KL02.1: An instructional-design perspective on research-based learning

Four-component instructional design (4C/ID; van Merrienboer & Kirschner, 2018) offers a systematic approach to the design of educational programs for complex skills such as doing research. It stresses the use of authentic learning tasks, simple-to-complex sequencing of those tasks, and decreasing learner support and guidance in a process of scaffolding. At Maastricht University in the Netherlands, the MaRBLe program (Maastricht Research Based Learning experience; Bastiaens, van Tilburg, & van Merrienboer, 2017) aimed at the development of honors programs in the Bachelor phase with a focus on learning through doing research. This presentation will describe some of these programs and use 4C/ID to analyze their underlying educational principles. The take-home message is that learning through research can be realized but requires a radical change in how higher education is designed.

 

References:

Bastiaens, E., van Tilburg, J., & van Merrienboer, J. J. G. (Eds.) (2017). Research-based learning: Case studies from Maastricht University. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.

Van Merrienboer, J. J. G., & Kirschner, P. A. (2018). Ten steps to complex learning (3rd Rev. Ed.). New York: Routledge.