Harm J. A. Biemans

Wageningen University & Research | WUR · Education and Learning Sciences

To improve students’ transitions between successive educational levels, continuing learning pathways are being designed and implemented in many countries. This study was carried out to examine the effects of the Green Lycea (GL) as critical cases of continuing learning pathways in vocational education in The Netherlands. The GL were compared with a...

While previous research in higher education emphasized the essence of feedback by the teacher, the peer or the self, it remains unclear whether the acquisition of students' oral presentation competence differs depending on the feedback source. This quasi-experimental study examines the effectiveness of the feedback source on 144 first-year undergra...

Building on the theory of planned behavior, an ex ante and ex post survey was used to assess the impacts of elective and compulsory entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) on students' entrepreneurial intention and identification of opportunities. Data were collected by questionnaire from a sample of 205 participants in EEPs at six Iranian unive...

Purpose: During the last decade, new continuing learning pathways have been designed and implemented in the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) column aiming to foster students' transitions between successive educational levels. Prototypical examples of such continuing learning pathways are the Green Lyceum (GL) and the Technical Talent D...

Purpose This study attempts to determine a set of characteristics for each educational component in the competence-based agricultural education system. Design This study reviewed 95 articles published in four relevant scientific journals to determine the characteristics of a competence-based higher agricultural education system. These characterist...

There is a growing body of literature acknowledging peer feedback as a crucial learning practice in online settings. However, the literature is sparse and lacks an overall picture of the variety of key components for the successful implementation of peer feedback practices in online settings. To address this gap, we built our systematic literature...

Low yield/hectare gains, food insecurity and environmental unsustainability are challenges experienced by the agriculture sector in Ethiopia despite substantial government investment. Although there are many factors that contribute to the poor performance of the sector, smallholder farmer competence gaps are principal among them. This study aims to...

The pandemic underscores the need for a blended approach, combining in-person and online education post-crisis. The lessons gleaned from the experience of pandemic-era education highlight the importance of emphasizing blended education in the post-pandemic context, which combines both in-person and online educational approaches. Effective use of bl...

The current paper focusses on the teachers’ attitude towards and experiences with e-learning tools at two universities in different phases of e-learning implementation. The study population comprises teachers at university level and a simple random sampling method was used. A total of 45 teachers in bachelor programmes from the Faculty of Agricultu...

Game-based learning researchers have been investigating various means to maximise learning in educational games. One promising venue in recent years has been the use of learning analytics in online game-based learning environments. However, little is known about how different elements of learning analytics (e.g. data types, techniques methods, and...

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, online education has demonstrated significant potential in providing flexible and easily accessible learning opportunities on a global scale. As a result of its numerous advantages, the landscape of education in the post-Covid era is anticipated to be a combination of online and face-to-face (F2F) instruction, with F2F...

This exploratory study aims to identify student profiles based on their attitudes and beliefs towards online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then relate these profiles to students’ online education experiences and background characteristics. To do this, in 2020, 676 students from a Dutch university were asked to complete a survey about...

This study explored the effects of directed and undirected online peer feedback types on students’ peer feedback performance, argumentative essay writing skills, and acquisition of domain-specific knowledge. The study used a pre-test and post-test design with four conditions (feedback, feedforward, a combination of feedback and feedforward, and und...

The primary purpose of this empirical study is to explore the effect of using the SCAMPER technique in entrepreneurship courses on brainstorming session outcomes, in particular, on the comprehensibility, concreteness, flexibility, persistence, and originality of generated business ideas. This study's research design is an experimental, posttest-onl...

This study explores the intersection role of students' epistemic beliefs and gender in argumentative essay writing. In total, 148 undergraduate students from a Dutch university followed an argumentation module, filled out the epistemic beliefs survey, and wrote an argumentative essay. Results showed that students' beliefs about the Internet-specifi...

Literature on post-pandemic education suggests blended learning as a new balanced education approach. However, little is known about teachers' and students' attitudes, emotions, and perceptions of blended education. This study aims to first explore teachers' and students' attitudes and emotions (workload, stress, well-being, and motivation) related...

