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The subsidy scheme VIS in het HO aims to provide as many students at Dutch higher education institutions as possible with the opportunity to gain experience in an international orientation on subject and science through virtual international collaborative projects (VIS projects). In these projects, students in the Netherlands collaborate with students at institutions abroad, working together on a project. The subsidy scheme will finance a total of 700 projects between 2021 and 2024 to support the design and development of these projects.
In late 2021, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) commissioned Dialogic to conduct an evaluative study on the VIS projects (see here for the description of this study). This study follows the VIS projects through analyses of the grant applications and online surveys among project leaders (teachers and/or educationalists) and participating students. An interim report is delivered annually in October to provide an update on the progress of the study.
For the 2023 report, the first four cohorts (September 2021, February 2022, September 2022, and February 2023) have been reviewed. A total of 254 VIS projects have been funded to date. Out of these, 214 projects have completed the project leader survey, and 88 projects have concluded. The report describes the 254 projects based on their grant applications, the 214 projects based on the online survey among project leaders, and the 88 completed projects based on the surveys among students.
In Round 1, collaborations are ongoing with institutions from 31 different countries. This number has increased each year, reaching 51 different countries in Round 4. Throughout all rounds, the main focus of partnerships lies in North America and Europe. In the past four rounds, there have been collaborations with 264 institutions in Europe, 59 in Asia, 42 in North America, 36 in Africa, 26 in Central and South America, and 2 in Oceania. Institutions in the Caribbean have participated in a total of seven VIS projects. The figure below shows the top twenty countries with whom collaboration is most frequent.
The development of international competencies is assessed through student surveys. Students report significant progress in all categories, as shown in the figure below.
The majority of students indicate they did not face any challenges during the project. The most commonly mentioned challenges are lack of time for the project and poor working relationships with international partner(s).
Download the interim report 2023 here. For the report in English, click here.
Want to learn more? Contact Max Kemman or send an email to visonderzoek@dialogic.nl.