To lector in Agile Craftsmanship Dr Marc Coenders, practice-based research also means collaborating as closely as possible to the daily practice: thinking together about the implications of the research results for the various parties.

“I studied Teacher Education in Geography, and afterwards Education Science and Management of Learning and Development. I initially decided to pursue a career in business in the area of knowledge management. My attention, however, gradually shifted towards network learning processes and the learning organisation, and since 2001 I have been involved as a freelance learning architect in a wide range of national innovation programmes.”

“In 2008 I completed my doctorate with research into the relationship between space and learning, and have been a lector in Agile Craftsmanship at the NHL Stenden since 2015. Social learning theory and its implications for education and guiding the learning process at work is my most important research area. I have always been fascinated by non-school learning. By that I mean learning as this normally happens amongst people when they talk to one another about work or things in which they are involved.”

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Dr. Marc Coenders

Collaborating as closely as possible to the daily practice

“To me, practice-based research also means collaborating as closely as possible to the daily practice; therefore thinking together about the implications of research results for the various parties involved in the field. I see the increased complexity involved in this as the biggest challenge. There is not just one single practice. I see a landscape of interdependent practices, which sometimes have different interests and yet together want to be of social and economic value.”

“Practice-based research therefore requires being able to work competently with one another, also with the business world. A good example of this is our collaboration with a commercial party in developing an app that supports both students in the learning process and researchers in collecting data.”