About MILS
Marjolein van Bodegom
Bureau van Bodegom was founded in 1986 by Marjolein van Bodegom, who has a master’s degree in cognitive science from Nijmegen University. She has 20 years of experience with learning strategies and is currently pursuing her PhD on the MILS learning strategy research at Maastricht University.
The MILS psychological measurement was developed in the early 90s by Bureau van Bodegom for a language institute. The measurement was administered during the intake of adult students, who would then receive individualized language training. The development period ran from 1989 to 1996. Marjolein decided to develop this tool after observing that some students blossomed when they used audio lessons, while other students could barely tolerate fifteen minutes of listening.
Marjolein also noticed that some students continued to learn effectively for up to an hour and a half at a time, while others would need to take a break every thirty minutes. The students at the institute were given individualized study programs that were increasingly tailored over a period of two to three weeks. The tool was developed to better match the individual preferences of each language student from the first day of the language training. A learning preference is defined as a student's affinity for one learning situation or method over another (Knoll et al., 2017).
In 2011, a version for students aged 10 to 18 was developed based on the original instrument used for adults. The two instruments differ from each other only in a few questions. The MILS test has now been administered thousands of times and is widely used in the guidance of students, both in schools and homework institutes and by individual coaches and therapists.
