Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Learning From The Land: Creating Authentic Experience-Based Learning That Fosters Sustained Civic Engagement, Ted Martinez, Kevin Gustafson

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Grand Canyon Semester (GCS) presents an excellent test case for exploring the success of Honors Semesters in meeting the goals articulated in this contribution to the NCHC Monograph Series: the transferability of skills and the interrelation of integrated learning, experiential education, and civic engagement. GCS began in 1978 as a partnership of Northern Arizona University (NAU), Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP), and the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) that would offer a place-based, experiential, immersive Honors Semester program. Students came from across the country to live onsite at Grand Canyon and NAU and to take interdisciplinary courses taught by NAU …

Engaging With The World: Integrating Reflections And Agency, Will Daniel

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

And you may find yourself in another part of the world . . . And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?” —Talking Heads,1980

I have been wrestling with that question since I was first asked how a National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) Honors Semester led me into public high school education and how I use that Semester’s experience in my life and work. When I first participated in the NCHC United Nations Semester in the fall of 1984, I did not imagine myself anywhere near a public school classroom. I was focused on changing the world …

Lost In Learning: Mapping The Position Of Teacher In The Classroom And Beyond, Susan M. Cannata, Jesse Peters, Alix Dowling Fink, Edward L. Kinman, Joellen Pederson, Phillip L. Poplin, Jessi B. Znosko

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Over the last thirty years or so, conversations about teaching pedagogy have consistently focused on the benefits of experiential learning and interdisciplinary connections. In order for students to learn in an optimal way, to develop their critical thinking skills while simultaneously mastering content, they must engage with multiple ways of seeing and knowing. They should learn to acknowledge complexity, to evaluate information, and to challenge their own positionality and self-assuredness. Put succinctly, they must become comfortable with being uncomfortable. These practices provide students with the skills they need to be successful in whatever paths they choose: adaptability, creativity, innovation, the …

Reflections On The 1978 United Nations Semester, Dawn Schock

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Over forty years have passed since I attended the National Collegiate Honors Council’s 1978 United Nations Semester (UNS) in New York. I have since served as a resident director of the 1980 UNS, practiced law, and taught as an adjunct law professor. Since 2008, I have spent half of my professional time consulting on international rule of law development projects. I have worked with teams of legal professionals to support the constitutional transition in Tunisia; trained law students and lawyers in the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East and North Africa region; and evaluated the impact of …

Connecting To Place: A City As Text™ Assignment Sequence, Sara Quay

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Educators need to ‘begin again,’ to put aside old assumptions and look at themselves and their world with new eyes. They need to achieve the freedom to redefine civic opportunities and responsibilities. City as Text provides a preparation, format, and philosophy for accomplishing this exciting and formidable task. —Gladys Palma de Schrynemakers, 2014

If, as Gladys Palma de Schrynemakers asserts, City as Text™ (CAT) has the power to “redefine civic opportunities and responsibilities” (99), then the heart of that work lies in CAT pedagogy’s carefully crafted link between site-specific observations and written reflections. Schrynemakers goes on to claim that civic …

Committee As Text, Mimi Killinger

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

I mistakenly joined the Place as Text (PAT) Committee in 2017. Perusing a list of prospective standing committees to join on the NCHC website, I had clicked on “Semesters Committee” (now “Place as Text”), having seen NCHC flyers advertising their adventurous institutes, which sounded fascinating though I had never attended one myself. Shortly thereafter I received an invitation to the committee’s June working meeting in Brooklyn that likewise sounded promising. Had I been well versed in the City as Text™ (CAT) pedagogy that undergirds PAT, I might have then done some reading, finding out more about the group and perhaps …

The Merits Of Applied Learning, Michael Rossi

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

In the fall semester of my senior year in 1998, twenty-two years before the time of this writing, I participated in the National Collegiate Honors Council’s Honors Semester in Thessaloniki, Greece. I still remember this experience as vividly as if it were yesterday: a four-month long study at Aristotle University in which half our time was spent walking through Thessaloniki’s medieval streets and modern boulevards; interacting with the people on a daily basis in the limited (but workable) Greek we knew; and making a number of weekend excursions—beginning on Wednesday evenings for us—to surrounding areas: Athens, Pelion, the beaches of …

