David Helfand on Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century

In his book A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age: Scientific Habits of Mind, David J. Helfand offers a series of ways to better understand scientific data. Developing these sets of tools has never been more important as individuals are bombarded with a torrent of information—both true and misleading.

The book is part of a larger project of Helfand’s to confront the distinct educational challenges of the twenty-first-century. In addition to his new book, Helfand has also been instrumental in the development of Quest University Canada which has sought to offer a new model of higher education that emphasizes a deep engagement with questions and subjects. In the following video, Helfand explains the philosophy behind Quest and some of the failings of traditional education (you can also read more about Quest in the following New York Times article):