Qatar University’s (QU’s) Honours Programme, Deanship of General Studies, held its first Faculty Open Day for the current academic year, 2022-2023.
More than 20 distinguished faculty members attended the event from various colleges and specializations. Honors courses at Qatar University are expected to provide more intellectual challenge through more sophisticated material, a higher level of intellectual engagement, and greater responsibility for the learning process than an undergraduate course would typically provide.
The event aimed to pay tribute to former and present honors faculty while also creating a sense of community among incoming professors who were interested in working with honours students on teaching and/or co-curricular opportunities. Commonly asked issues concerning honours teaching, learning and participation were also discussed, along with programme updates and ideas for recognising and assisting QU's Honours Programme faculty members.
Dr Esmat Zaidan, director of the Honours Programme, organised an intellectual roundtable conversation during the event where other distinguished QU faculty members from various colleges who are joining the Honours Programme this semester offered ideas for class activities in keeping with the excellence themes of Qatar University. These suggestions included urging students to consider using the course/module content to solve unforeseen issues or "real-world" circumstances; teach pupils to mix different sources of data in order to overcome obstacles; invite students to create an extensive, inquiry-based project that is focused on their individual intellectual interests and that requires significant research in order to give honours students rewarding classroom experiences and transformative education that focuses on their personal, professional and intellectual development.
Dr Zaidan said, “I was thrilled to chair the meeting of the Honours Program Faculty at the Deanship of General Studies. It was a true pleasure to meet such
distinguished, committed and exceptional colleagues who will be teaching the QU top-notch students during AY 2022-2023. The Honours Programme would like to express sincere gratitude to all deans who accepted our nomination of their faculty. Your co-operation in ensuring an enriching learning experience to the highly motivated students at QU is sincerely appreciated.
“The Honours Programme started with four students in 2009 and it has evolved into a university-wide community with 500 students.”
The event aimed to pay tribute to former and present honors faculty while also creating a sense of community among incoming professors who were interested in working with honours students on teaching and/or co-curricular opportunities. Commonly asked issues concerning honours teaching, learning and participation were also discussed, along with programme updates and ideas for recognising and assisting QU's Honours Programme faculty members.
Dr Esmat Zaidan, director of the Honours Programme, organised an intellectual roundtable conversation during the event where other distinguished QU faculty members from various colleges who are joining the Honours Programme this semester offered ideas for class activities in keeping with the excellence themes of Qatar University. These suggestions included urging students to consider using the course/module content to solve unforeseen issues or "real-world" circumstances; teach pupils to mix different sources of data in order to overcome obstacles; invite students to create an extensive, inquiry-based project that is focused on their individual intellectual interests and that requires significant research in order to give honours students rewarding classroom experiences and transformative education that focuses on their personal, professional and intellectual development.
Dr Zaidan said, “I was thrilled to chair the meeting of the Honours Program Faculty at the Deanship of General Studies. It was a true pleasure to meet such
distinguished, committed and exceptional colleagues who will be teaching the QU top-notch students during AY 2022-2023. The Honours Programme would like to express sincere gratitude to all deans who accepted our nomination of their faculty. Your co-operation in ensuring an enriching learning experience to the highly motivated students at QU is sincerely appreciated.
“The Honours Programme started with four students in 2009 and it has evolved into a university-wide community with 500 students.”
