Posts by Selma van Esveld
A fit-for-purpose Quality Assurance framework for ULLL: The TU Delft Learning for Life model
Use case written by Roberta De Franco, Clelia Paraluppi as contribution to ‘Compendium of Case Studies: University Lifelong Learning Applied Cases that Inspire’ published by eucen.
The SAMUELE project has released the ‘Compendium of Case Studies: University Lifelong Learning Applied Cases that Inspire’, presenting 36 practices of University Lifelong Learning (ULLL) from 17 countries. The publication groups the cases into four thematic areas: strategic commitment and vision, structure and organisation, ULLL operations, and impact and engagement. Roberta De Franco and Clelia Paraluppi contributed to the compendium with a ULLL operations use case of TU Delft Learning for Life Centre.
Keywords
Quality Assurance, Lifelong Learning, University Lifelong Learning operations
Reference
SAMUELE consortium (Ed.) (2026): University Lifelong Learning Applied Cases that
Inspire. SAMUELE Compendium of Case Studies. © The SAMUELE consortium, 2026
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Towards an impactful university lifelong learning offer. Learning for life with TU Delft
Innovative practice paper written by Bertien Broekhans, Elke Spiessens and Cora van Haaren published in European Journal of University Lifelong Learning in 2025.
Abstract
Lifelong learning (LLL) is gaining strategic importance in universities as societies face urgent challenges in areas such as digitalisation, energy transition, and climate resilience. Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to serve not only degree-seeking students but also professionals in need of flexible and relevant learning opportunities.
This paper explores how TU Delft, a public university of technology in the Netherlands, has worked to integrate LLL into its institutional strategy and daily practice. It focuses on the tensions between the established structures and culture of the university – largely shaped by degree education and research – and the emerging demands associated with continuing education. Through a decade of experience with open and online learning, internal and external collaboration, TU Delft is gradually adapting its organisation, governance, and educational offer. This paper reflects on the challenges encountered, the strategies employed, and the lessons learned. The analysis may offer useful insights for institutions in similar contexts that are exploring how to develop and sustain an impactful LLL offer alongside their traditional missions.
Keywords
Lifelong learning, institutional innovation, impact-driven, technology context
Reference
Innovative Practice chapter |https://doi.org/10.53807/0902p29L
Broekhans, B., Spiessens, E., & Van Haaren, C. (2025) TOWARDS AN IMPACTFUL UNIVERSITY LIFELONG LEARNING OFFER. LEARNING FOR LIFE WITH TU DELFT.,
in
Enhancing University Lifelong Learning Cultures. European Journal of University Lifelong Learning (EJULL), 9(2). © eucen 2025.2025.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53807/0902o2tH | ISSN 2789-4029.
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator, the purposes are non-commercial and distribution of remixed, adapted or build upon material should be released under the same license.
Exploring Personal Experience and Value Creation in Postdigital Education: Insights from a Large-Scale MOOC Survey.
Article written by Ali Soleymani, Maarten De Laat and Marcus Specht. This is a preprint (version 1); it has not been peer reviewed by a journal.
Abstract
This study investigates students’ online learning experiences based on their perception of the value this course creates for them through a comprehensive analysis of responses from 1227 participants in MOOCs offered by the Extension School of the Technical University of Delft. Utilizing the value creation framework by Wenger, Trayner, and De Laat (2011) , the research explores the immediate, potential, applied, realized, and transformative value creation cycles. Our findings reveal significant insights into the multifaceted impacts of study behavior on learners’ perceptions. Participants reported benefits such as skill acquisition, professional development, and enhanced confidence while highlighting areas needing improvement, such as practical application opportunities and course relevance. This study highlights the importance of aligning MOOC content with learner needs and providing ongoing support tomaximize the educational value online courses can offer them. These insights contribute to understanding educational value in the postdigital age, advocating for the development and support of MOOCs to foster continued personal and professional growth.
