How I work
People usually contact me when a question about teaching or development keeps returning, but remains difficult to act on.
My role is not to introduce a new model or method.
I help make the question workable.
Together we clarify what is actually happening, what you want to understand, and what a realistic next step could be in your context. The aim is careful improvement — not extra work alongside everything else.
I enjoy working with educators and teams who care about quality and want to move beyond trial-and-error towards something more grounded and explainable.
Background
My background combines disciplinary research and educational development.
I started in life-science research and industry (Numico Research / Danone) before moving into academia. At Utrecht University I spent more than twenty years working in teaching, research and educational innovation — first as a researcher-teacher, later focusing on curriculum development, professional learning and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Working within a discipline shaped how I approach educational questions: not primarily from educational theory, but from the perspective of people trying to understand what is happening in their own teaching practice.
What I bring
Across different projects and institutions, my work often involves:
- helping educators turn broad concerns into focused questions
- guiding SoTL and improvement projects
- supporting programme teams in making shared decisions about learning
- developing professional learning trajectories
- connecting insights from practice to sustainable change
The emphasis is always on feasibility — solutions have to work alongside everyday academic or professional responsibilities.
Experience and roles
I am co-author of the Utrecht Roadmap for SoTL and Chair of the EuroSoTL network. I have contributed to building SoTL communities and initiatives across Europe and served as Conference Chair of ISSOTL 2023.
My background also includes curriculum innovation projects, teacher development programmes, mentoring trajectories and leadership roles in educational change processes.
I hold a PhD in toxicology and have published in both life sciences and educational development.
Recognition
I was previously recognised as Principal Fellow at the Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning (Utrecht University) and am a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (UK).
For a more detailed overview of my experience and roles, see my full CV. Curious about recent examples? Explore my latest Projects & Partnerships.
“I have greatly enjoyed working with Irma over the past years, during which she has shown both high productivity and genuine enthusiasm. She combines a sharp vision of the importance of Educational Scholarship in teaching practice with a collaborative and connecting approach. Her leadership in complex projects has consistently resulted in concrete, usable outcomes for lecturers, their teaching, and the university as a whole.”
Femke Kirschner, Educational Adviser and Trainer, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Key publications
A selection of key publications
Five publications that reflect my work in educational innovation and professional development — connecting research with practice to support meaningful learning and stronger teaching cultures.
For more, including earlier life-science research, see the full Publications List
Meijerman, I., Wijsman, L., & Kirschner, F. (2024). Adding a scholarly analysis of teaching and learning to SoTL: the development of the hands-on Utrecht Roadmap for SoTL. International Journal for Academic Development, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2024.2361428
Meijerman I, Kirschner F, Prins, F (2023). Experiences with supporting teachers with Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at a research-intensive university: Lessons learned. Teaching and Learning Inquiry 11
https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.11.27
Koster A, Schalekamp T, Meijerman I.(2017). Implementation of Competency-Based Pharmacy Education (CBPE). Pharmacy 21;5(1):10.
https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy5010010
Meijerman I, Nab J, Koster AS (2016). Designing and implementing an inquiry based undergraduate curriculum in pharmaceutical sciences. Curr Pharm Teach Learn, 8, 905–919
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2016.08.001
Meijerman I, Storm G, Moret E, Koster AS (2013) Development and student evaluation of an inquiry-based elective course on drug discovery and preclinical drug development. Curr Pharm Teach Learn, 5, 14-22
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2012.09.009