Phil
July 18th, 2007, 03:11 PM
Here are the "Major Characteristics of Honors Courses" & "Rewards Offered to the Faculty" as defined by Rosalie Otero at the University of New Mexico. (source (http://www.unm.edu/~honors/faculty/majorcharac.htm))
Major Characteristics of Honors Courses
1. Restricted Enrollment. Students who participate in Honors classes have met specific criteria. They must have achieved a 1250 composite SAT score, a 29 ACT score, or a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average in high school. In addition, they are generally in the top 10% of their graduating high school class and have distinguished themselves through their academic and co-curricular work.
2. Limited class size. The classes are limited to 16 students—17 or 18 under exceptional circumstances.
3. Student participation. While the format of the class is left to the discretion of the instructor, Honors classes typically involve much more student discussion and student-faculty interaction. The model, to some extent, is to approximate a graduate seminar for undergraduates. Students should be encouraged to “discover” knowledge through discussion, critical reading, writing, laboratory experience, and research.
4. Communication. Oral and written expression should be a major part of the Honors experience. We thus suggest that students be encouraged to collect their ideas, have good justification for what they are going to say, and then be given every opportunity to communicate those ideas. These can take the form of lively class exchanges, journals, papers, laboratory reports, and a variety of other techniques that teach organization and presentation skills.
5. Enrichment rather than extra work. Honors classes in high school often have the reputation of simply “piling on the work” rather than attempting anything creative or enriching. While more motivated students, such as one finds in an Honors class, ca absorb material a little more readily, Honors classes should never be viewed as punitive—that is, involving substantial extra work when compared with a regular class or having a much more rigorous grade expectation. The emphasis in these classes should be on exploring the subject matter a little more thoroughly, and on dealing with the course material in a way that smaller numbers permit. The goal of an Honors education is greater breadth, more enrichment, and a somewhat faster-paced presentation.
6. Realistic grading. Honors students have met compared with the student body as whole, unusually high criteria for participating in the Program. Thus imposing a normal grade distribution curve makes little sense. Similarly, participating students are not in competition with each other, but rather grades should be assigned based on the instructor’s perception of content and skills mastery. Honors students may receive A, CR, or NC and a written qualitative and quantitative evaluation.
7. Involvement. Often, the enrichment mentioned previously relies on engaging the students more thoroughly in the course material. Besides the high degree of student participation mentioned above, this may include field experiences, exposure to sophisticated research equipment, or more “hands-on instruction.” We want to convey to the Honors student the excitement that first motivated each of the faculty to involve themselves in their discipline. We also want to draw the student as far as possible into the general field of study that is being pursued in the class.
8. Interaction. The small class format permits instructors to get to know the students better and to interact with them more closely. The nature of the interaction is left to the discretion of the instructor. Typically, however, Honors students have a closer relationship with their Honors instructors than with other professors, and look to them as role models, for above average amounts of evaluation, for more consultation, for a greater amount of insight into the professor’s research interests, and ultimately for enough interpersonal involvement so that letters of recommendation to graduate or professional school might ultimately be solicited from that professor.
9. Interdisciplinary work. To many of us, education has become too fragmented and too compartmentalized. Honors implicitly encourages drawing on a wide range of disciplines while presenting material within the professors own area of competency. Explicitly, Honors is a primary vehicle on campus for inaugurating courses that cross disciplinary lines for the purpose of giving students a broad and integrated perspective on human knowledge.
10. Instruction by regular, tenure track faculty with track records of successful classroom instruction. The objective is of course to put our more motivated student/scholar into close contact with our better instructor/scholars. Generally speaking, Honors classes should not be instructed by graduate teaching assistants.
The Rewards Offered to the Faculty
1. Classroom ambience. Virtually all of the rewards for teaching in Honors are intrinsic. The chance to teach small classes of highly inquisitive, unusually well-prepared, generally responsible and typically motivated students is one of the most gratifying experiences in college teaching.
2. Innovation. Honors offers the chance for truly creative teaching. Professors are encouraged to innovate in Honors classes, to try techniques that they may have considered, but have never, because of class size or the quality of students, had a chance to implement.