Keywords
Value Creation Framework, Postdigital Education, MOOCs, Online Assessment
Reference
Soleymani, A., De Laat, M., & Specht, M. M. (2024) EXPLORING PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND VALUE CREATION IN POSTDIGITAL EDUCATION: INSIGHTS FROM A LARGE-SCALE MOOC SURVEY., Preprint (Version 1) available at Research Square
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5043440/v1
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
Debugging the Divide: Exploring Men’s and Women’s Motivations and Engagement in Computer Science MOOCs
Master thesis written by Casper Hildebrand at the faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science to obtain the degree of Master of Science at the Delft University of Technology.
Summary
Within the field of computer science (CS), women are under-represented in the workforce and education settings. As Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) grow in popularity, understanding the gender differences in reasons for enrollment and engagement remains crucial to improving learner outcomes. This study investigates why men and women enroll in introductory CS MOOCs and how they interact with these courses. This is done with data from four MOOCs offered by TU Delft between 2015 and 2022.
Using survey data for the learners’ reasons for enrolment and clickstream data for their behavioural engagement, we applied k-means clustering to identify engagement patterns. Our analysis reveals that the three most important reasons for men and women are career-related, interest-related, and degree-related, in that order. Women are more likely to enrol for career-related reasons than men, while men are more driven by interest in the topic than women. Women also tend to show lower engagement levels compared to men, who are more likely to complete the courses. We found no significant association between reasons for enrollment and engagement for men and women.
These findings highlight the need for gender-sensitive course design strategies to enhance engagement and completion rates. Providing mentorship opportunities, fostering peer interaction platforms, and highlighting role models in the field could also help create a more inclusive learning environment. Future research should explore specific learner challenges and incorporate a more comprehensive engagement model.
Keywords
Gender diversity, online learning, computer science, MOOCS, continuing education, motivation, engagement
Reference
Hildebrand, C.W.R. (2024) DEBUGGING THE DIVIDE: EXPLORING MEN’S AND WOMEN’S MOTIVATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE MOOCS Master thesis at the TU Delft faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f4aceeec-5947-4578-834c-4bb43288c91a
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Data for Learning in Engineering Education
White paper ‘100 DAYS OF… Data for Learning’
Written by Marcus Specht, Selma van Esveld, Jacopo De Stefani, Ted Adrichem and Andra Gherghiceanu to combine the insights and findings from the 2022/2023 event series 100 DAYS OF… Data for Learning.
Summary
For the past decades, the role of data has been ever growing in almost all fields – learning (and education) not excluded. But what is actually meant by ‘Data for Learning’? What data is available at TU Delft to support teaching and learning? In what way is it being used? For what purpose – and with which impact? And what are the challenges involved? These have been the questions which motivated the team of ‘100 DAYS OF… DATA FOR LEARNING’ to shape the program.
This paper outlines the findings of our 100+ days’ exploration. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness, understand conditions and needs, and discuss concerns and opportunities of (further) development of using ‘Data for Learning’ within the context of TU Delft Education.
In the ‘100 DAYS OF… DATA FOR LEARNING’ we have organised peer exchange among scientific staff and educational support, students, and lecturers. We have held journal clubs, invited science speaker sessions, and a hackathon event to understand the role and potential of data to support teaching and learning. In detail this included twelve Science speaker sessions in which a variety of topics has been presented and discussed about current applications of data in teaching and learning support as also fields of tension and challenges. In the 2022 CEL (Centre for Education and Learning) annual meeting, experts and interested participants convened for three keynotes and eight workshops on the topics of Learning Analytics and Data for Teaching and Learning.
In the hackathon initiative a dataset of real student data from a higher education institution in the Netherlands was collected and presented to different stakeholders for discussion and analysis. On one hand, students had the possibility to analyse the data to extract insights that could support the work of educational advisors. On the other hand, practitioners reflected on the current status of learning data and discussed improvements or potential future projects.
Overall, a variety of stakeholders from the TU Delft, on a national and international level, have been involved and contributed to the 100 Days. This has created awareness and new initiatives about the potential and challenges of ‘Data for Learning’. This brochure gives background, details, and starting points for further exploration of this important topic for the future of education.
