Introduction - Vision statement

Updated: 15 jan 2026

Dear committee member,

It is an honour and a pleasure to share my vision statement on my career at Delft University of Technology. Reflecting on my 20 $^+$ years in education as a teacher, my performance over the past seven years at TU Delft, and my aspirations for growth as an educator, scientist, and person has been an insightful journey.

The summary of my vision can be expressed as:

To strive for continuous growth and excellence in education, bringing out the best in both myself and others.

But even with this clear, concise and strong statement - covering one of my core values, it has been a challenge to draft a clear document in which education, research, and valorization are distinguishable components. I started as a secondary school teacher, did alongside that job a Ph.D. in physics education, and continued my career in academia with a focus on education. As a result, my research and teaching are inherently intertwined: I study what I teach, and how I teach is grounded in research (scholarly-teaching). With a drive to openly share all educational material (hence, contributing to open education), the creation of evidence-based education (education & research) and valorization (enable life long learning) are for me inseparable, though I have attempted to distinguish them in this document.

This document, written in MyST, exemplifies my innovative approach to teaching: it is one of the latest technological advancements in education and research dissemination Cockett et al., 2024. The MyST and Jupyter projects aim to create interactive scientific publications for the web, with the ability to export content to PDF, LaTeX, and Microsoft Word. While this document is presented as a PDF, it is also available as an interactive online document. It is also the way the tool which supports the newest online interactive textbook publications, see for instance TUD’s first year physics mechanics book. Moreover, the PDF version of this book is made with a bare-bone typst template which is made by me and feed back to the MyST ecology.

To be processed

Reading guidance

Reader’s guide¶

This document reflects a career in which education, research, and valorization are deeply interconnected. While the formal structure follows these three domains, many of the activities described necessarily contribute to more than one. To support a clear and fair assessment, this guide explains how each chapter is intended to be read and what it demonstrates with respect to my development toward the role of associate professor with an emphasis on education.

Education — Educational Leadership and Quality at Scale¶

How to read this chapter

Chapter 2 should be read as evidence of my role as an educational leader who designs, coordinates, and continuously improves education at scale. The focus is not on isolated teaching activities, but on systematic transformation of courses, curricula, and teaching practices, grounded in educational principles and sustained over multiple years.

What this chapter demonstrates

Long-term responsibility for large, core courses in the Applied Physics curriculum.
The ability to translate educational vision into coherent course design, assessment strategies, and organizational structures.
Leadership in course innovation that improves student learning, motivation, and engagement.
Attention to scalability, sustainability, and staff development (e.g. TA training, administrative redesign).

Research outputs and publications that emerge from these educational innovations are mentioned only insofar as they show that my teaching practice is scholarly and evidence-informed. The primary lens of this chapter is educational impact on students and programs.

Research — A Coherent Line of Physics Education Research¶

How to read this chapter

Chapter 3 presents my work as a physics education researcher who develops theoretical frameworks and empirically grounded insights into scientific inquiry, argumentation, and engineering design. While my research is closely connected to teaching practice, this chapter should be read as a contribution to the international research community, not as a report on educational innovation.

What this chapter demonstrates

A clearly identifiable and coherent research line originating from my PhD and extended through postdoctoral and faculty work.
Intellectual ownership of a conceptual niche: the integration of argumentation with inquiry and design.
The development of theoretical models (e.g. linking argumentation to PACKS) with potential for broader applicability.
A realistic and forward-looking research agenda, including supervision, collaboration, and funding strategies within the constraints of education research.

Educational contexts function here as research settings, not as ends in themselves. The emphasis is on knowledge production, theory building, and scholarly dissemination.

Impact, Valorization, Leadership, and Organization — Enabling Others¶

How to read this chapter

Chapter 4 should be read through the lens of enabling and amplifying impact beyond my own teaching and research. Rather than separating valorization, leadership, and organization artificially, this chapter adopts a thematic approach that reflects how these dimensions manifest in practice.

What this chapter demonstrates

Leadership in open pedagogy and open education at local, national, and international levels.
The development of infrastructures (tools, platforms, materials) that enable other educators to innovate.
Active contribution to professional communities, policy discussions, and teacher professionalization.
Recognition of my work through awards, invitations, and adoption of materials by others.

Where educational materials or tools originate from teaching or research, they are included here because their primary function is reuse, dissemination, and capacity building.

wat staat er in het document, volgorde.

Sincerely yours,

Freek Pols

References¶

Cockett, R., Purves, S., Koch, F., & Morrison, M. (2024). Continuous Tools for Scientific Publishing. Scipy, 121–136.