3. Honors Program recognition. The Honors Program will be implementing an annual “Honors Professor of the Year” award. The instructor’s name will be inscribed on a permanent plaque that will be maintained in the Honors office, and the instructor will be recognized at our annual awards ceremony.
Major Characteristics of Honors Courses
1. Restricted Enrollment. Students who participate in Honors classes have met specific criteria. They must have achieved a 1250 composite SAT score, a 29 ACT score, or a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average in high school. In addition, they are generally in the top 10% of their graduating high school class and have distinguished themselves through their academic and co-curricular work.
2. Limited class size. The classes are limited to 16 students—17 or 18 under exceptional circumstances.
3. Student participation. While the format of the class is left to the discretion of the instructor, Honors classes typically involve much more student discussion and student-faculty interaction. The model, to some extent, is to approximate a graduate seminar for undergraduates. Students should be encouraged to “discover” knowledge through discussion, critical reading, writing, laboratory experience, and research.
4. Communication. Oral and written expression should be a major part of the Honors experience. We thus suggest that students be encouraged to collect their ideas, have good justification for what they are going to say, and then be given every opportunity to communicate those ideas. These can take the form of lively class exchanges, journals, papers, laboratory reports, and a variety of other techniques that teach organization and presentation skills.
5. Enrichment rather than extra work. Honors classes in high school often have the reputation of simply “piling on the work” rather than attempting anything creative or enriching. While more motivated students, such as one finds in an Honors class, ca absorb material a little more readily, Honors classes should never be viewed as punitive—that is, involving substantial extra work when compared with a regular class or having a much more rigorous grade expectation. The emphasis in these classes should be on exploring the subject matter a little more thoroughly, and on dealing with the course material in a way that smaller numbers permit. The goal of an Honors education is greater breadth, more enrichment, and a somewhat faster-paced presentation.
6. Realistic grading. Honors students have met compared with the student body as whole, unusually high criteria for participating in the Program. Thus imposing a normal grade distribution curve makes little sense. Similarly, participating students are not in competition with each other, but rather grades should be assigned based on the instructor’s perception of content and skills mastery. Honors students may receive A, CR, or NC and a written qualitative and quantitative evaluation.
7. Involvement. Often, the enrichment mentioned previously relies on engaging the students more thoroughly in the course material. Besides the high degree of student participation mentioned above, this may include field experiences, exposure to sophisticated research equipment, or more “hands-on instruction.” We want to convey to the Honors student the excitement that first motivated each of the faculty to involve themselves in their discipline. We also want to draw the student as far as possible into the general field of study that is being pursued in the class.
8. Interaction. The small class format permits instructors to get to know the students better and to interact with them more closely. The nature of the interaction is left to the discretion of the instructor. Typically, however, Honors students have a closer relationship with their Honors instructors than with other professors, and look to them as role models, for above average amounts of evaluation, for more consultation, for a greater amount of insight into the professor’s research interests, and ultimately for enough interpersonal involvement so that letters of recommendation to graduate or professional school might ultimately be solicited from that professor.
9. Interdisciplinary work. To many of us, education has become too fragmented and too compartmentalized. Honors implicitly encourages drawing on a wide range of disciplines while presenting material within the professors own area of competency. Explicitly, Honors is a primary vehicle on campus for inaugurating courses that cross disciplinary lines for the purpose of giving students a broad and integrated perspective on human knowledge.
10. Instruction by regular, tenure track faculty with track records of successful classroom instruction. The objective is of course to put our more motivated student/scholar into close contact with our better instructor/scholars. Generally speaking, Honors classes should not be instructed by graduate teaching assistants.
The Rewards Offered to the Faculty
1. Classroom ambience. Virtually all of the rewards for teaching in Honors are intrinsic. The chance to teach small classes of highly inquisitive, unusually well-prepared, generally responsible and typically motivated students is one of the most gratifying experiences in college teaching.
2. Innovation. Honors offers the chance for truly creative teaching. Professors are encouraged to innovate in Honors classes, to try techniques that they may have considered, but have never, because of class size or the quality of students, had a chance to implement.
3. Honors Program recognition. The Honors Program will be implementing an annual “Honors Professor of the Year” award. The instructor’s name will be inscribed on a permanent plaque that will be maintained in the Honors office, and the instructor will be recognized at our annual awards ceremony.