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Honors Around The Globe

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The National Collegiate Honors Council is an association of faculty, students, and others interested in honors education. Executive Committee: Gregory Lanier, President, University of West Florida; Rick Scott, President-Elect, University of Central Arkansas; Bonnie Irwin, Immediate Past-President, Eastern Illinois University; Jim Ruebel, Vice-President, Ball State University; Bob Spurrier, Secretary, Oklahoma State University; Gary Bell, Treasurer, Texas Tech University. Executive Director: Cynthia M. Hill, headquartered at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Board of Directors: Kyoko Amano, University of Indianapolis; Lisa Coleman, Southeastern Oklahoma State University; Barry Falk, James Madison University; Laurie Fiegel, Iowa State University; Emily Harris, Montana State University; Jerry Herron, Wayne …

Journal Of National Collegiate Honors Council Dedication

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Marca Wolfensberger has been active in honors education for the past two decades. She co-founded one of the first honors programs in the Netherlands in the early 1990s; ten years later she started connecting with individual members of the NCHC; and, after attending her first NCHC conference in Chicago in 2003, she has been a regular participant in annual honors conferences, bringing with her numerous colleagues—as many as thirty at just one conference—from the Netherlands. She has regularly published and presented on honors education both in the United States and in Europe, and this year she is an organizer of …

Editor's Introduction

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This issue of JNCHC begins by focusing with a wide-angle lens on the panorama of honors programs that stretch across the globe from Chile to China and from Qatar to Australia. The focus then shifts to a close-up shot of honors in one European country, the Netherlands, which has produced multiple programs and an abundance of research about them. This issue on “Honors Around the Globe” also provides insight into the history of honors, with its origins in the British educational system, its importation into the United States less than a century ago, and its exportation within the last couple …

Honours In Australia: Globally Recognised Preparation For A Career In Research (Or Elsewhere), Deirdre Barron, Margaret Zeegers

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In this essay we consider the unique position of honours within undergraduate programs in Australian universities and the consequent implications for constructing pathways to research. A tension arises in academic disciplines that see honours as a fourth-year skilling program focused on the workplace when, at the institutional level, honours is positioned as the prerequisite for entry to a PhD. What emerges are competing pressures for advanced vocational training and preliminary research training for doctoral research. The tension is exacerbated by the need for universities to generate research cohorts in order to attract the funding that such cohorts bring to a …

The Tutorial Education Program: An Honors Program For Brazilian Undergraduate Students, Denise De Fleith, Aderson Luiz Costa Jr., Eunice M.L Soriano De Alencar

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The Tutorial Education Program is an honors program for Brazilian undergraduates, sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Based on philosophical principles of tutorial education in which small groups of academic talented students are guided by a tutor, the program is designed to support groups of undergraduates who demonstrate outstanding performance in their academic activities. The Tutorial Education Program provides enrichment activities in order to broaden the academic development of students with exceptional potential and abilities. Our purpose in this paper is to describe this honors program for undergraduates from different states in Brazil, focusing on the underlying philosophy of the …

Honors In Chile: New Engagements In The Higher Education System, Juan Carlos Skewes, Carlos Alberto Cioce Sampaio, Frederick J. Conway

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Honors programs are rare in Latin America, and in Chile they were unknown before 2003. At the Universidad Austral de Chile, an interdisciplinary group of scholars linked to environmental studies put forward a pilot project for implementing a new experience in higher education. Challenged by an educational environment where (i) apathy and mediocrity have taken over the classrooms, (ii) monodisciplinary training rules the university campus, and (iii) authoritarian teaching persists, this has been an experiment in new ways of approaching the classroom. Stimulated by experiences in the USA, a project proposal was written, finding support in the Chilean Secretary of …

Establishing A Latin American University Honors Program: The Case Of Campus Monterrey, Tecnológico De Monterrey, Mexico, Mohammad Ayub Khan, Ruben Morales-Menendez

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The university honors program of Campus Monterrey, Tecnológico de Monterrey, evolved from the international degree program that was first offered in the spring semester of 2002. Originally six programs were offered in the School of Business and School of Engineering: • BA Business Administration • BA Financial Management • BA Finance and Accounting • BA Marketing • BA International Business • BS Industrial and Systems Engineering Once introduced, the international degree program received such a good response from the student community that, in the following semesters, the number of programs available in an international version increased from six to eleven …

