eline.decraene@ugent.be  |  +32 (0) 9 264 86 74  |  +32 (0)9 264 86 64 (secretariat)  |    Office 120.102                    

Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Gent

Reading comprehension

Reading motivation 

Self-regulated learning 

Proficient reading is an important prerequisite to participate in our current society. However, there is much concern about the reading skills and reading motivation of our Flemish youth. These challenges are particularly difficult for students in the B stream. For this reason Lees Wijs was founded, a project of Provinciaal Onderwijs Vlaanderen (POV) for students in the first grade of secondary education. The project aims to promote reading pleasure and reading comprehension among students. To monitor the project, a research component is also linked to it. Hereby the reading motivation, reading comprehension and strategy use of students is mapped at the beginning and end of the school year. At the same times, the teachers also complete a questionnaire about the reading education in their class. In this way we gain insight into the needs of both students and teachers in the B-stream in order to better support them in the future.

A second project I am working on is TutorBabbel. TutorBabbel is an initiative that aims to strengthen the success rates of students in a vulnerable educational position. Self-regulatory skills, which are important for lifelong learning and student achievement, are central to this. During the project, first master's students in Pedagogy and Educational Sciences provide support in 'learning to learn' to small groups of fifth and sixth grade students in primary education. The master’s students take on the role of tutor and coach the primary school students during class time in planning, goal setting, selecting learning strategies, monitoring their own learning and self-evaluation. Through a portfolio, the master’s students reflect on their own learning process as a tutor and the learning process of the tutees.