How do you prepare students to engage with wicked problems?
Climate change, social inequality, and the COVID-19 crisis are examples of wicked problems—issues that require collaboration across different disciplines. In partnership with the African Studies Centre, David Ehrhardt and Caroline Archambault (LUC), along with African partners, are researching the best practices to prepare students for these complex challenges.
How did your project come about, and what does it entail?
Ehrhardt: ‘In our Learning Mindset project for educational innovation, we noticed that many people in education—from lecturers to university administrators—are keen to offer interdisciplinary education and prepare students for large, complex challenges. Yet, the focus often remains on isolated ideas, such as project-based initiatives, without a systematic approach.
Through a systematic review, we are examining existing knowledge on education aimed at addressing wicked problems. Once we have clarified our initial findings in a few weeks, our plan is to bring people together to discuss these insights and explore how they align with their educational practices. This is a two-way conversation: what can we learn from how others approach wicked problems, and how can we apply those insights?
At the core of the project is identifying the essential knowledge and skills required and finding effective ways to teach them to students.'
Archambault adds: 'We deliberately work with African partners because we recognise that they face different wicked problems and address them in different ways. Take climate change, for example—its effects, such as drought, flooding, and food insecurity, vary by location—or issues like conflict and violence. These crises are more real in countries like Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria, where people have to deal with them every day. This shapes how they approach, discuss, and tackle these problems. There is so much we can learn from that.'
What is the societal impact of your project?
Ehrhardt: ‘Teaching students about wicked problems is easier said than done—the skills required are not straightforward. Take interdisciplinary collaboration, for example: it is genuinely difficult. It's not just about working on a project where everyone writes their own section and then pieces it together at the end. True collaboration means jointly analysing problems, integrating different approaches, and developing solutions. This requires a range of skills, such as an open mindset, teamwork abilities, and the capacity to navigate diverse perspectives. How do you teach students that? And how do you ensure they not only understand what a wicked problem is but also know how to engage with it?
Our hope is that this project will not only lead to valuable publications but also to new educational principles and practical tools. But that depends on what we find along the way.'
Ehrhardt: ‘Teaching students about wicked problems is easier said than done—the skills required are not straightforward.'
How does this project align with LUC?
Ehrhardt: ‘LUC’s structure is an excellent fit for interdisciplinary education. As a liberal arts and sciences programme focused on global challenges, students engage with a wide range of subjects and constantly collaborate in interdisciplinary groups. This requires them to understand and apply different perspectives and 'languages' from various disciplines. Moreover, LUC lecturers have considerable freedom in their teaching methods, allowing them to experiment with new ideas and approaches with ease.
However, there is no single way to teach students how to engage with wicked problems. It’s crucial to be more explicit about the skills and knowledge they need. There is still much to gain by taking a more systematic approach to defining our goals and methods. This project extends beyond LUC; it is carried out in collaboration with Madi Ditmars, Marleen Dekker and Maaike Westra from the African Studies Centre, as well as colleagues in Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana. These partnerships enrich the project by bringing in diverse contexts and approaches. By structuring this discussion more systematically, we can make meaningful progress together.'
What are the successes and challenges of this project?
Ehrhardt: ‘It’s still too early to say. What stands out most is the sheer creativity in this field. Educators are experimenting with innovative teaching methods such as theatre-making, scenario analysis, and reflective journaling, as well as developing serious games to make complex problems more tangible. This highlights the vast potential for improving education.'
Leiden University College (LUC)
Leiden University College, established by Leiden University in 2010, offers a unique, small-scale Liberal Arts & Sciences education with approximately 600 students enrolled and on-campus accommodation in The Hague. Classes are intimate, with an average of just 18 students per class.