Acts Of Interpretation: Pedagogies Of Inquiry, Bernice Braid

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

[T]he world is not given, it is not simply ‘there.’ We constitute it by acts of interpretation. —Jonathan Z. Smith, 1988

In Nadine Gordimer’s 1970 novel A Guest of Honour, the central white figure, diplomat James Bray, is asked by a newly installed Black president to shift from the diplomatic sphere to organize educational structures for a newly minted Black national constituency. Intelligent, sensitive, and empathetic, Bray considers his own sophisticated background in the context of this semi-literate Southern African country and thinks: “What was needed was perhaps someone with a knowledge of the basic techniques of learning. Someone …

Transforming Community-Based Learning Through City As Text™, Jean-Paul Benowitz

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Honors students at Elizabethtown College have used City as Text™ (CAT) strategies to address the racism they experienced in new student orientation programming, to transform volunteerism opportunities into sustained civic engagement experiences, to prepare for study abroad and study away, and to strengthen their applications for prestigious scholarships and fellowships. Their research projects have enabled them to publish scholarship informing federal, state, and local historic preservation public works projects; to improve town and gown relationships; and to partner with local stakeholders in community economic development initiatives. Drawing on City as Text pedagogy, they have introduced new courses and academic programs …

Doubling Back On The City As Text™ Walkabout, Gabrielle Watling

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

I had been hearing about City as Text™ (CAT) for some time from my honors dean, Sara E. Quay, and from faculty members who had participated in CAT programs around the nation and internationally. So when Sara asked if I would like to participate in the Rotterdam City as Text Faculty Institute, I was prepared—in a broadly conceptual sense. Needless to say, Rotterdam was fabulous, the Institute was eye-opening, and I was converted.

Bringing that energy and set of ideas back to my own honors foundations class was a way of preparing the students to look with new eyes, not …

The Video Essay, Nicholas Vick

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The video essay is an opportunity for students to record their words and combine other visual elements to complete the typical requirements of a standard written paper. Applicable across disciplines and pedagogically aligned with an honors ethos of self-directed learning, video essays allow for individual and collaborative forms of expression while providing unique approaches to compositional assessment on an array of subjects.

The Role Of Admissions Practices In Diversifying Honors Populations: A Case Study, Andrea Radasanu, Gregory Barker

Honors in Practice Online Archive

While there is scant evidence that standardized test results (SAT/ACT) predict college success, these scores can act as barriers to college admissions and honors programs, particularly for students in underserved communities. This study examines the impact of transitioning from an honors admission framework—in which standardized tests are a key variable in the process—to a test-blind environment with holistic admissions protocols that identify students who are academically strong as well as engaged in extracurricular activities. Parallel (test-dependent and test-blind) admissions protocols were used in 2020–2021 applications to determine if a test-blind environment fostered greater inclusivity and diversity in the first-year honors …

Health And Wellness: An Honors First-Year Experience Assignment In Response To The Pandemic, Cathlena Martin

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Responding to pervasive mental and physical stresses of the COVID-19 crisis, the author assigns first-year students various routine wellness practices for one hour each week along with requisite reflective writing exercises. Student expectations, experiences, and outcomes are presented.

Fostering Community In The Face Of Covid: Case Studies From Two Community College Honors Programs, Anne Dotter, Kathleen King

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This article features the work of two community college honors programs toward establishing and fostering community amid the COVID-19 crisis. Authors describe shared goals and priorities for their students during abrupt and extended shutdowns of both campuses. While working in tandem to ensure that their students felt cared for and contented, each program achieved the same goal in different ways, leading to long-lasting changes to be preserved after the pandemic.

Founders Award Acceptance Speech (18 December 2020), Jeffrey Portnoy

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Jeffrey A. Portnoy offers some history of the journals and monographs published by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) as well as insights into the work done by NCHC’s Publications Board and its editors. He provides several morals or lessons based on his leadership roles and long career in honors education.

(What follows is a slightly revised version of the address that Jeffrey A. Portnoy delivered on December 18, 2020, at the Zoom Awards Ceremony during the COVID pandemic. Portnoy received the Founders Award in recognition of his inauguration and editorship of NCHC publications during the past two decades.)

