Education That Moves You
Education That Moves You (ETMY) is an EDLAB project that introduced standing desks into the UM problem-based learning tutorials to explore a more dynamic approach to learning.
Could standing be beneficial in creating a more active environment where discussions become more lively and inspiring? Although attention has been drawn to the health risks of sitting for years, the project was interested in investigating the influence of standing or sitting on learning.
In collaboration with a Taskforce Learning Space led by Roy Erkens and Nicolai Manie, we measured the effectiveness of innovative furniture and experimental whiteboards. There is now at least one room with standing desks at each faculty for more dynamic learning at UM.
Education That Moves You: Less fatigue, tension, confusion, and depression, and more vigour, energy, focus and happiness.
Can stand-up tutorials help students to learn?
Stand-up tutorials: what did our students think?
The stand-up tutorials were absolutely amazing! These quite ‘revolutionary’ tutorials were much more efficient than the usual ones.
- Everyone was involved to some degree, and there was no awkward silence as […] in [other] tutorials.
- The fact that the most important part of the learning goal was already written down on the board made it easier to discuss the learning goal (whereas in the regular tutorial, the discussion gets slowed down because the scribe tries to write down every single word that is being said, and the whole discussion turns more into a dictation).
- Every tutorial was combined with presentation skills because the learning goal had to be presented to the peers.
- The pre-discussions, although often very short because of time pressure, were my favourite part of the tutorials. The dividing of the tutorial group into groups of 3-4 people made brainstorming much more effective, in my opinion, and even people who tend to be shy in big groups could actively participate. Plus, the fact that three different groups were brainstorming independently on the same topic led to different outcomes. Every group focused on different parts, which led to the same result as if you would do the same tutorial three times as one big group. This three-in-one brainstorming led to clusters and learning goals of a much higher quality than the usual tutorials.
Projects & Research
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Did you know a healthy lifestyle does not ask for you to head to the gym every day? Just moving more in your daily life can already do the job!
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Nilofer Merchant suggests a small idea that just might have a big impact on your life and health: Next time you have a one-on-one meeting, make it into a "walking meeting" -- and let ideas flow while you walk and talk.
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Last Friday, the lecture hall of the Minderbroedersberg was filled for the inaugural speech of Hans Savelberg, an extraordinary professor and Director of Education in Biomedical Sciences at Maastricht University, who, just like EDLAB, is on a mission to improve education.
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EDLAB’s Education That Moves You project has shared many research sources showing the disadvantage of sitting and the ways in which you could change your habits for the better. But what exactly are the straight up facts?
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Moving your body with poor posture is taxing on your muscles and joints. Here are some tips to improve your posture!
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At EDLAB, we have been paying a lot of attention to the consequences of sitting behaviour through our Education That Moves You project. Now, the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) has documented the facts about Dutch sitting habits.
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The End of Sitting installation designed by architects RAAAF together with visual artist Barbara Visser, has moved to Maastricht and can now be experienced at Maastricht University’s UNS40 at the Randwyck faculty!
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University of Southampton’s human performance design lab in electronics and computer science has defined a model to understand well-being in the body. It developed the inbodied5, or five core processes that interact with each other: movement, eating, social engagement, cognitive engagement, and...
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At EDLAB, we're making Maastricht University more active with our Education That Moves You project. By encouraging you to stand up during tutorials, we aim to make your learning experience more dynamic, enhance your concentration, and stimulate creative thinking.
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The local news portal L1 discusses Education That Moves You in an episode of the series 'Avondgasten'.
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Last week, VU Amsterdam announced it had opened an innovative installation in their university building to encourage students and employees to stand more.
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A growing body of research indicates that prolonged sitting is linked to health risks and depression, underscoring the importance of encouraging more standing.
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Last month the University Library opened its brand new learning spaces in the University Sports Centre. With the opening of the new sports centre, a multifunctional location was introduced that does not only support a healthy way of living but also a healthy way of studying!
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A study by Julianne van der Berg and colleagues at Maastricht University has shown that each extra hour of sitting is associated with a 22% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
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With a growing body of research on the effectiveness of working while standing up, Fast Company summarised the main findings so far. Here are some key findings to convince you to stand up today.
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New research from Queensland University has highlighted that standing more during work hours positively affects one’s psychological well-being.
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Incorporating standing desks in offices and schools can lower the health risks of sitting.
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A standing tutorial: is it healthier, better for group dynamics and learning? Experiments are being carried out at University College Maastricht and in the Maastricht Science Programme.
Education That Moves You in the media
Do's and Don'ts
Sources
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