Keywords
Data for learning, learning analytics, Data for teaching and learning, white paper, engineering education
Reference
Specht, M., van Esveld, S. L., De Stefani, J., Gherghiceanu, A., Adrichem, T. (2023). DATA FOR LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION. WHITE PAPER ‘100 DAYS OF… DATA FOR LEARNING’.
Delft University of Technology.
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Data Driven Course Improvement – Pitch Presentation LCDA
Abstract of pitch presentation of the TU Delft workgroup that won first place with a process-mining case study in the Leadership Challenge with Data Analytics (LCDA) organized by Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics in collaboration with SURF.
Abstract
Online evaluation surveys increasingly suffer from declining and selective response rates. Hence, MOOC Learning developers/ Lecturers have limited and insufficient insights to enable fact-based course improvement. In order to provide more accurate insights in actual learner behaviour we performed pattern analysis on event-log data in two TU Delft Extension School MOOCs. We applied Process Mining as an explorative method combined with clustering techniques to compare intended vs. actual paths followed in the MOOCs. We find that higher performers show patterns of an iterative learning strategy compared to more linear learning paths of lower performers and non-passing learners. This corroborates the theories of Self-regulated Learning and Metacognition. Implications for data driven course improvement such as learning path analysis and other applications for Process Mining are discussed for TU Delft.
Keywords
Learning Analytics, MOOCs, course evaluation, process mining, learning paths.
Reference
Gherghiceanu, A., van Huik, B., Hunte, Z., Vriend, A., de Vries, N. (2024) DATA DRIVEN COURSE IMPROVEMENT., Abstract of pitch presentation on team findings during the 2024 Leadership Challenge with Data Analytics (LCDA) organized by Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics in collaboration with SURF.
Interested?
You can contact us for more information on research-es@tudelft.nl
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This is an Open Access abstract, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator, the purposes are non-commercial and distribution of remixed, adapted or build upon material should be released under the same license.
Enhancing quality assurance in continuing education through an organisational cultural change
Article written by Clelia Paraluppi, Patricia Mancebo May, Ceyrine Pellikaan and Naomi Wahls and published in the European Journal of University Lifelong Learning (EJULL) as part of the EUCEN Conference 2023.
Abstract
The TU Delft Extension School for Continuing Education underwent a collaborative process
to strengthen its quality culture involving professionals and leaders working on designing,
developing and delivering its online courses. In this paper we describe the steps taken
towards an enhanced Quality Assurance (QA) system. A key part of the Extension School’s
strategy to guarantee excellence in its online courses is the continuous training provided for
instructors and teaching assistants who form the course teams. This is delivered in several
ways: specialised hands-on courses and dedicated portals, personal guidance throughout
the entire course development process, and an extensive offer of short trainings. This
approach contributes both to higher quality for our online courses and to the professional
development of our teaching staff, who bring their newly acquired experience and online
materials back to their in-campus courses. In this paper, we share the lessons learned on
establishing an organisational quality culture, defining QA standards and processes, and we
showcase how the professionalisation of instructors plays a pivotal role in offering high-quality education.
Keywords
Quality assurance, quality culture, continuing education, professional development, course development
Reference
Paraluppi, C., Mancebo May, P., Pellikaan, C. & Wahls, N. (2023) ENHANCING QUALITY ASSURANCE IN CONTINUING EDUCATION THROUGH AN ORGANISATIONAL CULTURAL CHANGE. European
Journal of University Lifelong Learning, 7(2), pp. 89-96. © eucen, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.53807/0702ADf6
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator, the purposes are non-commercial and distribution of remixed, adapted or build upon material should be released under the same license.
Impact of MOOC and other online course development on campus education
Short paper written by Selma van Esveld, Nardo de Vries, Sibilla Becchetti, Sofia Dopper, and Willem van Valkenburg and presented by Selma van Esveld at EMOOCs 2023 in Potsdam, Germany. Article was published in the Proceedings of the Eighth EMOOCs Conference (EMOOCs 2023).
