About

Educational Innovation at Eindhoven University of Technology

The TU/e Strategy 2030 (2018) describes the drivers of change that will affect the field of engineering in the coming years. The period between now and 2030 will bring about many societal changes and technological challenges which will also have an effect on engineering education.

Engineering and education are transforming, and TU/e education needs to keep developing to meet the needs of the world around us. Our mission for TU/e education of the future is to:

• Educate responsible engineers of the future who are prepared to take on important societal, technical and scientific challenges
• Offer high-quality education that is authentic, flexible and can be adapted and improved to meet the challenges of a quickly changing world

More information on TU/e's Vision on Education.

Developing tomorrow's education

Educators at TU/e have shown amazing capacities to innovate education. Previous innovation programs at TU/el (for example, BOOST!, CBL, and 4TU Centre for Engineering Education) have resulted in more than 170 education innovation pilots. These are presented on the projects page and in the 4TU.CEE Innovation Map. To continuously support TU/e educators in innovating their education, funding will become available soon from the DRIVE program, 4TU.CEE, and EuroTeQ. 

More information on the funds can be found here. More information on the to-be-expected 2025 education innovation call and how to apply is presented on the Call for Proposal page.

DRIVE

The DRIVE program (2025-2030) is the successor of BOOST! program (2019-2024) and aims to enhance the quality of education with digitalization. This call for proposals is aimed at realizing TU/e’s Vision on Education towards (1) learning in a flexible hybrid system to facilitate diverse learning paths, (2) an authentic, integrative, and activating educational concept: Challenge Based Learning, and (3) self-directed learning that acknowledges personal development and professional identity.

The DRIVE program continuous BOOST!'s succesfull teacher-driven innovation approach. Based on the Vision on Education, results of the BOOST! program and (technological) developments in higher education and the world, the DRIVE program focuses on five topics:

1. AI in education: Education for, with and despite AI.
2. E-assessment: Innovative assessment options using technology. Including assessment of competence and skill development, and a focus on challenge-based learning, collaborative learning and (peer)feedback.
3. Learning Analytics: Use of data with the purpose of understanding and optimizing learning and teaching
4. Modularization: Accessibility of (modularized) educational resources for students and teachers beyond the course leve
5. Virtualization: Learning and teaching of knowledge and/or skills that are not possible with current (on-campus) resources. Including XR, VR, innovative lab education and gamification.

DRIVE also includes vision-drive innovation on these five topics. This includes building on previous developments, connecting to current (teacher-driven) developments and ensuring teacher involvement in the further development of these topics via ALT learning communities. Furthermore, DRIVE will focus on expanding achievements from the BOOST! program, for example by upscaling developed EdTech tools beyond the original pilot context. Lastly, DRIVE will work on establishing and consolidating processess to support the continuous innovation of education within the wider TU/e organization. 

4TU.CEE

4TU.CEE is the centre for engineering education. The four technical universities of the Netherlands (Eindhoven, Delft, Twente and Wageningen) collaboratively inspire, stimulate, support and disseminate effective and high quality engineering education through research and application of evidence-based innovations.

4TU.CEE fulfills this mission with the following strategies:

• Mapping recent innovations, trend, tools and (didactic) insights from the engineering education domain at 4TU and keeping these overviews up to date
• Tracking and counseling engineering education innovations at 4TU, if part of CEE
• Pitching and initiating own (accompanying) research on the development and functioning of innovative engineering education at 4TU
• Disseminating tools, research results and best practices via the 4TU.CEE website and participating in or organising events, congresses and contributing to journals
• Organising events for teachers, focused on the exchange of knowledge and experience within the engineering education domain and offering inspiration and support
• Setting up and maintaining an international partnering network in the engineering education domain such as SEFI and CDIO.

Currently, 4TU.CEE focuses its efforts into five topics: 

1. Challenge Based Learning
2. Entrepreneurial Learning
3. ICT enhanced education and digitally literate engineer
4. Sustainability and ethics in engineering education
5. Teaching excellence

4TU.CEE has funding available for TU/e teachers to innovate their education in relation to these topics.

Euroteq

The EuroTeQ Engineering University Alliances aims at shaping the future of European Engineering. The focus is to instill in students and lifelong learners the ability to think and act responsibly and be ready to lead a competitive and sustainable Europe into the future. The EuroTeQ offerings are directed towards future technological skills as well as intercultural and multilingual competences and an entrepreneurial mindset.

EuroTeQ is anchored in diverse geographical and cultural contexts, with each partner providing unique value and a competitive advantage. Our alliance includes six universities of technology, two business universities, and associated partners such as École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IPP). Technion is also involved in the course catalogue.

Keeping this in mind, we developed this call for proposals that supports EuroTeQ’s above mentioned ambitions as well as TU/e’s Vision on Education by focusing on (1) learning in a flexible hybrid system to facilitate diverse learning paths (including synchronous and asynchronous learning), (2) self-directed learning that acknowledges personal development and professional identity, fostering responsible engineers, and (3) developing the international classroom.

This will be done by focusing on the following 3 topics:

1. EuroTeQ Education for BSc, MSc, PhD  
2. Professionalization of staff 
3. Lifelong learning and competencies 

CHALLENGE-BASED LEARNING (CBL)

One of the main pilars of TUE/s Vision on Education is an authentic, integrative, and activating educational concept: Challenge-based learning. The CBL program (2020-2024) facilitated various pilots and experiments in order to collect information on how to shape CBL as an educational concept. Go to the Projects page to find out more about these CBL pilots.

The CBL program also resulted in the CBL Teaching Toolkit. This toolkit offers teachers up-to-date knowledge about CBL and empowers them in (re)shaping their CBL course. Teachers can use the CBL teaching toolkit to kickstart course development with the CBL Building Kit, delve into the What and Why of CBL, subscribe to a CBL Workshop and find many more resources.