OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING IN ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Over the years I worked on this thesis, many people supported me. I thank them all!
First of all I thank my supervisors. My promotor Gert Rijlaarsdam introduced me to
the ‘world of science’, and has always been there for me. I thank him very much for
his encouragement, comprehensive help, stimulating feedback, and his personal involvement.
I thank my promotor Bernadette van Hout-Wolters for her trust and the
opportunities she gave me. I am very grateful to my co-promotor Huub van den
Bergh who never tired of answering my questions. Not only was he essential for the
statistical analyses, he was also very much involved in the other phases of the project,
even in evening hours and weekends.
I thank Michel Couzijn for establishing a research framework that allowed me to
start immediately with the first study. Additionally, during the project he provided
valuable feedback and helpful advice.
I am grateful to all my colleagues at the Graduate School of Teaching and Learning
for the pleasant work climate, especially the PhD students and the other ‘lunch
people’ for the enjoyable talks, lunches, and ‘pre-OZO’s’. My special thanks go to
the PhD students ‘from the first hour’ who helped me to find my way in the institute
and in research: Sabine Severiens, Dirk Hoek, and Hein Broekkamp. I thank my
roommates, first Sabine and later Monique Pijls, for being such pleasant company.
Monique: I hope we will stay for a long time on the ‘base’. Furthermore, I thank
Hein for his great ‘thinking along’ with my project and for his comments on chapters
of this thesis.
The combination of research and teaching has been both possible and pleasant
due to the cooperation of my colleagues Michel Couzijn, Wilma Groeneweg,
Simone Löhner, and especially Else Pistoor to whom, as my teacher mentor, I owe
much.
Without the participation of students, this project would not have succeeded. I
thank all the students and teachers of the different schools for participating in my
studies. Special thanks go to Marianne van der Veer, Maria Pollmann, and the
school management of the Open Schoolgemeenschap Bijlmer.
Next, I want to thank a lot of people for helping me in research sessions, typing
of protocols, and coding of data: Camilla Meijer, Mariëlle de Reuver, Janneke Jehee,
Pluis Draisma, Marianne Braaksma, Annemarie Schumacher, Merlin Rijlaarsdam,
Monique Oechies, Patricia Braaksma, and Esther Hartman. I am also very grateful to
Petra Wildbret for her support.
Furthermore, my gratitude goes to the languages’ researchers at the Graduate
School of Teaching and Learning for the useful discussions and their comments on
chapters of this thesis. Especially, the feedback from Tanja Janssen has been of a
great value.