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What do our students learn?

Atouts+ equips students with the tools that will allow them to renew their own knowledge and skills as society evolves and professions are transformed : critical thinking, creativity, a sense of responsibility, rigour and precision, academic and professional skills, fluency in oral and written French and English.

The choice between three tracks

Atouts+ offers three years of training with three distinct tracks:

  • 21st Century Humanities
  • Economics and Social Sciences
  • Mathematics, Computer Science and Science

Each student chooses a field of study that corresponds to their main orientation and pursues this path for three years.

Each track invites students to explore a wide variety of subjects within their chosen discipline, and undertake exercises and projects to develop their intellectual and practical skills.

Training the mind

Whichever their chosen track, a student trained by Atouts+:

  • can argue convincingly, identify flaws in a line of reasoning, devise counter examples, imagine objections and counterfactual scenarios, and grasp the salient points of a speech
  • can vary the parameters of a problem, build decision trees, evaluate the consequences
  • has strong working methods
  • is familiar with programming and algorithm development techniques
  • has experience in teamwork and project management

Pluridisciplinarity

There is no real separation between literary and scientific intelligence. All students need to be able to understand the world in quantitative terms, to use mathematical modeling or probability or, conversely, historical or philosophical references to approach a problem in economics or science.

For Atouts+, multidisciplinarity is not merely a juxtaposition of subjects, but a training method to use several disciplines to solve a problem. This is the key to tackling today's pressing challenges, such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and the transformation of work.

Atouts+ offers courses common to all three programs and disciplines specific to each program. It is in this sense that the curricula are multidisciplinary. For example:

  • for the "21st Century Humanities" track: classes in mathematics, computer science and science
  • for the "Mathematics, Computer Science and Science" and "Economics and Social Sciences" tracks: classes in literature, philosophy and history

Environmental and Sustainability studies

As young people look towards their future, the planetary crisis is at the heart of their concern: climate change, environmental degradation and pollution must be addressed.

Students at Atouts+ approach environmental issues frequently and from different angles: handling data in relevant subjects (history, geography, geopolitics, mathematical modelling, forecasting) and tackling normative questions (how to engage? how to adapt? how to ensure that the most disadvantaged are not the first to be affected?)

Key learning elements

The courses offered by Atouts+ are based on the key learning elements which guide the educational strategies of the best French and foreign institutions:

  • the study methods of preparatory classes in France (depth of knowledge, comprehensive nature of learning, speed of execution, rigour and ability to apply what has been learned)
  • the incorporation of contemporary research, as modelled by the teaching in French universities
  • tutorials inspired by those practised at Oxford and Cambridge University
  • carefully-designed curricula similar to those at Imperial College London and the London School of Economics
  • the organisation of core curriculum akin to those found at Harvard University and Yale University
  • the constant renewal of fundamental knowledge inspired by the humanist tradition guiding Italian institutions

Each of these elements has built the reputation of the institutions concerned. Atouts+ has carefully and coherently integrated each element in its pedagogical approach.

How do we teach students?

What kind of mind do we want to train for today and tomorrow's world?