The impacts of COVID-19 have forced researchers to adapt quickly to working under unprecedented restrictions. Here we discuss a new toolkit for Remote Data Collection, gathering researchers’ solutions on everything from replacing face-to-face interaction to greater use of secondary data. The toolkit promises to be a useful resource for the research community, and a guide to improving the efficiency of data collection. … Mindel van de Laar: Over the last few months, with a team of four rese...
I’m involved in an exciting pilot project on ‘Open Educational Badging’ – and I must admit that it’s scary because I barely understand ICT, especially coding. Still, the participants in the ‘Evidence-Based Research Methods’ (EPRM) programme that I direct will be awarded online badges that can be linked to their social network profiles, and show that they successfully completed the courses. You may wonder how an ICT-averse person like me ends up in an ICT-innovative educational pilot programme. I...
It was a pleasure to present our SMART choices and SMART tools project at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Spring Conference – particularly the development and roll out of our tailor-made toolkits. Following a discussion on the employability of public policy graduates and skillsets required by employers, we were asked to share our open access project with our peers and the public. Access all our SMART toolkits here. Not only was it unique for me to have a full ho...
Every year in mid-June, students on our Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP) are finally ready to immerse themselves in their Master’s thesis. Digging into the materials, it quickly becomes clear: a good Master’s thesis starts with a good literature review. But what exactly does that mean? And more importantly, how do you write a good literature review? Access all our SMART toolkits here. During the programme we train our students to develop a research proposal, b...
Over the course of the year, we rolled out the SMART Choices and SMART Tools education project — which is finally available now via the Blackboard Open Education portal. SMART Choices is a collection of six online courses based on our MPP academic tracks: a set of courses designed to help students decide which track they should follow. Meanwhile, SMART Tools presents a range of eight online toolkits designed to help students join the labour market. By making these online courses available ...
Our Master in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP) offers six highly-specialised tracks. Deciding which one to follow is one of the most important decisions our students will make during their time at UNU-MERIT. In order to support them in this process, our instructors have developed a digital platform that provides additional information to current and prospective students. Each year students from across the world move to Maastricht for our award-winning Master’s programme. They come...