Public lecture on inquiry-based learning by UT Honorary Doctor, Professor emeritus Ton de Jong

On Friday, 29 November, from 14:00 to 15:30, Anthonius Johannes Maria de Jong, Professor emeritus of the University of Twente and Honorary Doctor of the University of Tartu 2024, will deliver a public lecture “And the winner is … How to decide on inquiry-based vs direct instruction” at the University of Tartu Institute of Education (Jakobi 5, room A115/116).

Over the years, numerous studies have been published on inquiry-based learning in science and compared it with direct instruction. In his lecture, Ton de Jong will discuss the main findings of these studies and argue that inquiry-based instruction is more effective than direct instruction in shaping conceptual understandings. Yet both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. The effectiveness of each depends, for example, on the learning objectives, the field of study and the learner’s prior knowledge. The presentation will look into different ways of combining inquiry-based and direct instruction. Professor de Jong will speak about the Go-Lab digital platform, which helps teachers plan inquiry-based instruction using digital labs with digital guides and multimedia (direct instruction) materials.

All interested are welcome to the public lecture.

Please register in the web form by 20 November.

Anthonius Johannes Maria de Jong (Ton de Jong) was born on 8 May 1956. He defended his doctoral dissertation at the Eindhoven University of Technology in 1986. During his career, he has been an associate professor or professor at Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, University of Amsterdam, University of Twente in the Netherlands and the Eberhard Karl University in Tübingen, Germany. He has been appointed a fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and elected a member of the Academia Europaea. Ton de Jong has long been committed to developing EARLI, the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, one of the most important European networks connecting educational researchers. In 2004, he founded the Special Interest Group on Inquiry Learning within this association, which to this day unites researchers in the field from around the world.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements and excellence in learning and instruction, Ton de Jong received the EARLI Oeuvre Award in 2023. In addition, he has received, for example, the European Academic Software Award in 2000 for the SimQuest learning environment, and in 2004 for the ZAP learning platform, and the Science magazine prize for inquiry-based instruction. Throughout his career, he has led 40 research projects, delivered over 70 invited presentations at international conferences as a keynote speaker and published more than 160 articles in high-level scientific journals, including three articles in Science.

Ton de Jong has been associated with the University of Tartu since 2006, when his close collaboration began first with the Faculty of Biology and Geography, later with the Faculty of Science and Technology, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Education and, after the structural reform of the university, especially with researchers of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The University of Tartu has conferred the degree of Honorary Doctor on Ton de Jong to recognise him for promoting research in educational technology, educational psychology and instructional design and for his long and fruitful collaboration with the University of Tartu researchers in international projects.

The honorary doctorates will be conferred on 1 December at the 105th-anniversary ceremony of Estonia’s national university at the University of Tartu. The ceremony is broadcast live on UTTV. More information about the events of the 105th anniversary of Estonia’s national university is available on the UT website.