Commendation from the Dean for Laurens van Meeteren

It is unusual for a course to score an 8.4 in the evaluations. But the course Molecular Biology has proven that it’s possible, even when you have to teach the course online to more than 450 first-year students.

Faculty of Science Dean Isabel Arends expressed her appreciation to Laurens van Meeteren with these words: “We are extremely grateful for your unwavering efforts to find an interactive and fun way to teach the Molecular Biology course online. One especially unique aspect was how you managed to have the students make tangible, active contributions, despite the size of the group. You did so with the help of online tools, such as knowledge clips, FeedbackFruits and Pitch-2-Peer. You used them to dive into the lesson materials, and you managed to get the students to have a discussion. The fact that it worked so well was even more impressive during the coronavirus lockdown, when students and lecturers can’t meet in person.

So I am proud to present you with this well-earned Commendation from the Dean, in recognition of all your hard work! And I wish you all the best as you prepare and develop your curriculum for the coming periods.”

Laurens (top left) accepts the Commendation from the Dean and cake during the Biology lecturer’s meeting on 18 February 2021.

A few examples of quotes from the course evaluations:

• I think that Laurens van Meeteren is a great lecturer! The knowledge clips were really well done, and they helped a lot in understanding the material. His lectures were enthusiastic, and he is a really clear speaker.
• Nothing but praise for Mr. Van Meeteren, who absolutely succeeded in creating a clearly structured and easy to understand online course.
• A shout-out to Laurens van Meeteren, a wonderful and fun lecturer!

Listen to the ONAF podcast with Laurens van Meeteren (in Dutch)