Prof Henk Schmidt
Dean,
Faculty of Social Sciences,
Erasmus University,
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Henk Schmidt is a professor of psychology at Erasmus University’s faculty of social sciences and founding dean of its problem-based psychology curriculum. Presently, he is the dean of the faculty of social sciences.
His research areas of interest are learning and memory, and he has published extensively on problem-based learning, long-term memory, and the development of expertise in medicine. He is among the most cited Dutch educational psychologists; for instance, the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) of Leiden University identified his early 1983 Medical Education article on problem-based learning as the nineties most cited Dutch article in the field.
Twice he received the ”Outstanding paper by an established investigator” Award of the American Educational Research Association. In 1996 the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada awarded him an honorary degree. He has authored or co-authored more than 300 articles, chapters, and books, and his work received more than 2000 citations by other researchers. His most-cited work is: Schmidt, H.G., Norman, G. R., and Boshuizen, H. P. A. (1990). A Cognitive Perspective on Medical Expertise: Theory and Implications. Academic Medicine, 65, 611-621.
In 2004, the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, announced him to be the winner of its 50,000 Euro international medical education research prize for his work in medical expertise and problem-based learning. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Career Award of the American Educational Research Association.
Previously, Schmidt held positions as dean of the faculty of health sciences of Maastricht University and associate secretary general of the Network of community-oriented educational institutions for health sciences, a WHO-supported NGO. He has been a visiting professor at McGill University, Montreal, Canada; the University of Bern, Switzerland; and the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
In addition he was R. Samuel McLaughlin Professor at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, and Prof. L. Verhaegen Professor at the Limburg University Centre, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Key Publications
- Verkoeijen, P. P. J. L., Rikers, R. M. J. P., & Schmidt, H. G. (2004) Detrimental influence of contextual change on spacing effects in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 796–800.
- Schmidt, H. G., Boshuizen, H. P. A., & Van Breukelen G. J. P. (2002). Long-term retention of a theatrical script by repertory actors: The role of context. Memory, 21-28.
- Schmidt, H. G., Peeck, V. H., Paas, F., & Van Breukelen G. J. P. (2000). Remembering the street names of one’s childhood neighborhood: A study of very long-term retention. Memory, 8, 56-66.
- Schmidt, H. G. & Van der Molen, H. M. ( 2001). Self-reported competency ratings of graduates of a problem-based medical curriculum. Academic Medicine, 76, 466-468.
- Schmidt, H. G., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (1993). On the origin of intermediate effects in clinical case recall. Memory and Cognition, 21, 338-351.
- Schmidt, H. G., & Boshuizen, H. P. A. (1993). On acquiring expertise in medicine. Educational Psychology Review, 5, 1-17.
- Schmidt, H.G., Norman, G. R., and Boshuizen, H. P. A. (1990). A Cognitive Perspective on Medical Expertise: Theory and Implications. Academic Medicine, 65, 611-621.
- Schmidt, H. G. (1983). Problem-based learning: rationale and description. Medical Education, 1983, 17, 11-16.