Omid Noroozi appointed personal professor at WUR

Noroozi is part of the Education & Learning Sciences (ELS) chair group. His research focuses on environments in which people collaborate, give feedback, weigh arguments and use digital tools in meaningful ways. The aim is not to put technology centre stage, but to understand how it can foster transformative competences: the ability to create new value, deal with tensions and dilemmas, and take responsibility.

His work brings together three closely connected themes. He investigates how technology-enhanced learning environments can be best designed to foster competences that are durable, adaptable and transferable to new situations. He also studies how students and teachers can develop AI literacy, particularly in relation to generative AI. In addition, he explores how human and artificial intelligence can be combined responsibly to enhance education and support transformative learning.

According to Noroozi, these competences are urgently needed. Societal challenges related to climate change, food security, health, sustainability and social inclusion require professionals who can navigate complexity. The rise of generative AI adds to this need: students and teachers must learn how to use such systems critically, ethically and meaningfully. 

A central ambition of his research is to move beyond narrow focus on efficiency and performance in education. While intelligent technologies such as GenAI can significantly enhance efficiency and productivity, Noroozi argues that their real value lies elsewhere. “The question is not whether intelligent technologies can help us boost performance or do things faster,” he explains, “but whether and how they help learners think more critically, act more responsibly, strengthen their agency, and make informed decisions.”

Noroozi was born and educated in Iran. He came to WUR in 2008 for his doctoral research on computer-supported collaborative learning and obtained his PhD with the distinction cum laude. Since then, he has built an international profile in educational technology, peer learning, feedback, learning analytics and generative AI in education. He is among the world’s most highly cited researchers in his field and has received several awards for research, educational innovation and supervision.