Hungry Brains - learning in a new perspective

Hungry Brains is a project-oriented, student-driven, and individually-based learning program designed to guide students towards discovering their own passion for learning. As the title suggests, Hungry Brains courses are based on the student's curiosity and desire for learning and development. We are born with a great appetite for learning and self-confidence, but experience shows that this can change as early as primary school age.

In the Hungry Brains program, the student works with a specially trained mentor from Gifted Institute, who supports, guides, and supervises the student throughout the entire course.

In collaboration with the mentor, the student selects a project based on their own interests and wishes, which they work on during the 10-week course. The instruction is primarily conducted through online meetings between the student and mentor, with occasional in-person meetings.

The course concludes with the student's presentation of their product, which can be written, creative, experimental, or practical in nature.

During the course, the student contacts subject specialists in their chosen field, in cooperation with their mentor.

In one of our pilot projects, a student worked on producing "sour candy," delving deeply into the subject and covering all aspects from idea conception, through practical and academic considerations, to production and presentation of the finished product.

The program differs from traditional learning approaches by shifting focus from the usual learning situation and providing opportunities to operate in a new setup.

It opens up new possibilities for action and offers fresh perspectives, desire, and opportunity for a redesigned and tailored approach to academic material. Additionally, the program provides new insights into the student's learning preferences, which can be applied at home and in daily learning situations going forward.

The learning methods used are known from decades of teaching in American schools for gifted children, among others. Through our pilot projects, we have worked to adapt these experiences to a Danish, primarily online-based program.

The goal is for students to have acquired greater self-insight and self-esteem, motivation for learning, and achieved a higher degree of self-efficacy by the end of the program. Experiences from schools working with gifted children, and our own experiences with gifted children, tell us that these children have a great need for co-determination and mutual trust in learning situations, which forms the foundation for the Hungry Brains approach.

Together with Markus Essien (former Head of The Logan School for Creative Learners in Colorado, USA), we have developed the basic program and subsequently built upon this foundation.