From Program To College: The Vision And Curriculum Evolution Of The Virginia Tech Honors College, Stephanie N. Lewis, Anne-Lise K. Velez, Desen S. Ozkan, Raymond C. Thomas, Kimberly A. Carlson

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This article describes one program’s thoughtful and strategic transition to a college and subsequent innovations to its curricular framework. Acknowledging that such a change affords honors practitioners the opportunity to implement best practices established within the honors community, authors describe the unique evolution of the honors college experience at their institution by way of expanding collaborative transdisciplinary courses, offering a new diploma option, and increasing opportunities related to undergraduate research. Collaborative transdisciplinary courses encourage critical thinking about complex problems in a small group setting. A new diploma option combines disciplinary depth with transdisciplinary capabilities through a four-year, multidisciplinary studio curriculum. …

We Found Ourselves In The Twilight Zone, Brigett Scott

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The author describes how using free internet extensions allowed for the continuation of a media-based honors course during the COVID-19 crisis.

I am a big fan of science fiction and have a bit of a crush on Rod Serling, so deciding what topic to teach in my Honors Forum course this semester was a clear choice. The Twilight Zone television series provided a wide selection of material that could be linked to the students’ diverse fields of study. The television series tackled social issues through nonthreatening disguises (okay, sometimes aliens were threatening), moral lessons, and fun. These features fitted well …

Building Bridges In Interdisciplinary Team-Taught Honors Seminars, Laurence Carlin, Heike Alberts

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This study presents perceived advantages of thematic, teamtaught interdisciplinary seminars for first-year honors students. Two student cohorts (n = 174) surveyed in two subsequent years (2018, 2019) weigh in on the challenges and benefits of different team-teaching models. Three first-semester offerings on the themes “Food,” “Creativity,” and “Social Justice” are evaluated. Results indicate that most students (70.1%) recognize the understanding of multiple perspectives to be the greatest benefit of the team-taught seminar. Other perceived benefits include the acquisition of additional information (21.3), cultivation of critical thinking (13.2), and the ability to make transdisciplinary connections (10.9). Data suggest that the degree …

Teaching Hamilton: A Team-Taught, Interdisciplinary Honors Course, Rusty Jones, Gregory Shufeldt

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This essay gives a broad overview of a team-taught course on Alexander Hamilton that merges discourses in music theory and political science. Authors describe pedagogical approaches to teaching both the musical Hamilton to non-musician students and Hamilton’s history and politics to students not majoring in these fields. Contrasting challenges and outcomes of the seminar’s first (2017) offering with its second (2020), authors consider the scope and implications of cultural intelligence and scholarly interdisciplinarity, maintaining that courses team-taught by instructors of different disciplines make connections across disciplines more explicit for students and enhance the transdisciplinary nature of the honors experience. Pre-course …

Virtual Improvement: Advising And Onboarding During A Pandemic, Lucy Morrison

Honors in Practice Online Archive

An honors practitioner describes various challenges in onboarding and training a new academic advisor during the coronavirus crisis. Virtual interaction and multitasking skills prove fruitful for training in best practices while also bringing experienced and first-year students together in unexpected ways. The author cites several improvements in advisement, observing how remote technologies also allow for certain privacies and discretion.

Tough Talks: Student-Led Programs To Facilitate Civil Discourse, Leah Horton, Doug Corbitt, Booker White

Honors in Practice Online Archive

These student-led, co-curricular programs are designed to give honors students the opportunity to learn and practice civil discourse through difficult conversations. Issues such as race, religion, politics, gender, and sexual orientation are carefully curated to help students practice and hone their dialogue skills outside the classroom where grades are not a factor. A brave spaces ideology provides the foundation for shared pools of meaning, encouraging students to move from certainty to curiosity with the shared understanding that discomfort is an opportunity for growth. By teaching students how to engage in controversy with civility, Tough Talks support an honors ethos of …

Coordinating Multi-Campus Honors Programs And Colleges, Larry Andrews

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The leadership responsibility for coordinating a multi-campus honors program or college can be complex, and it needs to succeed in an atmosphere of mutual respect and flexibility. The work can be broken down into several key components: institutional context, quality standards, curriculum, faculty selection, student mobility, communication, scholarships, budget, and governance.

