OU_head_large.jpg
 
The Open University of the Netherlands (OU) develops, provides and promotes innovative higher distance education of top quality, in collaboration with networks and alliances. As the prime university for lifelong learning, it addresses the wide-ranging learning needs of people during their course of life, plus the need to achieve a considerable increase of the knowledge level of the community at large.

The institute’s primary mission is to provide flexible, open, activating, academic teaching in psychology and educational sciences, primarily but not exclusively online for approximately 6000 students. On a yearly basis the volume of courses is 15000. The Faculty is a forerunner in the innovation of digital methods used for teaching psychology, and has an explicit mission in the innovation of higher education, focusing on technology enhanced learning and teaching.

The Faculty’s earlier psychology programme gained the E-xcellence certificate of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities. In teaching, the Faculty was judged to offer the best education according to its students in 2016, compared to the evaluation of students of other universities' psychology programmes. The Faculty offers a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, four specializations in the Master of Science Psychology, a Master of Science in Educational Sciences, and a preparatory programme for students converting from Higher Vocational Education (HBO) to the master programmes.

Research takes place in two research programmes. One of the research programmes is focused on Learning and Teaching in Technology Enhanced Environments, the other one – presented in this document – focuses on The Interaction between Implicit and Explicit Strategies for Behaviour within four specializations in master teaching (psychology of psychopathology, health psychology, work and organisation psychology, and life span psychology).