Building Inclusive Education with AI through the Npuls Key Position

How can lecturers use AI fairly and equitably in their teaching? That question is at the heart of a new project at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) within the Key Position scheme of the national Npuls programme. Under the coordination of professor Theo Bakker from the Learning Technology & Analytics research group, part of the Centre of Expertise Global and Inclusive Learning, lecturers, support staff, researchers and students are joining forces to explore how AI can contribute to more inclusive education.

What is a Key Position?

Within the nationwide Npuls programme, universities of applied sciences and research universities collaborate on the digital transformation of education. Each institution has a so-called Key Team: a group of colleagues who connect education, research and policy, ensuring that Npuls innovations truly reach the classroom. Through the Key Position funding scheme, these teams receive additional resources to increase their impact.

Using AI to promote equity

At THUAS, the project focuses on three programmes: Nutrition & Dietetics, Communication & Multimedia Design, and Safety & Security Management Studies. Lecturers from these programmes are exploring how AI can help offer equal opportunities to all students.

The starting point is the Vision on the Impact of AI on Equity, written last year for Npuls by professor Theo Bakker. Examples include providing free access to AI tools for students, using AI to support personalised learning, and addressing bias and potential risks of exclusion in AI use.

Learning with and from each other

Lecturers are developing interventions that they test and refine together with students. They use the 3E framework, a method to evaluate which educational technologies truly work. With support from colleagues at the Educational Quality Centre (OKC), the results will be shared through the THUAS AI Basics course and the Center for Teaching & Learning, allowing other programmes to benefit as well. Nationally, insights will also be disseminated via Npuls, making them available to other higher education institutions.

Looking ahead

“AI can enhance equity in education, but only if we use it consciously,” says Theo Bakker. “Through this project, lecturers are discovering how to apply AI in ways that allow every talent to thrive.”

The project runs until the end of 2026 and contributes to the broader ambition of The Hague University of Applied Sciences: learning through research with impact, aimed at equal opportunities, better education and an inclusive learning environment.

For more information about this project, please contact dr. Theo Bakker: [email protected].