19 augustus 2026

Game Development with Students

The project Game Development with Students introduces interested educators to an innovative teaching tool with practical insights from the international relations classroom. Game development with students is a specialized form of game-based and project-based learning. It incentivizes both student creativity and in-class student-teacher co-creation and enables a particularly participative and result-oriented approach to the subject matter. The method is thematically flexible enough to travel across different fields of study and is adaptable to different levels of complexity. To enable other educators to implement this innovative teaching tool, we develop instructional materials (an educators handbook as well as educational videos), providing both general information on the experiential, game-based learning theory undergirding the method as well as practical, hands-on tips and trick on how to implement it in different educational settings. In doing so, we address the important, interconnected educational challenges of the transferability and sustainability of teacher developed tools.

17 juni 2026

AgriLemma 2.0: A serious game for exploring dilemmas in agriculture

In AgriLemma, you are a farmer in Europe managing your own farm across 8 seasons. You grow six types of crops — potatoes, sugar beets, rapeseed, corn, wheat, and chickpeas — each requiring resources such as seeds, water, nutrients, and workers. Players must run, invest in, and improve their farm with sustainable technologies while balancing competing priorities and navigating uncertainties like weather events and pest attacks. The objective is to maximize overall farm health, which is determined by three dimensions: environmental health (positive ecological impact), social health (worker satisfaction), and financial health (farm profitability). Players must strategize across all three dimensions simultaneously — decisions that boost profit may come at an environmental cost, and vice versa. The game makes these trade-offs tangible, encouraging reflection on what sustainable farming really requires. ------------------------------ Learning objectives: · Experiment with different strategies — to operationalize and adapt an approach under pressure, and to reflect on how well it held up. · Expose students to issues of risk management — to plan, control, and explain the reasoning behind in-game choices relating to sustainability, soil conservation practices, integrated crop management, weeding, and pest management, and to learn how to respond when conditions change. · Experience the complexity of decision-making — to take into account weather and policy uncertainties, sustainability pressures, economic realities, and the broader context in which farm decisions are made. --------------------------------Practical information: · Format: Board game (physical/ print-and-play) · Players: 2-4 players (extendable to 8 by playing in teams of 2) · Duration: 3 hours, including onboarding and debrief · Level: Higher education / Stakeholder engagement · Language: English --------------------------------Credits: AgriLemma was originally designed as part of the WATERAGRI project. The second version, including a full redesign of the graphics, was developed with funding support from the TU Delft Open Science Programme course "Civic Engagement in Action: Empowering Researchers and Educators to Make an Impact". Game design: Dr. ir. Aashna Mittal - TU Delft, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management Graphic design and illustration: Gracia Bovenberg-Murris and Michelle de Smit – TU Delft GameLab Note on image generation: The images in the tech cards and the border of the main game board were created using AI-generated imagery. The constructed wetlands card image is also AI-generated. All other cards and box art are hand-drawn or created in Adobe Illustrator. Note on usability: The print-and-play version of the game has been optimized for office printing.