We know little to what extent peer feedback strategies can be applied on a large scale in higher education for complex tasks. This study aimed to design, implement, and evaluate an online-supported peer feedback module for large-scale use to enhance higher education students' argumentative essay writing performance. To do this, 330 students from fi...

This study explores the role of students’ epistemic beliefs and gender in argumentation performance in essay writing. Data were collected from 148 undergraduate students. The results showed that students’ beliefs about the Internet-specific justification of knowledge did not influence argumentation performance, while beliefs about the nature of sci...

Recent studies have shown that peer feedback is an effective instructional strategy to improve students’ argumentative essay writing. However, it is not known to what extent a peer feedback strategy for argumentative essay writing can be generally used in different course domains. This study aims to apply an online supported peer feedback tool in d...

For a sustainable future, equipping sustainability change agents with relevant sustainability competencies is crucial. Among these competencies is system thinking competence – the understanding of complex interrelationships among the dimensions of sustainable development and the impacts of the interrelationships. Learning approaches relevant to fos...

Learning analytics (LA) offers new opportunities to enrich feedback practices in higher education, but little is understood about the ways different LA can enhance feedback practices for educators and students. This systematic literature review maps the current state of implementation of LA to improve feedback practices in technology-mediated learn...

In peer feedback literature, little is known about the patterns of success for peer feedback activities in online learning environments. This study aims to explore the peer feedback patterns of successful, less successful, and unsuccessful higher education students for argumentative essay writing. In this exploratory study, 330 higher education stu...

In this study, students' perceived usefulness and trustworthiness of peer feedback on learning satisfaction in the online learning environment were investigated using a pre-test and post-test research design at Wageningen University and Research. In total, 135 undergraduate students participated in this study. Students’ peer feedback performance wa...

The COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of 2020 disrupted students' and teachers' learning and teaching activities worldwide as it led to a quick transition from education, including face-to-face interaction to emergency remote teaching (ERT). During this ERT period monitoring research on the experiences and innovation needs was done at Wageningen U...

The primary purpose of this conceptual study is to propose a theoretical framework for developing EE programs that aim to foster individuals’ OI capability. This will be done by exploring the relationship between the two main philosophical perspectives in the entrepreneurship field concerning entrepreneurial opportunities (i.e., opportunity discove...

In the literature, little is known regarding the role of students’ perceived motivation and perceived fairness of peer feedback for their learning satisfaction, particularly in the context of argumentative essay writing in online learning environments. This study explores the effects of students’ perceived motivation and perceived fairness of peer...

The number of entrepreneurship education (EE) programs that aim to foster opportunity identification (OI) as a key entrepreneurial capability has grown considerably in the past few decades. However, these EE programs mostly lack a robust theoretical framework that could help educators and researchers select teaching approaches in line with their ph...

This study adopted a pre-test–post-test design to explore genderdifferences in argumentative essay writing and peer reviewperformance and uptake within a higher education context. To do this,as part of a bigger project, 101 students were asked to individuallywrite an argumentative essay, engage in peer review activities andrevise their original ess...

The purpose of the present study was to examine how cultural orientations influence students’ entrepreneurial motivations and intentions in a developing country, namely Iran. Two cultural orientations, namely independent and interdependent self-construal, were incorporated into a model of entrepreneurial intention that draws upon the theory of plan...

Purpose Enhancing the relevance of rural extension services requires aligning extension education to the roles, tasks, activities and competencies of smallholder farmers. The objective of this study is to follow up on previous competence studies and to construct a validated competence framework. Design/Methodology/Approach Competence frameworks ar...

The International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET) is a double blind peer-reviewed journal. This journal provides full open access to its content on the principle that making research freely and independently available to the science community and the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge and the f...

An important step in the endeavor towards a more socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable world is identifying and fostering sustainability competencies (SCs). There are major international initiatives that identify sustainability-related goals (the Sustainable Development Goals) and those that recognize the crucial role of education...

