Hitting the high notes : Challenge in teaching honors students

Over the last two decades, honors programs and colleges have mushroomed throughout the Netherlands and elsewhere. Honors programs are intended to challenge the most academically gifted students to develop their full potential.The programs are developed by inspired teachers who are allowed freedom to create innovative learning environments, resulting in a diversity of instructional strategies believed to match the needs of high-ability students. However, much is still to be understood about the specific design of education for these students. The main research aim guiding this thesis was to examine appropriate instructional strategies for high-ability students at the university level (honors students). The aim of examining appropriate instructional strategies for honors students was based on the assumption that honors students differ from their non-honors peers in their potential for excellence, and therefore need differentiated instructional strategies. To test this assumption, we first inquired differences between honors and non-honors students with respect to the characteristics that are expected to be vital for excellence: intelligence, motivation and creativity. By means of a questionnaire, honors students and non-honors) at Utrecht University were assessed with a self-report questionnaire on these three characteristics. Results showed that the honors students differed significantly from the non-honors students in terms of the combined variables as well as for the separate variables, with the exception of ‘persistence’. Since the results showed that honors students differed significantly from non-honors students, it seemed justifiable to assume that these students need distinct challenge to further develop these qualities. The next two studies sought answers to the questions of how to challenge high-ability students. Findings of the first case study showed that maximum effort and (perceived) learning were experienced when the perceived challenge exceeded the level of ability the most, and during which students felt worried and frustrated. These results indicate that a balance between ability and challenge is vital for enjoyment, but not necessarily for effort, persistence and learning. This finding was unexpected, given that negative emotions have been understood to impede intrinsic motivation and learning. As to the question of what constituted the challenge, we found a three-factor model of challenge: autonomy, complexity, and high teacher expectations. We investigated the generalizability of this three-factor model of challenge in a subsequent study, where we examined six honors courses, varying in level and discipline, questioning the factors in the learning environment that constituted (lack of) challenge for high-ability students. Results showed that students experienced the highest levels of challenge when three factors (autonomy, complexity, and high teacher expectations) occurred simultaneously, confirming the results of the case study mentioned above. Some of the courses in the multiple case study were not very challenging, This suggested the question why experienced teachers in similar settings made different choices with respect to the level of challenge they provided students. To address this question, we interviewed 12 teachers, examining their considerations regarding the choice whether or not to challenge students. Findings of this study revealed several dilemmas relating to challenge, showing that applying a significant educational objective such as challenge is not straightforward. For example, maximizing challenge was supposed to stimulate students to bring their talents to full bloom. But at the same time, teachers for example emphasized how high challenge might affect students’ feelings of safety, and subsequently scare students away from contributing to class discussions.