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Handbook Research Center Talent Development in Higher Education and Society

Slow shift

For decades, Scandinavian culture effectively prohibited the development of special provisions for talented students in higher education. However, in recent years, a cultural shift has gradually made more room for excellence and talent development in the national discourses. This paper analyzes the climate for talent development in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Following a first inventory of honors programs in Scandinavian higher education in which the only programs were found in Denmark, 10 experts were interviewed to analyze their national situation and reflect on the leading role of Denmark. In this country, external incentives, focus on quality, pioneers, and an open atmosphere were found to produce a culture more appreciative of excellence over the last decade. Starting from the Danish experience, the situation in Norway and Sweden is analyzed, showing that the combination of factors leading to change in Denmark is not yet present here. Lessons for other countries are highlighted, notably the importance of sharing information and exchanging knowledge at an international level.

Setting them free

One of the factors that differentiate honors from regular teaching at the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, is the freedom that honors students enjoy, a freedom that evokes excellence because it is focused and targeted. This targeted freedom takes three different shapes in our honors program and comes with specific challenges for both students and teachers. While the attractions and advantages of such freedom are both theoretically and practically significant, our experience has also demonstrated drawbacks that need to be addressed and resolved in creating effective honors education.The challenges and struggles as well as the rewards that we have experienced might be familiar to honors educators around the world, but they are also shaped by the particular contexts of our program within the Faculty of Geosciences, within Utrecht University, and within the Netherlands, contexts that we will now introduce.

Professional excellence

PurposeHonours programs prepare talented students to become future excellent professionals . However, competences defining an excellent professional have not been elucidated yet. We investigated how professionals characterize an excellent communication professional, aiming to develop a competence profile to guide honours education at Communication Institute of Hanze University of Applied Sciences.Conceptual frameworkThe amount of freedom in honours education is an important aspect distinguishing honours from regular programms. However, also for honoursstudents an amount of structure is needed. Explicit learning goals are an effective way to offer structure and enhance performance (Locke & Latham, 2006). Competence profiles can direct these learning goals in honours education. Research questions and designWe performed empiric research to understand how professionals characterize an excellent communication professional and implemented this competence profile in honours education. One year after implementation, perceptions of students and staff on the profile and its implementation were analysed.Using a mixed-method approach, three focus group discussions were conducted with communication professionals (N=16), followed by a Delphi panel with experts (N=30). In each focus group, professionals discussed competences and behaviors characterizing an excellent communication professional. After validation, the profile was implemented in the honours programme. One year after implementation, students and staff evaluated the use of the profile.Data collection and analysisAll focus group sessions were recorded and transcribed. Analysis was done by two researches independently, using open coding on ATLAS ti., based on the grounded theory method. In a consensus meeting, a concept profile was developed. This concept profile was validated through a Delphi survey with Dutch experts to achieve a quantifiable consensus. One year after implementation, perceptions of students and staff on the profile and its implementation were collected and analysed.Results Data clarify that in addition to possessing solid technical skills and practical knowledge, excellent communication professionals are differentiated by their capacity to be strategic, empathic, expressive, decisive and to see patterns and interrelationships. In a second phase, honours faculty used the excellent professional profile as a benchmark to develop a set of six undergraduate level learning outcomes to structure the honours programme and assessment standards. For each of these learning outcomes, smaller developmental milestones were defined to help students gauge their development and reflect on their progress during three honours years. A digital assessment tool was created to monitor student growth and structure annual summative assessment processes. One year following creation and application, students and staff were asked to evaluate the implementation of the excellence profile and learning outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of implications for both curriculum design, operational effects and assessment quality.  Conclusions This research promotes an connection between the professional field and educators, resulting in curricular changes. The implemmentation of competence profiles of excellent professionals in honours curricula offer clear learing goals to guide student’s development and, furhtermore, improves the transition from educational programs to professional practice, allowing students to develop (or strengthen) competences and behaviors which are, according to professionals themselves, essential for that profession. This exchange between professional field and educators can lead to new standards needed to face future challenges.Theoretical/Practical implications This is the first empiric study profiling the excellent communication professional. Practical relevance of this profile is twofold. For the work field, it describes competences which could be used for strategic selection of high potential candidates. For educators, it offers guidelines for assessment and curricular development, especially in honours education. In this presentation we explain 1) the research conducted to develop a competence profile for the excellent communication professional, 2) how it was subsequently used to guide curricular development and 3) the experiences concerning implementation by staff and students one year following implementation.

Docentopvattingen over de meerwaarde van honoursonderwijs voor het leren van talentvolle en gemotiveerde studenten

Het hoofddoel van deze studie is het verkrijgen van inzicht in welke factoren van het honoursonderwijs een meerwaarde opleveren voor het leren van studenten in honoursprogramma’s. Deze studie draagt hiermee bij aan kennis over de relatie tussen excellentiebevorderend onderwijs enerzijds en leergedrag en motivatie van studenten anderzijds. De praktische relevantie van deze studie ligt in het ontwikkelen van kennis voor het opzetten en verbeteren van talentgericht doceren, ter bevordering van het professionaliseren van docenten. In deze studie wordt bestudeerd wat volgens docenten de meerwaarde voor studenten is van honoursonderwijs. In deze exploratieve kwalitatieve interviewstudie werden twaalf docenten in drie verschillende honoursprogramma’s voor talentvolle bachelorstudenten bevraagd over hun opvattingen. De meerwaarde van hethonoursonderwijs voor studenten wordt volgens de docenten gekenmerkt door: (1) studentgerichtheid; (2) gebruik van andersoortige onderwijsvormen; (3) nadruk op ‘inquiry-based’ strategieën; (4) gerichtheid op kritisch en creatief denken; (5) hoge verwachtingen en ambitieuze doelen; en (6) kleinschaligheid en interdisciplinair karakter. Deze resultaten worden besproken en geïllustreerd met interviewfragmenten. Tevens worden de resultaten gerelateerd aan professionalisering voor docenten in honoursprogramma’s in het hoger onderwijs.

Aan de slag met honors

In de brochure ‘Aan de slag met honors’ worden onderzoeksresultaten van het onderzoeksproject Honors in Europe hertaald naar tips voor succesvol en inspirerend honorsonderwijs. De brochure is grotendeels gebaseerd op het boek Talent Development in European Higher Education – Honors programs in the Benelux, Nordic and German-speaking countries van Marca Wolfensberger van het Lectoraat Excellentie in Hoger Onderwijs en Samenleving van de Hanzehogeschool Groningen.