Mission, Performance Indicators, And Assessment In U. S. Honors: A View From The Netherlands, Vladimir Bartelds, Lyndsay Drayer, Marca V.C. Wolfensberger

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Amission statement that identifies the goals and aims of an honors program is a key step in program development. The NCHC’s Basic Characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors Program states unequivocally that a successful honors program “has a clear mandate from the institution’s administration in the form of a mission statement or charter document that includes the objectives and responsibilities of honors and defines the place of honors in the administrative and academic structure of the institution.” According to Mrozinski, mission statements are public definitions of purpose published in a college‘s catalog, website, or other planning documents and are generally …

“Honours” In The United Kingdom: More Than A Difference Of Spelling In Honors Education, Margaret Lamb

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The first edition of Jane Walmsley’s book Brit-Think, Ameri-Think: A Transatlantic Survival Guide came out in 1986. I noticed the book because she was a familiar name, a TV broadcaster, American by birth (like me), married to a Brit (like me), and had lived in England for two decades (I was well into my first decade in England). I recognized from my own experience many of the examples (often hilarious) cited by the author.

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

CONTENTS

Call for Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Submission Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Dedication to Marca …

Setting Them Free: Students As Co-Producers Of Honors Education, Bouke Van Gorp, Marca V.C. Wolfensberger, Nelleke De Jong

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

One of the factors that differentiate honors from regular teaching at the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, is the freedom that honors students enjoy, a freedom that evokes excellence because it is focused and targeted. This targeted freedom takes three different shapes in our honors program and comes with specific challenges for both students and teachers. While the attractions and advantages of such freedom are both theoretically and practically significant, our experience has also demonstrated drawbacks that need to be addressed and resolved in creating effective honors education.

Building A Vibrant Honors Community Among Commuter Students, Stan Van Ginkel, Pierre Van Eijl, Albert Pilot, John Zubizarreta

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Research has shown that honors programs often provide active networks of students that contribute to the development of the students’ talents (De Boer & van Eijl; van Eijl, Pilot & Wolfensberger). These contact networks are also described as “learning communities” (Wilson et al.) and “honors communities” (van Eijl, Pilot & Wolfensberger). Such communities foster productive interaction among students, teachers, and other professionals during their affiliation with the program and beyond. As a result of such connections, students discover new learning opportunities and gain experience in organizational and leadership skills. In honors programs, in particular, these contacts are an essential component …

Team-Based Learning In Honors Science Education: The Benefit Of Complex Writing Assignments, Fred Wiegant, Johannas Boonstra, Anton Peeters, Karin Scager

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Cooperative learning and team-based learning have been widely recognized as beneficial strategies to improve all levels of education, including higher education. The benefits have been widely researched and are now well-established (Johnson et al.; Michaelsen, Bauman Knight, et al.; Michaelsen & Sweet; Slavin; Springer et al.). The studies have indicated a positive relationship between cooperative learning and student effort, achievement, persistence, and motivation. Just forming groups, however, does not automatically lead to better learning and motivation; cooperation flourishes only under appropriate conditions (Fink; Gillies; Parmelee et al.). This potential for cooperation and learning is maximal when groups are structured in …

Selecting For Honors Programs: A Matter Of Motivational Awareness, Ron Weerheijm, Jeske Weerheijm

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The honors programs at the Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands were almost all initiated around 2008 and thus so far have yielded few data about outcomes, but we have a broad consensus that the honors programs should provide a better-than-average professional for the workplace and should give students a chance to perform to the best of their abilities. With this shared mission, we have had an ongoing discussion during our recruitment process about what criteria to use in the selection process. In January of 2012, there was an online discussion on the NCHC listserv about the role of …

Self As Text: Adaptations Of Honors Practice In Switzerland, Michaela Ruppert Smith

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

City as Text™, the experiential learning program developed by the NCHC Honors Semesters Committee, has been adopted and adapted by hundreds if not thousands of educational institutions throughout the United States and beyond. Having served on the Honors Semesters Committee, I exported this learning strategy to Switzerland while teaching in an International Baccalaureate Program in Geneva. I adapted City as Text™ for multi-disciplinary college preparatory students in Europe, and that adaptation might now serve in turn as a model for experiential learning in honors programs and colleges in the United States and internationally. The focus and link between the City …

The Reflective Professional Honours Programme Of The Dutch Saxion Universities, Trijntje Van Dijk

