Elwin Savelsbergh
Elwin Savelsbergh (1968) has been a professor of Curriculum Development in Primary and Secondary Education since June 2017. The aim of his research group is to improve natural science and technology education in primary, secondary and higher professional education. One of the main focal points of the programme is to investigate the contribution of the natural sciences to the principle of Education for Sustainable Development.
Central questions in this research programme are: what knowledge and which skills and attitudes with regard to natural science and technology do students require in order to prepare for the labour market and society, as well as for their own personal development? How can these subjects be taught in a motivating and coherent way? Which didactic skills do lecturers need to achieve this?
Elwin studied physics at the University of Utrecht. He obtained his doctoral degree at the University of Twente, on the topic of a specific psychological aspect of learning. He combines his position as a professor with an appointment at Utrecht University as a university senior lecturer in the same academic discipline.
Fields of expertise
- Curriculum development
- Didactics
- Teacher-training programme
Publications
- Developing a new technology curriculum for an urban setting Tales of trials, tribulations and tiny triumphs
- Entering the car park Primary pupils' spontaneous understanding of programmed control systems in their daily life environment
- Teachers’ use of inquiry and language scaffolding questions when preparing an experiment