8 april 2026

ACA-bot

ACA-bot is an engaging chatbot designed for Automated Conversational Assessment (ACA). Drawing inspiration from traditional oral exams, this text-based conversational agent transforms assessment into a dynamic learning experience. It supports both formative and summative evaluation by offering students personalised feedback and guidance at every step of their learning journey. The first ACA-bot prototype focuses on assessing students’ understanding of basic statistical concepts, but its flexible design allows for easy adaptation to a wide range of subjects and learning contexts. Through interactive dialogue, students can practise explaining ideas clearly under exam-like conditions, apply their knowledge to new and challenging questions, and refine their reasoning as they respond to follow-up prompts. They gain valuable insights into their own understanding, identify areas for improvement, and gradually build confidence for both oral and written assessments. For educators, ACA-bot offers a powerful way to scale oral examinations and enhance formative assessment without increasing workload. It automates parts of the assessment process, provides structured and actionable insights into student performance, and opens the door to more personal, interactive feedback at scale. By combining the strengths of conversational AI and educational assessment, ACA-bot turns evaluation into a collaborative, insightful process. It empowers students to think aloud, reason more effectively, and grow, while giving educators a smarter, more innovative way to understand and support learning. ACA-bot is een slimme en inspirerende chatbot die onderwijs en Artificial Intelligence samenbrengt. Geïnspireerd door het klassieke mondelinge examen tilt deze tekstgebaseerde gespreksagent Automated Conversational Assessment naar een nieuw niveau. Studenten krijgen via natuurlijke gesprekken directe, persoonlijke feedback en begeleiding, waardoor leren en toetsen samenvloeien in één boeiende ervaring. Het prototype van ACA-bot is ontwikkeld om kennis over statistiek te beoordelen, maar dankzij het flexibele ontwerp kan het systeem eenvoudig worden aangepast aan andere vakgebieden en toepassingen. Tijdens interactieve dialogen leren studenten helder uitleg geven, hun kennis toepassen op nieuwe vragen en hun redenering aanscherpen. Ze ontdekken waar hun begrip nog verdiept kan worden en groeien zichtbaar in zelfvertrouwen — waardevolle voorbereiding op zowel mondelinge als schriftelijke examens. Ook voor docenten biedt ACA-bot een slimme oplossing. Het maakt mondelinge toetsing schaalbaar, ondersteunt formatieve beoordeling via gesprek, en vermindert de werkdruk door delen van het beoordelingsproces te automatiseren. Bovendien geeft het gestructureerde inzichten in de voortgang en denkwijze van studenten, waardoor elke dialoog bijdraagt aan beter onderwijs. ACA-bot laat zien hoe Automated Conversational Assessment het leren persoonlijker, interactiever en effectiever maakt. Studenten denken hardop, verkennen hun eigen begrip, en verbeteren met vertrouwen — terwijl docenten op een innovatieve, datagedreven manier inzicht krijgen in hoe kennis werkelijk wordt begrepen.

19 maart 2026

ShareXR : Challenge-Based Learning with XR (BMS Lab, University of Twente)

ShareXR introduces a challenge-based learning (CBL) approach for integrating research, design, and development in engineering education through extended reality (XR). Developed at the University of Twente’s BMS Lab, the model addresses the increasing need for multidisciplinary collaboration by teaching students to speak a shared language across research, design, and technical development. Even for those without an engineering, scientific or STEM background. This course offers a hands-on, multidisciplinary learning experience where students take real research ideas and transform them into innovation projects within a complete and validated open learning XR ecosystem. With reusable multimedia course content, the course enables students to understand interdisciplinary collaboration, while each module focuses on one of the four pillars: Research, Design, Development, and Project Management — guided by principles of balance, iteration, and collaboration. By working with different tools like one-page project canvases, students will learn how to translate research ideas into structured user stories, requirements, and project management tasks, while exploring how XR tools can act as a human-centered medium for prototyping, testing, and validating ideas without requiring coding skills.

26 februari 2026

Searchlight Basic

7 november 2025

Carlos - Using Worldviews to Explore Ethics

A short explainer on the Biotechnology Dilemma Game, a role-playing exercise developed to bring more ethics and social responsibility discussion into the classroom. Students take on assigned roles, each with their own values, fears, and hopes, and work together to resolve an ethical dilemma related to biotechnology.

24 september 2025

Amateur Craft as Method-in-the-Making:

This research output documents a pandemic-era experiment in which academic researchers used knitting to record and reflect on their digital screen time, exploring craft as a critical research method and a tool for data sensitisation, feminist activism, and embodied knowledge making. Project Overview: A group of academics and amateur knitters from Maastricht University and partner institutions met online during 2020–2021, using knitting to document their own screen time over a week of lockdown. Their creative outputs—a collection of individually knitted rectangles—were later assembled as a tactile "knitted book" to display in arts and crafts contexts, as well as academic contexts. The project linked technofeminist thinking, craftivism, and artistic research practices, aiming to make visible both quantitative and qualitative aspects of technology use during social isolation. Main Topics and Learning Objectives: • Explore how amateur craftwork (knitting) can act as a research method to sensitise and interpret personal data. • Engage with concepts from technofeminism and critical craft studies to understand the role of tactile, embodied methodologies. • Foster social connection, experimentation, and reflection on digital dependency during the COVID-19 lockdown. • Develop awareness of how materials, technique, and individual interpretation shape both method and outcome in collaborative research. Audience: This work suits students, educators, and researchers interested in qualitative and artistic research methods, feminist theory, science and technology studies (STS), and creative digital-literacy pedagogies. It models interdisciplinary practice and encourages engagement with data, methodology, and making as interconnected experiential processes. Authors and Licensing: Authors: Denise Petzold (first and corresponding author), Laura Barendregt, Ruth Benschop, Anna Harris, Laudy van den Heuvel, Bernike Pasveer, Veerle Spronck, Sally Wyatt, affiliated with Maastricht University, TU Delft, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, and HKU University of Arts Utrecht. The text is suitable for publication in open educational repositories and supports open, collaborative engagement with academic craftwork. The pictures of the digitised version of the book were taken by Eric Bleize. Suggested Citation: “Amateur Craft as Method-in-the-Making: Experiments in Knitting Screen Time during a Pandemic” by Denise Petzold, Laura Barendregt, Ruth Benschop, Anna Harris, Laudy van den Heuvel, Bernike Pasveer, Veerle Spronck and Sally Wyatt (2025), Maastricht University, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits reuse, distribution, and adaptation, provided appropriate credit is given.

1 september 2025

Economics in the Digital Age: Insights and Applications

This book serves as an essential resource for both undergraduate and graduate programs due to its comprehensive approach to digital economics: Theoretical Integration: It integrates classical economic theories with the digital economy, demonstrating how traditional principles apply to new digital realities. Practical Frameworks: It provides actionable insights for analyzing digital market trends and monetization strategies, relevant for students, managers, and business professionals alike. Case Studies and Real-World Applications offer concrete examples of digital transformations, making complex concepts more accessible and useful for research and coursework. Advanced Analytical Tools: The book helps students develop the analytical skills needed to evaluate digital business strategies, market dynamics, and the broader economic impact of digital technologies. For professionals, this book provides strategic guidance on navigating the challenges and opportunities of the digital economy. By understanding the core economic principles behind digital business models, managers can make informed decisions on everything from digital marketing to product development, all while anticipating and mitigating risks like cybersecurity threats or regulatory changes.

14 juli 2025

Playing Perspectives - a game design toolkit

Students collectively design a game on a polarizing topic and are stimulated to explore and gain a deeper understanding of various perspectives and presuppositions (including their own), recognize rhetorical narratives and frames, and devise strategies to overcome these. Students adopt active listening skills when conversing with one another. Playing Perspectives is based on game-based and transformative learning principles. Playing Perspectives consists of three phases. These can be conducted consecutively or separate from one another as stand alone activities, depending on the time available, your learning objectives and the desire to have a playable game as end product. The materials that are developed by students in each of these phases can be uploaded onto Edusources and used by other teachers if they only want to conduct one of the later phases as stand alone activity. Playing Perspectives was developed as part of the Utrecht University Comenius project Fostering an Open Mind and Open Attitude in Higher Education that strives to stimulate perspective taking and dialogue in academic education with creative learning activities. The other learning activities that have been developed as part of the Open Minds project are the Open Mind digital game and The Square (Het Vlak; a creative dialogue methodology). Please note: the photos required for phase 1 can be downloaded from the Teaching & Learning Collection of the UU (see links).

14 juli 2025

Open Mind game

Open Mind is a digital 20-30 minute game that can be played on any smartphone or tablet. It offers a structured and engaging environment that challenges players’ assumptions and encourages them to reflect on their own experiences, question their assumptions, and explore diverse perspectives in a safe and interactive way. One can choose to have students play the game in class in class mode and include a plenary introduction and a post-play reflection, or one can have students play the game individually at home or at another location. When played on campus, the activity (game, introduction, and reflection) takes approximately 45 minutes in total. It could be used as a first introduction to perspective-taking and uncovering prejudices, priming students to be more open to participate in follow-up activities like perspective-taking exercises and dialogues. Open Mind was developed as part of the Utrecht University Comenius project Fostering an Open Mind and Open Attitude in Higher Education that strives to stimulate perspective-taking and dialogue in academic education with creative learning activities. Other learning activities that have been developed as part of this project are Playing perspectives (a game design toolkit) and The Square (Het Vlak; a creative dialogue methodology).