About The Authors

Honors in Practice Online Archive

No abstract provided.

Free Minds Book Club: Students Reading And Responding To Incarcerated Writers' Poetry, Bonnie Gasior

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Nearly two hundred students, faculty, staff, and community members gather in a series of events to read and respond to poetry written by incarcerated authors. The program engages inmates in poetic self-expression, reflection, and personal growth while challenging honors students to consider what they have learned in literature classes in a broader context of incarceration. Monthly write-nights via Zoom and Miro prove rich and cathartic during the coronavirus crisis.

Checking-In To Create Instructor-Student Immediacy In Honors, Cadi Kadlecek, Rebecca Bott-Knutson, Hanna Holmquist

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Weekly, self-evaluative briefs are used to assess students’ general wellbeing during the coronavirus crisis. Authors discuss the efficacy of personalized check-ins and remote, interpersonal rapport, suggesting a positive impact on student learning outcomes.

Territorial Games: Honors, Outreach, And Collaboration, Andrew Martino

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This essay explores and expands the boundaries by which honors is defined and defines itself. By opening a path toward a more expansive and public perception of honors, the author argues for emphasis on the public good as a key element in honors discourse and the broader dissemination of its theories and practices. Drawing from characteristics of the public intellectual, the author encourages honors practitioners to resist hyper-professionalization and insularity in favor of more open and collaborative practices.

Discomfort And Other Factors That Influence The Effectiveness Of Graduate Student Peer Consultations, Mark W. Pleiss, Krisztina Erzsebet Dearborn

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The following study reports the findings of two surveys given to graduate teacher consultants (n = 30) and graduate student teachers (n = 59) who completed video-teacher consultations at a public, R1 university. The surveys assessed the overall effectiveness of peer consultation for both sides and identified the factors that influenced those assessments. We found that the level of comfort expressed by consultants and graduate teachers during their first consultations had the greatest impact on their perceived level of effectiveness. The time between consultants’ training and their first consultation also affected their assessments. Other factors that did and did not …

An Efficient And Coherent Pipeline For Graduate Student And Postdoctoral Scholar Educational Development, Daniel Mann, Matthew Mahavongtrakul, Ashley Hooper

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

As higher education shifts toward a culture of evidence-based teaching practices, future faculty are seeking opportunities to develop their pedagogical knowledge and skills. Many centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) have not proportionally grown in resources to meet the demand for graduate student and postdoctoral scholar programming (e.g., teaching certificates and pedagogy seminars). This article presents a model of a wide-ranging, coherent pipeline of educational development for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars managed by a CTL with modest staffing.

Focus On Outcomes: Fostering Systemic Departmental Improvements, Daniel L. Reinholz, Mary E. Pilgrim, Amelia Stone-Johnson, Karen Falkenburg, Christopher Geanious, Courtney Ngai, Joel Christopher Corbo, Sarah B. Wise

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article describes how a focus on outcomes can be a tool for guiding systemic change. By focusing on positive outcomes to be achieved, a group can guide its collective efforts toward an ideal future rather than becoming fixated on individual problems to solve. While there is support for an outcome-guided approach in the literature on individual and organizational change, this approach has not been used extensively to support department-level changes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

Implementation Plans For Course Redesigns: An Exploration Of Identified Strategies, Rebecca Campbell, Benjamin Blankenship

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Institutions are redesigning gateway courses—lower-division courses known to create student success bottlenecks—to influence persistence and completion goals. These initiatives, student success course redesigns (SSCR), are specialized versions of course design institutes (CDIs). This investigation into SSCRs uses content analysis to examine the implementation plans created during a SSCR. Results demonstrated that the majority of the strategies planned focused on the Learning key performance indicator (KPI), and the minority of the planned-for strategies focused on the Monitoring Student Performance KPI. A more granular analysis of the Learning strategies revealed five themes: Content, Assessment, Pedagogy, Syllabus, and Student Success. Additional results indicated …