The number of Pakistani students studying at foreign universities (e.g., in the Netherlands) is increasing. However, they appear to face educational and cultural challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe these challenges. In this study, 12 Pakistani students enrolled in graduate and postgraduate programs at two Dutch univers...

Context: In the Dutch educational system, different learning pathways to higher professional bachelor (or HBO) programmes have been created: the regular VET route, the general secondary education route, and continuing learning pathways (such as the Green Lyceum or GL) that combine characteristics of these two traditional routes and that are specifi...

Following constructivist paradigms for learning, this article explores the relationships between the components of argumentation competence (knowledge, behavior and attitude), their relationships with domain-specific knowledge acquisition, and the differences in argumentation behavior between successful and less-successful students. An exploratory...

The number of Pakistani students studying at foreign universities (e.g., in the Netherlands) is increasing. However, they appear to face educational and cultural challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe these challenges. In this study, 12 Pakistani students enrolled in graduate and postgraduate programs at two Dutch univers...

This study investigates the effects of unscripted, scripted and guided online peer feedback on students’ argumentative essay writing, argumentative feedback quality and domain-specific knowledge acquisition in the field of educational sciences. Participants were 52 students who were randomly divided over 26 dyads and randomly assigned to three cond...

Continuing learning pathways have been proposed as curriculum design solutions to reduce student drop-out rates and to promote their transitions to successive levels of the educational system. The present study aimed to compare the effects of a specific continuing learning pathway in Dutch VET (the Green Lyceum or GL, which combines a lower seconda...

Purpose: This quantitative study sought to investigate the perceptions of teachers and students regarding competency-based education (CBE) principles at the College of Agriculture at Razi University. Design: This research is a comparative analysis of two groups. The first group consists of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in agriculture...

People increasingly collaborate with others across cultures and distances with the help of technology. Bridging individuals via technology does not, however, ensure that the cultures of the individuals involved are similarly bridged. This study introduced an interculturally enriched collaboration script (IECS) to foster collaboration and to bridge...

Results of research on intentions and effects of first- and second-order argument scaffolding of computer-supported collaborative argumentation competence development and domain-specific knowledge acquisition are ambivalent. A systematic review of research in secondary and higher education (SE and HE) has been conducted to clarify and synthesise th...

While previous studies have stressed the importance of feedback delivered by experts, it is unclear whether students' oral presentation competence can be fostered through innovative technology for delivering feedback. This experimental study examined the effectiveness of a virtual reality-based task, in which first-year undergraduate students pract...

Virtual Experiment Environments (VEEs) have been shown as effective preparation steps for laboratory classes in natural science education. Given the self-directed nature of VEEs, students need adequate Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) skills. This study explores the relation between students' perceived SRL level and their behavior and outcomes in a VE...

Whilst the importance of online peer feedback and writing argumentative essays for students in higher education is unquestionable, there is a need for further research into whether and the extent to which female and male students differ with regard to their argumentative feedback, essay writing, and content learning in online settings. The current...

The present study investigated the effects of an online learning environment supported with worked examples and peer feedback on students’ argumentative essay writing and domain-specific knowledge acquisition in the field of biotechnology. As part of a bigger project, a pre- and post-test study design was used with 45 bachelor students who were ran...

In opening up the black box of what entrepreneurship education (EE) should be about, this study focuses on the exploration of relationships between two constructs: opportunity identification (OI) and complex problem-solving (CPS). OI, as a domain-specific capability, is at the core of entrepreneurship research, whereas CPS is a more domain-general...

Purpose: Development Agents (DAs) are employed by agricultural departments to provide capacity development for farmers. In this contribution, the adjustment of a competence profile originally developed for the Province of Esfahan [Karbasioun, M., M. Mulder, and H. J. A. Biemans. 2007. ‘Towards a Job Competency Profile for Agricultural Extension Ins...

Developing and assessing individuals’ competence to identify business opportunities is of increasing importance in the current widespread introduction of entrepreneurship programmes in higher education worldwide. However, performance tests to assess opportunity identification competence (OIC) are scarce in the entrepreneurship education literature....

