog would probably not have existed without Afke, so it’s sad to see her leave, as a colleague and as a friend. And it’s a big loss for the faculty too, as Afke was loved by staff and students alike. But she has taken on a very nice new job, which, I’m sure, she’ll excel in too. Most importantly, the urban sprawl of the west of the Netherlands is not that far away and I’m sure we’ll be able to find plenty of excuses to meet up for coffee, lunch, drinks (in post-Corona times, of course #workingfromhome #stayhome).

Afke having left the faculty inevitable comes with a change in the team that runs the blog. And I’m happy to share with you that Diede Diederiks and Mirko Reithler have agreed to step in. Diede is an educationalist who joined FASoS in 2020. She previously worked at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Diede has recently been appointed faculty coordinator for the University Teaching Qualification trajectory for teaching staff.

Mirko is lecturer with the faculty’s Department of Society Studies and mainly teaches in the Bachelor in Arts & Culture. Mirko is faculty coordinator for the Problem-Based Leaning and tutor training and is a member of the steering group for Maastricht University’s EdView project on the development of and innovation in teaching and learning at Maastricht University.

I’m very much looking forward to working with Diede and Mirko to take the FASoS Teaching & Learning Blog to the next level! And if you’re a staff member or student (from FASoS or beyond) who’s tempted to write a piece – about your move online or other teaching and learning topics – do get in touch with us!