Youth Challenges: Engage, research and act

Course goals

Interdisciplinary Knowledge 
Demarcation and analysis of the youth issue and application to intervention or policy 

1. Formulate concrete (research) questions based on a challenge provided by professionals in the field of a) Youth mental health; b) Youth culture and lifestyle or c) Youth participation 
2. Analyze the research questions from an appropriate (theoretical) approach while acknowledging other perspectives
3. Justify why & how a mono/multi/interdisciplinary approach in relation to the research questions is necessary
4. Apply an intervention or policy to overcome the youth challenge as depicted in the research questions
5. Evaluate commonalities and differences between (needs of) stakeholders in research, policy and practice and analyze in relation to the youth challenge  

 
Interdisciplinary Skills 

1. Receive, process, and provide feedback in a constructive manner  
2. Analyze and adapt collaboration with co-students from different disciplines 
3. Learn from and work together with stakeholders outside one's own scientific domain while developing a solution to a youth challenge  

 
Academic Skills 

1. Communicate effectively and respectfully to different types of audiences and take responsibility as a scientist and professional
2. Critically reflect on own and others´ academic and professional development 
3. Write an academic essay with coherent argumentation, integrating information and ideas 

Content

In this Challenge Based Learning (CBL) course ‘Youth challenges: Engage, research, and act’, all central elements of this master programme are addressed: the development of knowledge on youth development and the diverse contexts in which this takes place, of academic skills and interdisciplinary skills. Students select a youth challenge formulated by a stakeholder on the broad topic of Youth mental health, Youth culture and lifestyle, and/or Social participation and inclusion. Together with fellow students from different scientific disciplines, they formulate their own questions on the topic of the challenge, gather scientific knowledge and conduct research to answer these questions. Next, they jointly analyse the challenge from different perspectives, identify foci to intervene on and propose actions to overcome the challenge. Since the whole process takes place in close collaboration with fellow students and the stakeholder, there are ample opportunities to develop and evaluate interdisciplinary skills, specifically regarding communication, collaboration, feedback and reflection.