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The Reflective Professional Honours Programme of the Saxion Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands centers on a profile of what graduates of the program should have accomplished in addition to their regular bachelor’s degree program. The development team for our programme first investigated what the profile should be, interviewing roughly three hundred business representatives to discover what they considered an excellent honours student profile. All the interview information was transformed into a concept profile. An Honours Council evaluated the concept, and the project team adapted it. Then the steering committee evaluated and approved it after further adaption. Finally the …

On Training Excellent Students In China And The United States, Ikuo Kitagaki, Donglin Li

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In many countries, the training of researchers who will be internationally competitive has become a primary objective, leading to extensive discussion of the curricula, educational content, and methods that may ensure a high level of student achievement. In this global climate, only the most excellent students have the potential to engage successfully in international competition and become leading-edge researchers in the world-wide marketplace of research. Thus, any country seeking to be internationally competitive must consider ways to further raise the level of excellent students.

Looping Up Professional Reflection In Honours Programmes, Trigntje Van Dijk

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Within the Saxion Universities in the Netherlands, a profile of the “Reflective Professional” comprises a number of competencies that the honours programmes are designed to develop and support. The process of developing these competencies involves three loops of learning, characterized by three sets of reflective questions so that, as a whole, they loop up professional reflection. The goal is to inspire students and their coaches to consider the phases of learning with conscious awareness and focus.

Honors In The Master’S: A New Perspective?, Stan Van Ginkel, Pierre Van Eijl, Albert Pilot, John Zubizarreta

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In Europe, there is a growing interest in honors education, not only in the bachelor’s but also in the master’s degree. The Dutch government, for instance, is actively promoting excellence in both bachelor’s and master’s degrees through honors programs (Siriusteam). Most Dutch universities have honors programs at the bachelor’s level or are developing them. Some universities have also recently introduced honors into their master’s programs, stimulated by recent publications (van Eijl, Wolfensberger & Pilot). Because honors master’s programs are a new phenomenon in higher education and are still exceptional in the United States of America, we have undertaken a research …

About The Authors

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Eunice Soriano de Alencar, PhD, is Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Brasília, Brazil. For the last forty years, she has published numerous books and articles, especially on giftedness and creativity. She is on the editorial board of several journals in Brazil and abroad and is an honorary member of the Brazilian Council for Giftedness.

Laboratories For Educational Innovation: Honors Programs In The Netherlands, Marca V.C. Wolfensberger, Pierre Van Eijl, Albert Pilot

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In Dutch universities, honors programs are a fast growing development. The first such programs started in 1993. Twenty years later a large number of programs are implemented at nearly all research universities and also at many universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Recent data have revealed significant diversity in the types and structures of honors programs, many of which have functioned as laboratories of educational innovation within university- wide curricula and had positive spin-off effects on the regular curriculum and also on the transfer of talented students from secondary into higher education. Especially in the last decade, these spin-offs …

Honors Education And Global Citizenship, Marca V.C. Wolfensberger

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

An issue of JNCHC devoted to “Honors Around the Globe” is an important opportunity to consider the role of honors in creating international awareness and understanding. Honors faculty and administrators have become increasingly active in global cross-communication through, for instance, international involvement in the NCHC and the recent conference on “Evoking Excellence in Higher Education and Beyond” in the Netherlands that attracted participants from numerous countries. As we become more familiar with honors in all its manifestation across the globe, now is a good time to consider the value we provide in preparing students to contribute to our changing world.

Qualities Honours Students Look For In Faculty And Courses, Revisited, Marca V.C. Wolfensberger, G Johan Offringa

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In the eight years since the original version of this study was published, a lot has changed in the Dutch honours landscape. Stimulated by governmental measures, many new honours programmes were—and are being— developed, not only within academic universities but now also in more than half of the universities of applied sciences (UAS) (Wolfensberger, Jong & Drayer). Honours programmes, which we define as programmes that are specifically developed to offer educational opportunities that are more challenging and demanding than regular programmes, are recognized as one of the primary means to evoke excellence in talented students. They are meant for the …

Nchc Publication Order Form

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Purchases may be made by calling (402) 472-9150, emailing nchc@unlserve.unl.edu, visiting our website , or mailing a check or money order payable to: NCHC • University of Nebraska–Lincoln • 1100 Neihardt Residence Center • 540 N. 16th Street • Lincoln, NE 68588-0627.