Kick off Honours Programme Tackling Global Challenges
During the honours programme’s start of the year event of September the 15th, Pierre van Eijl and Albert Pilot were invited to talk about their research on talent development in honours programmes and the honours laboratory for 21st century skills. The honours programme with a new name is ‘Tackling Global Challenges’, previously known as ‘Expertise in Practice’.
Interviews with honours students showed that these students love to be challenged to work and innovate with fellow motivated students. This innovative character of honour programmes makes it a laboratory of change. Because of the large changes in the 21st century and the new changes that still may happen, it is important to focus on new skillsets of students. The honours academy should create an environment that develops new skills for talented students.
Contemporary challenges (local and global) are often complex and require multidisciplinary thinking. This honours programme focuses on education on, and understanding of the different aspects and playing fields of the problems. Solving these problems requires a process of talent development in which understanding, innovation and tackling issues are taught through interactive activities. Most students think about a problem through their own discipline. In the honours programme students will develop themselves and are expected to use the theories and information from other disciplines, because of the multidisciplinary character of the 21st century issues.