The contribution of impact-driven education components in different courses to enhance student impact capacity and sustainable career development

The purpose of this educational innovation project was to integrate societal impact and impact-driven education components into two different courses in the Bachelor Psychology programme: a mandatory first year course and third-year elective course. 

First year course: Brain and Body 

In this first year course, Brain and Body, approximately 600 students learned to connect topics in biological psychology, such as drugs, sleep, and stress, and brain functioning, to real-world issues. A key component was a mandatory (pass/fail) group presentation in which students explored the relationship between a course theme and a real-life issue. Examples of topics included: Social media and dopamine; Gaming and the brain: Nicotine vapes and adolescent brains.  

Students signed up for a presentation topic and signed a contract outlining their responsibilities. They followed clear presentation guidelines, presented their findings to the class, and answered questions from fellow students. Students really enjoyed this component of the course, as reflected in their feedback. Overall, student evaluations also improved in two subsequent years.  

Third year elective: Mind in Society 

The third-year elective course, Mind in Society, was newly developed, partly to equip Psychology students with the skills needed to address real-world challenges. Impact-driven education components was integrated into the course design from the outset, emphasizing the importance of addressing authentic societal challenges related to cognitive biases and thinking errors, such as conspiracy thinking, misinformation, polarization, and stereotypes.  

During tutorial meetings, students actively explored these challenges by creating examples of conspiracies, biases, and fake news themselves. They then discussed the origins of these phenomena and their effects on others. Students particularly appreciated the self-reflective skills and increased awareness they developed during the course. They also reflected on their future goals and sustainable career development after their completion of the bachelor as part of a self-reflection assignment. 

In the first two years, students worked in groups to design an intervention and present it to their fellow students. This year, the assignment has been further developed: students work in groups on real-world challenges proposed by various stakeholders in Rotterdam. They develop their ideas into a podcast or video clip 

Interest in the course has grown substantially with enrollment increasing from 22 students in the first year to 89 students in the second year and (expected) 114 students in the upcoming year. This  growing interest suggests that Psychology students value opportunities to apply their theoretical knowledge to real-world challenges. 

Overall contribution 

This fellowship has made a substantial contribution to the integration of societal impact and impact-driven education components into two different types courses with the Bachelor Psychology programme. Increases in enrollment in the elective and increases in the number of students selecting the Brain and Cognition specialization whose staff members teach these courses, suggest that these educational approaches respond to students’ interests in connecting theories and topics in psychology with societal challenges.