Senses-Based Learning

Doctors, biologists, business experts, museum curators: what connects these very different professions? They all rely on trained observation. Reading a patient, examining a specimen, judging a market, or assessing an artwork all depend on sharpened senses. Yet in higher education, these sensory skills are rarely taught explicitly. Traditional teaching methods still focus almost entirely on cognitive, analytical learning, leaving the senses underdeveloped as an academic skill in their own right. 

Developing sensory skills 

The project team behind senses-based learning identified this gap: most professions require sensory knowledge, but universities rarely train it. The aim was twofold. First, to investigate how sensory education is currently used, or overlooked, in university teaching. Second, to restore sensory skills to a central place in the curriculum. In practice, this meant developing new courses and programmes at Maastricht University, while also making all the knowledge gained freely available through a dedicated website. The project also aimed to make it easy for any teacher to introduce senses-based learning into their own courses, and to build a network of professionals who work with the senses in their field. 

Designing educational materials 

To research the field, interviews were conducted with academics and professionals about how they use their senses in daily life and work. This was combined with a literature review, resulting in an extensive bibliography on the senses. Interview clips, reading lists, teaching materials, and student work were all published on the project website, so others could reuse them. 

Focus groups with students helped to understand what worked well and why. Ambassadors from every faculty at Maastricht University joined the project to help implement senses-based learning locally, and together they designed and ran various courses, workshops, and symposia. The interviews and the ambassador network also formed the basis of a wider network of sensory professionals. In collaboration with the university library, teaching materials were added to open-access repositories, making them freely available beyond the university.  

Not everything went smoothly. Because no physical space was made available, the planned Sensory Learning Lab, a hands-on space where students could practise sensory skills, could not be realised; a digital space for students, teachers and practitioners was created instead, through the website. A proposed interfaculty Minor (a smaller, elective study track) was not approved by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences board yet. Interdisciplinary courses also faced administrative obstacles. Most of these were resolved by the end of the project. 

Increased interest in senses 

Students filled in evaluation forms before and after taking part in SBL courses. An accompanying article, based on interviews with course coordinators and an analysis of these evaluations, covered four of the realised courses. Results were positive: students showed greater interest in the senses and generally appreciated the different, more embodied approach to learning. Coordinators highlighted the variety of teaching methods this approach allows for, the freedom it gives students in their own output, and students' willingness to try new things. 

Lessons learned 

Several lessons emerged. Courses need more time, so students can experiment further with the material. Content should always be linked to students' own context to make it meaningful. Not every student thrives under this approach: some are more risk-averse and find it harder to engage fully. Most importantly, the project team concluded that institutional support at programme level is essential, otherwise the courses risk becoming add-ons rather than a lasting part of the curriculum. 

Producten of presentaties over dit project  

• Information about this project and teaching materials can be found https://sensesbasedlearning.org/ 
• The Observant - “The more senses you use, the more you learn” https://www.observantonline.nl/english/Home/Articles/id/57558/half-a-million-euro-to-set-up-sensory-education-at-the-um-and-beyond - 22 September 2021
• Training the senses – Operation Mango https://marres.org/en/programmas/training-the-senses-operation-mango/ - 17 May 2022 
• Training the senses – Catching your Eye https://marres.org/en/programmas/training-the-senses-catching-your-eye/ - 30 June 2022 
• Training the senses – Listening as Intervention https://marres.org/en/program/training-the-senses-luisteren-als-interventie/ - 27 September 2022 
• Training the senses – Performing Work https://marres.org/en/program/training-the-senses-performing-work/ - 9 November 2022 
• Training the senses – Echo location and multisensory interactions   -     https://marres.org/en/program/training-the-senses-echo-location-and-multi-sensory-interactions/ - 23 November 2022 
• Senses-based Learning Symposium https://sensesbasedlearning.org/senses-based-learning-symposium-2023/ - 10 July 2023 
• Senses-based Learning Symposium II https://sensesbasedlearning.org/senses-based-learning-symposium-2024/ - 4 April 2024 
• International Conference on Education in Athens https://www.atiner.gr/2024edu-pro  - 22-24 May 2024  
• Art and Education for Social Justice Symposium, University of Georgia, USA (with Carissa DiCindio about the Honours course) “Multisensory Mapping of Cultural cosystems Spatial Politics: A student Project Experiment” https://art.uga.edu/events/2025-art-education-social-justice-symposium# - 8 February 2025