Case study
Recently, I had a progress interview with a first-year nursing student. She indicated that the study was relatively easy for her. She has passed most exams. Now she notices that she is getting a little less motivated for her studies. She finds it more difficult to come to classes. She doesn’t really know what she wants and whether she wants to continue with Nursing. She wonders what she can do so that she experiences more challenge in her studies.
Almost half of students feel that their talents are underused. This is according to research among three thousand students by Van de Broek (ITS, Nijmegen) and De Jong (IOWO, Nijmegen) 48 per cent indicate that teachers do not respond enough to their talents. They are also insufficiently challenged to perform extra. Too little challenge can lead to loss of motivation and even dropout among students. Students have too little to do (quantitative underload), or experience e too little substantive challenge (qualitative underload). As a supervisor, you can look for extra challenge with the student.
How can you challenge the student extra?
It is important that the supervisor really sees the students and knows their learning needs. As a learning team supervisor or study career supervisor, be sensitive to the following signs. These may indicate that the student is insufficiently challenged:
Results:
- Student achieves above-average grades
- Student does many extra things such as work or sports
Behaviour
- A student asks for more extra work
- A student requests deepening beyond regular work
- A student gets bored in the study
- A student needs peers, fellow students who are also able and willing to do more
Attitude
- A student lacks sufficient self-discipline to devote time and energy to study
- A student exudes greater ambition
- A student is more curious and socially engaged than average
- A student needs more direction over their development
As a supervisor, discuss these signs with the student. Support students by looking for additional offerings through honours education. It is also good to see if there may be any giftedness.
Honours education
Any student who is looking for extra challenge and a desire to do more, in addition to their studies, can participate in Honours education at HU. Honours allows them to further discover and develop their talents and qualities. Honours students regularly indicate that they get more study motivation. (And that they would have dropped out otherwise). It is important that every student learns about Honours education early in their studies. Students do not get credits, but stars for Honours. Students can deepen and broaden their knowledge and skills with Honours education. Do students want to specialise in subjects that match their study programme? Then they can find more information on the HU Honours website at the separate tab Deepening. Here you will find the Honours options for each programme. The programme’s contact persons are also listed there. Interested students can contact them themselves. In HU-wide Honours courses, students can develop in a broader sense. These courses tend to focus on their personal and social development. They also respond to current themes such as digitisation and (dis)information. Under the tab Widening you will find information about this Honours offer for each period of the academic year. Collaboration with other students from other disciplines often satisfies the social need for like-minded people. This increases students’ motivation.
Continued case study
The learning team supervisor conducted an interview with nursing student to find out whether she wants to continue her education, and why she is less motivated. The student appears to be looking for more depth. She finds the study too practical. The counsellor explores with the student where her needs and talents lie. Together, they look at the Honours website. The supervisor then referred the student to the Honours coach.
What can you refer the HU student to?
If students seek measurement challenge then you can refer them to the programme’s Honours coach. It is listed per programme listed here. There is also a lot of information on the Honours website about widening offerings and projects out there. It helps if the supervisor encourages the student and actively helps with referrals and searches.