ERIC Number: EJ1082687
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 22
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1559-0151
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Laboratories for Educational Innovation: Honors Programs in the Netherlands
Wolfensberger, Marca V. C.; Van Eijl, Pierre; Pilot, Albert
Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, v13 n2 p149-170 Fall-Win 2012
In Dutch universities, honors programs are a fast growing development. The first such programs started in 1993. Twenty years later a large number of programs are implemented at nearly all research universities and also at many universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Recent data have revealed significant diversity in the types and structures of honors programs, many of which have functioned as laboratories of educational innovation within university- wide curricula and had positive spin-off effects on the regular curriculum and also on the transfer of talented students from secondary into higher education. Especially in the last decade, these spin-offs have had a strong influence on educational policy in the Netherlands at the primary and secondary as well as university levels. This article presents an update to the authors' 2004 "Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council" article describing the increasing number of Dutch universities that had developed honors programs for the more motivated and able students wanting to do more than the regular curriculum offered them (Wolfensberger et al., "Honours Programs"). As a result, talented and motivated students were receiving many new opportunities. The development of honors programs was relevant as an important innovation in higher education with a wide influence on all university programs. Since 2004, this trend has continued to a degree, warranting this update to the authors' earlier findings.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Honors Curriculum, Educational Innovation, Universities, Student Motivation, Talent Development, Educational Trends, Laboratories, Program Descriptions, Classification, Educational Benefits, Interdisciplinary Approach, Teaching Methods, College Credits, Noncredit Courses
National Collegiate Honors Council. 1100 Neihardt Residence Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 540 North 16th Street, Lincoln, NE 68588. Tel: 402-472-9150; Fax: 402-472-9152; e-mail: nchc@unl.edu; Web site: http://nchchonors.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A