The expectations with regard to competence-based education (CBE) are high; students would be more motivated to finish their educational programmes and experience less transition problems when entering the labour market. Looking at evaluations of the implementation of competence-based qualifications profiles at country level, it becomes clear that i...

Previous research revealed significant differences in the effectiveness of various feedback sources for encouraging students’ oral presentation performance. While former studies emphasised the superiority of teacher feedback, it remains unclear whether the quality of feedback actually differs between commonly used sources in higher education. There...

As economies become more innovation-driven, the need for entrepreneurial behaviour amongst employees working for existing companies increases in order to enhance the organisations' capacity to develop new ideas, products and services. Hence, entrepreneurial learning and the development of entrepreneurial competencies of employees on-the-job become...

Teachers often complain about the quality of students' written essaysin higher education. This study explores the relations between scripted online peer feedback processes and quality of written argumentative essay as they occur in an authentic learning situation with direct practical relevance. Furthermore, the effects of the online argumentative...

Opportunity identification and, in particular, the generation of new business ideas is becoming an important element of entrepreneurship education. Researchers and educators, however, struggle with how opportunity identification competence can be enhanced. The purpose of this study was therefore to test the ability of students to generate new busin...

For many decades, teacher-structured hands-on simulations have been used in education mainly for developing procedural and technical skills. Stimulating contemporary learning outcomes suggests more constructivist approaches. The aim of this study is to examine how self-regulated learning (SRL), an important constructivist learning environment chara...

Boundaries defining and shaping the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET): Systems: Socio-culturally different VET systems have evolved along conceptual lines. The comparison of different skill formation systems and governance of VET systems are on the one hand of reflexive and on the other hand of practical importance in the context of...

Drawing upon the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we developed and tested a conceptual model which integrates both internal personality factors and external contextual factors to determine their associations with motivational factors and entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). We then investigated if the model of EI applies in a developing country, nam...

Today’s working life is increasingly characterized by entrepreneurial challenges. Entrepreneurial challenges start at an individual level with the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities, which is acknowledged as one of the key competencies for lifelong learning. Since the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities relies heavily on th...

Hands-on simulations are increasingly used in vocational oriented curricula to create meaningful, occupation-related learning experiences. However, more insight is required about precisely what characteristics in hands-on simulations enhance outcomes that students need for their future occupation, such as competencies. This study aims to examine ho...

The intentions with which hands-on simulations are used in vocational education are not always clear. Also, pedagogical-didactic approaches in hands-on simulations are not well conceptualised from a learning theory perspective. This makes it difficult to pinpoint the added value that hands-on simulations can have in an innovative vocational curricu...

Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the present study explores the effects of entrepreneurial role models on entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents and examines the question of whether the effects vary by gender. Data was collected from a sample of 331 students at seven universities in Iran. Structural equation modelling and bo...

In this exploratory study, we introduced an Interculturally-Enriched Collaboration Script (IECS) for working in culturally diverse groups within a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment and then assessed student online collaborative behaviour, learning performance, and experiences. The question was if and how these variables d...

Research on the effectiveness of competence-based education (CB-education) across educational contexts and levels requires a new evaluation measurement. This study explores the face validity, construct validity, and robustness of a competency self-report instrument that is aligned with contemporary competence theory and with current educational pra...

The relationships between entrepreneurial competence, competence development and entrepreneurial performance in small firms represent an area that has fascinated researchers for decades. Identifying such linkages is also important for agricultural research and practice. In this study modern concepts of individual competence were integrated with ent...

This conceptual article argues that the focus of research on argument-scaffolds should shift from first-order towards second-order scaffolding. If learners acquire argumentation skills and learn to self-direct argumentation activities, they also engage in epistemic discussions with partners that help them acquire knowledge, correct false viewpoints...

Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the present study explores the effects of gender and role models on entrepreneurial intention. Data was collected by questionnaire from a sample of 331 Iranian college students. Consistent with the theory, results indicated that entrepreneurial role models indirectly influenced entrepreneurial intent...