Relation through co-creation: Research on co-creation in the transnational CoTalent project based on network theory

The CoTalent project is a unique collaboration between eight universities (of applied sciences) throughout Europe funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission. The objective of the CoTalent project was to use co-creation with teachers and students in order to create tools that would support higher education to foster and recognize talented students. Three toolsets were made with a total of around 920 students and teachers via workshop weeks and so-called multiplier event. This current research projects the impact of the student participants through a social network theory perspective to look at what the co-creation of the CoTalent project can do for them in their professional career (including their education). By conducting eight interviews with the student participants, it became clear the CoTalent network was a unique network that shares the characteristics of both strong- and weak ties. The members involved were of many cultures and origins but simultaneously of a similar mindset which made for a fertile network in terms of productivity to complete the tasks at hand and in terms of the student participant their experience. The participating students mainly experienced growth in soft skills and gained new perspectives through the diverse set of actors involved.

Personal resources conducive to educational success: high achieving students’ perspectives

This study was explorative and aimed at in-depth understanding of personal resources students use to reach success, in the demanding context of honours education. Becoming successful in higher education demands a lot from students. Considering the Job Demands-Resources model it is expected that personal resources help students succeed. We explore which personal resources benefit students’ performance in demanding contexts of honours education. Using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, we asked thirteen honours students of three institutions which personal resources had helped them to achieve success. Results suggest that honours students use different personal resources. Most frequently mentioned resources could be grouped around five themes: self-directiveness, inquiry-mindedness, perseverance, social involvement and motivation. Especially resources in the themes self-directiveness, inquiry-mindedness and perseverance were perceived as important facilitators for educational success. The outcomes may inform interventions to help students develop personal resources needed to handle high educational demands. Further research is needed to identify the most effective interventions.

The W-shaped model of professional competencies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its relevance to honors programs

As the world is undergoing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the fusing of physical, digital, and biological worlds with the new technologies, we experience a profound impact of this revolution on the labor markets and subsequent career planning of students. The new economic reality created by 4IR calls for immediate action in the world of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to advocate for new key competencies that university students will need to thrive in the new economy. These competencies include human literacy, digital fluency, hyper-learning, and systems and design thinking. Together, they are presented as the ‘W- shaped 4IR Competency Model’. This model combines previously published opinions about the topic from various educational futurists who have tackled the issue. This paper includes a call to action for universities to address the skills gap challenge of college graduates and rethink their value propositions. As honors programs are the breeding ground for innovation, universities might consider starting to test the robot-proof, twenty-first-century curricula with the smaller honors cohorts and then consider the curricular transfer to the mainstream educational programs. We urge honors educators and administrators around the world to adopt curricula that will make their graduates ‘robot-proof’ and able to thrive in the new economy for decades to come.

Relevance and meaningfulness: Student perspectives on the highly talented international business professional profile

Competencies deemed relevant and meaningful by international business professionals and implemented in IB education, still do not produce work-ready graduates. This may be because these competencies are not perceived as relevant or meaningful by students. This study was conducted to gain students’ perspectives on the relevance and meaningfulness of the HTIBP talent competency framework, and how they perceived working with it. Results show that the five competency domains of the HTIBP competency framework are perceived as relevant and meaningful by students, in alignment with the professional field, this was not the case for few associated items (behaviours) ‘showing entrepreneurship’ and ‘improving ideas from others’. The lack of clarity of these behaviours resulted in less experienced relevance and meaningfulness by students. Our findings will help educators to better facilitate students to understand the meaning and relevance of competencies. This may help to improve alignment with the professional field.

Honors International Faculty Learning Online (HIFLO 2020): A model for honors online professional development

The Spring of 2020 brought many disruptions to our professional and personal lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced worldwide mid-semester campus closures; pivoting of traditional, face-to-face classes to remote teaching and learning; and postponements or cancellations of conferences, workshops, and other professional development events. One example of the breakdown of scheduled opportunities for us as honors colleagues to gather in-person to enhance our practices and strengthen our community was the cancellation of the 2020 International Conference on Talent Development and Honors Education in Groningen, the Netherlands, originally slated for June 10-12 but moved to June 16-18, 2021. Immediately following the 2020 conference, we (the authors) had planned to offer the fifth Honors International Faculty Institute (HIFI), an international and highly interactive occasion for honors and talent development teachers, researchers, and leaders to engage in presentations, experiential activities, place-as-text explorations, collaborative group work, reflective exercises, and showcases designed to improve teaching, learning, and programming in honors. Suddenly, the coronavirus upended our world, and we had to reimagine the institute that we had previously organized four times alternately at Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) and Texas Christian University (USA). Putting aside the disappointment of the moment and recognizing the value of coming up with an alternative to HIFI that would ensure the safety and health of our honors colleagues, we decided to create a fully online version with free registration to encourage participation and create resources accessible to all members of our international community. We wanted to highlight the challenges of how all of us unexpectedly had to pivot to remote teaching and learning as the global pandemic intensified, but we also wanted to share information, experiences, and models that could open new avenues for operationalizing online honors education more generally beyond the COVID-19 crisis. We wanted, in other words, to explore how honors pedagogy could (and maybe should) be adapted to the increasingly online world of primary, secondary, and higher education. Thus, HIFLO 2020 was born! HIFLO stands for Honours International Faculty Learning Online.

Assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on honors student learning, institutional connections, and intent to return to campus

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly converted classes to an online format in the middle of the academic semester at South Dakota State University (SDSU), USA. Our objectives were 1) to identify factors affecting student learning and connectivity following this transition and 2) to evaluate differences between honors and non-honors students. Students (n=230) were surveyed with Likert-type, descriptive, and open-ended questions about their experiences following the transition. Clear, frequent communication between students and SDSU was identified as the most appreciated aspect of SDSU’s response. Students who reported struggling academically following the transition were more likely to be facing difficulties with finances and access to or use of online learning technology. Honors students reported fewer technology barriers and financial stressors than non-honors students. Degree completion and social connections were driving the desire to return to face-to-face classes, but this enthusiasm was dampened by COVID-19-related health concerns. Communication, structure, and flexibility were identified as factors affecting student success.

Book Review of Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

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