Abstract
The TU Delft Extension School for Continuing Education develops and delivers MOOCs, programs and other online courses for lifelong learners and professionals worldwide focused on Science, Engineering & Design. At the beginning of 2022, we started a project to examine whether creating an online course had any impact on TU Delft campus education. Through a survey, we collected feedback from 68 TU Delft lecturers involved in developing and offering online courses and programs for lifelong learners and professionals. The lecturers reported on the impact of developing an online course on a personal and curricular level. The results showed that the developed online materials, and the acquired skills and experiences from creating online courses, were beneficial for campus education, especially during the transition to remote emergency teaching in the COVID-19 lockdown periods. In this short paper, we will describe the responses in detail and map the benefits and challenges experienced by lecturers when implementing their online course materials and newly acquired educational skills on campus. Finally, we will explore future possibilities to extend the reported, already relevant, impact of MOOCs and of other online courses on campus education.
Keywords
COVID, impact of MOOCs, campus education, lifelong learning, teacher skills, open educational resources
Reference
van Esveld, S.; de Vries, N.; Becchetti, S.; Dopper, S.; van Valkenburg, W. (2023). EMOOCS 2023: POST-COVID PROSPECTS FOR MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES – BOOST OR BACKLASH? Proceedings of the Eighth EMOOCs Conference. https://doi.org/10.25932/publishup-57645 (page 1-8)
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
Online professional development across institutions and borders
Article written by Bart Rienties, Blazenka Divjak, Michael Eichhorn, Francisco Iniesto, Gillian Saunders-Smits, Barbi Svetec, Alexander Tillmann and Mirza Zizak and published in the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education as part of the EU-funded project ‘RAPIDE’.
Abstract
Professional development (PD) is a key element for enhancing the quality of academic teaching. An increasing number of PD activities have moved to blended and online formats, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the desire, potential, and need for collaboration among educators to learn from innovative and best practices, several institutions have started to pool their resources and expertise together and have started to implement cross-institutional and cross-national online professional development (OPD). The questions of what type of a (cross-)institutional OPD educators might prefer, and whether educators learn effectively from (and with) peers in such cross-cultural context have not been adequately explored empirically. In this case-study across three European countries, we explored the lived experiences of 86 educators as a result of a cross-institutional OPD. Using a mixed methods design approach our pre-post findings indicated that, on average, participants made substantial gains in knowledge. In addition, several cultural differences were evident in the expectations and lived experiences in ODP, as well as the intention to transfer what had been learned into one’s own practice of action. This study indicates that while substantial economic and pedagogical affordances are provided with cross-institutional OPD, cultural differences in context might impact the extent to which educators implement lessons learned from OPD.
Keywords
Online professional development, Cross-institutional, Cultural, Mixed method, Innovative pedagogy, Higher education
Reference
Rienties, B., Divjak, B., Eichhorn, M., Iniesto, F., Saunders-Smits, G., Svetec, B., Tillmann, A., & Zizak, M. (2023). ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS INSTITUTIONS AND BORDERS. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), 30. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00399-1
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
The Use of Digital Peer Assessment in Higher Education: An Umbrella Review of Literature
Article written by G. van Helden, V. van der Werf, G. Saunders-Smits, M.M. Specht and published in the Journal IEEE Access.
Abstract
Increasing student numbers in higher education, particularly in engineering and computer science, make it difficult for motivated lecturers to continue engaging in active teaching methods such as Flipped Classrooms and Work-Based Learning. In these settings, digital Peer Assessment can be one approach to provide effective and scalable feedback. In Peer Assessment, students assess each other’s performance whilst gaining useful reflection and judgment skills at the same time. This umbrella review of 14 review papers on the use of (digital) Peer Assessment in education provides a comprehensive overview of design choices and their consequences open to educational practitioners wishing to implement digital Peer Assessment in their courses, the type of tooling available and the possible effects of these choices on the learning outcomes as well as potential pitfalls and challenges when implementing Peer Assessment. The paper will inform and assist educators in finding or developing a tool that fits their needs.
Keywords
Digital education, educational technology, engineering education, peer assessment
Reference
van Helden, G., van der Werf, V., Saunders-Smits, G., & Specht, M. M. (2023). THE USE OF DIGITAL PEER ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: AN UMBRELLA REVIEW OF LITERATURE. IEEE Access, 11, 22948-22960. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3252914
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