Harm J. A. Biemans

Bio: Harm J. A. Biemans is an academic researcher from Wageningen University and Research Centre. The author has contributed to research in topics: Competence (human resources) & Higher education. The author has an hindex of 37, co-authored 132 publications receiving 4635 citations.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education: A Study of Iranian Students' Entrepreneurial Intentions and Opportunity Identification

Abstract: 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 universities. Both types of EEPs had significant positive impacts on students' subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Results also indicated that the elective EEPs significantly increased students' entrepreneurial intention, although this increase was not significant for the compulsory EEPs. The findings contribute to the theory of planned behavior and have implications for the design and delivery of EEPs.

Teaching and Learning in Interdisciplinary Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Abstract: Interdisciplinary higher education aims to develop boundary-crossing skills, such as interdisciplinary thinking. In the present review study, interdisciplinary thinking was defined as the capacity to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means. It was considered as a complex cognitive skill that constituted of a number of subskills. The review was accomplished by means of a systematic search within four scientific literature databases followed by a critical analysis. The review showed that, to date, scientific research into teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education has remained limited and explorative. The research advanced the understanding of the necessary subskills of interdisciplinary thinking and typical conditions for enabling the development of interdisciplinary thinking. This understanding provides a platform from which the theory and practice of interdisciplinary higher education can move forward.

Competence-based VET in the Netherlands: background and pitfalls

Abstract: In the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, competence-based education is the leading paradigm for innovation, both at the system level and at the level of learning environments. This article provides an historical analysis of the development of competence-based education in various countries and explores the concept of competence and its popularity. Possible pitfalls with respect to the concept of competence, standardisation, school and workplace learning, determining learning activities, assessment of competencies, changing teacher roles/identity and competence-based management will be discussed. Taking these pitfalls into account, roads for future development will be sketched. A learning policy connecting governance, practice and research is believed to be the most fruitful way to develop flexible VET systems that are suited to the emerging knowledge-based economy.

Differences between novice and experienced users in searching information on the World Wide Web

Abstract: Searching for information on the World Wide Web (WWW) basically comes down to locating an appropriate Web site and to retrieving relevant information from that site. This study examined the effect of a user’s WWW experience on both phases of the search process. Twenty-five students from two schools for Dutch preuniversity education were observed while performing three search tasks. The results indicate that subjects with WWW-experience are more proficient in locating Web sites than are novice WWW-users. The observed differences were ascribed to the experts’ superior skills in operating Web search engines. However, on tasks that required subjects to locate information on specific Web sites, the performance of experienced and novice users was equivalent—a result that is in line with hypertext research. Based on these findings, implications for training and supporting students in searching for information on the WWW are identified. Finally, the role of the subjects’ level of domain expertise is discussed and directions for future research are proposed.

Determining factors of the use of e-learning environments by university teachers

Abstract: E-learning environments increasingly serve as important infrastructural features of universities that enable teachers to provide students with different representations of knowledge and to enhance interaction between teachers and students and amongst students themselves. This study was designed to identify factors that can explain teachers’ use of e-learning environments in higher education. A questionnaire was completed by 178 teachers from a wide variety of departments at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. We found that 43% of the total variance in teacher use of e-learning environments could be explained by their opinions about web-based activities and their opinions about computer-assisted learning (predictors) and the perceived added value of e-learning environments (mediating variable). In other words, teachers’ use of e-learning environments can be explained to a high extent by their perceptions of the added value of these environments, which in turn are substantially influenced by their opinions about web-based activities and computer-assisted learning.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Abstract: How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

Standards for educational and psychological testing

Abstract: Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.