A third eye perspective on education

“I always wanted to become a teacher, just like my dad. However, he stimulated me to pursue a different path.” 

Jeroen Engelberts is research software engineer at Rotterdam School of Management and he has recently obtained his University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) via Risbo. This interesting combination becomes even more intriguing once you know he’s actually also a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry.  

“During the final stage of my doctorate I discovered that my love for software and programming was way bigger than for studying molecules, so I decided to find a job in that line of work. Whilst doing so, I naturally grew into the role of trainer, as I am quite good in explaining things to others. Starting at RSM as a software engineer, I soon got involved with the course ‘programming fundamentals’. I had the expertise of course, but I also had some teaching experience. And I loved it!"

"It is truly great fun to teach people with a non-technical background."

"As my involvement and teaching responsibilities grew, the step towards the UTQ was logical, even though I never knew nor thought about it before. Looking back, I must say I thought the UTQ was a mere formality, as I had years of teaching experience already. Did I get that wrong! In a pleasant way 😊. The UTQ really gives you the ‘third eye perspective’ on education, backed up by research, terminology and scientific evidence. I learned a lot, and I have implemented several things in my course and teaching manual for example. It was actually also quite a lot of work to do for the assignments and homework – something I hadn’t really expected."

"It was a great experience, reflecting on how I teach, and why."

"After all, it’s important to keep moving, to keep on learning new things. One cannot expect that a degree in your twenties will suffice for the next 50 years, right?! And my dad is super proud that I eventually did become a teacher, in my own way and at the university.”