Educational Methods Commons^™

Honors As A Changing Neighborhood, Betsy Greenleaf Yarrison

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Honors programs were conceived for traditional-age suburban middle-class majority-culture students who live on campus or nearby and do not hold full-time jobs or have family responsibilities. While the college population of this century is much more diverse and just as academically capable, first-generation students from traditionally marginalized populations see honors communities as unfamiliar, scary, and unwelcoming neighborhoods. Honors programs seek diversity but practice assimilation with exclusionary admissions policies, curricular inflexibility, and an emphasis on place-dependent community building that invites students to come into honors space rather than taking their offerings out to meet them where they are. Lack of funds …

Honors, Equity, And The Difference Principle, K. Patrick Fazioli

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

While honors programs have made notable advancements in diversity and inclusion, the issue of educational equity remains unresolved. Tensions between providing special opportunities for high-achieving students and adhering to principles of social justice continue to shape the “neighborhood of honors.” This essay seeks to address educational unfairness through Rawls’s “difference principle,” which asserts that inequalities are morally permissible only if they benefit the least advantaged in society. The author suggests that honors programs can adhere to this principle by focusing on service and support for marginalized groups within and beyond the campus community, providing opportunities for talented students from underserved …

Institutional Neighborhoods And The Stories They Tell, Joyce Olewski Inman

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council's (NCHC’s) tribute to Dr. Ada Long (1945–2024), this response to “Honors as Neighborhood” (1995) encourages scholars and practitioners to (re)consider the problems with conceptualizing honors programs as neighborhoods given the systemic inequalities associated with both. Drawing from experience at an R1 regional institution in the South, the author outlines the institutional histories of programming in both basic writing and honors to elucidate the systemic racism leading to the creation of these programs and illuminate the stories these programs tell about the deep stratification evident on college campuses across the nation.

From Individuals To Neighbors: Growth Through Embracing Positionality, Joy L. Hart, Andrea Radasanu, Rebecca C. Bott-Kutson, Jonathan D. Kotinek

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Drawing inspiration from Dr. Ada Long’s (1995) presidential address, the authors describe an experience that facilitates neighborhood-building among honors educators and students across the nation as well as a neighborhood approach to understanding social problems. Focusing on food justice in the first year of the Justice Challenge, honors students learn about community needs, develop leadership and partnership skills, and collaborate with community members through an array of opportunities. Throughout the academic year, individual positionality shifts through deeper engagement with multiple viewpoints and facilitates new approaches for collaboration toward effectively addressing thorny problems. Cultivation of such connections is central in revitalizing …

International Honors Neighbors, Mimi Killinger, Abigail Arnold, Abby Bouchard, Katharine Poulin, Gabriella Shetreet, Kailee Soucia

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

cohort of five students and one faculty member share ways in which their Bulgarian study abroad experience (2024) built upon an existing international partnership and, in so doing, aligned with the tenets of, and goals for, “neighborhoods” as described by Dr. Ada Long (1945–2024). The authors describe lessons learned through the unique pedagogy and practices of NCHC’s City as Text^®, suggesting that honors may be especially well suited for neighborly international exchange. The authors describe their study abroad experiences as being effective in developing a sense of global citizenship across cultural divides and cultivating an actual sense of …

Neighbors Outside, Inside, And Beyond The Classroom: A Pioneering Honors Program In The University Of Illinois System, Katie Carlson-Eastvold, Marc Klingshirn, Elise Lobue

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The authors describe the shift from an upper-division university to a four-year school and the establishment of an honors program as a result. This essay chronicles the inaugural honors class, characterizing the pioneering aspect of its undergraduates. Reflecting on institutional history and the neighborliness of honors, authors consider the impact that living-learning community (LLC) experience and classroom spaces have on both the individual and the collective. Authors discuss the utility of student codes of conduct, agreed-upon guidelines for class discussions, and student input on course design and delivery. Across the spectrum of undergraduate experiences—from those during the first year to …

Expanding Our Honors Neighborhood: Teaching In And About Jails And Prisons, Victoria M. Bryan, Owen Cantrell

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Dr. Ada Long (1945–2024) advocated for equal access to quality education. Authors suggest that her reflections on neighborhoods, community, and intentional inclusion were not one-off musings but rather indicative of how she saw her responsibility as an educator. Drawing on Long’s establishment of a lecture series that brought faculty into a local Alabama prison to share research with incarerated students, this essay presents firsthand experiences teaching honors courses in prison, particularly those offered at Walker State Prison as part of Georgia State University’s Prison Education Project (2016–2023). While honors colleges often build programs to be as community-centric as possible, authors …

Good Neighbors, James Ford

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In response to Dr. Ada Long’s 1995 NCHC Presidential Address “Honors as Neighborhood,” the author argues that making honors an open neighborhood is a worthy goal that requires significant work. Programs emphasizing student and faculty reflection, diverse voices, purpose, and the wholeness of human beings increase a sense of belonging in honors. Long’s presence, words, and ideas continue to inspire the work of others.

Building, Dwelling, And Thinking With Ada Long, Lisa L. Coleman

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In response to Dr. Ada Long’s (1945–2024) insistence that political conversation is key to teaching and service, both of which inform each other, the author contemplates the personal impact and evolving cultural import of Martin Heidegger. Using Heidegger’s “Building Dwelling Thinking” (1971) as touchstone, the author reflects on the conception of humans as “near dwellers,” or neighbors who “build” because they “dwell,” and considers the weight this idea carried as a graduate student and again as an instructor of Advanced Composition. The author describes a teaching methodology that used Heidegger’s essay as a lens through which students might view, read, …

Dispatch From Ada Long’S Honors Neighborhood, Michael E. Sloane

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Dr. Ada Long (1945–2024) launched the honors program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the fall of 1983 and directed it until her retirement in 2004. This essay examines how the defining characteristics of neighborhoods she discusses in her 1995 NCHC Presidential Address were embedded in her honors program. As a close colleague and teacher in Long’s interdisciplinary arts and sciences program, the author considers how the characteristics of diversity, sense of personal affiliation and belonging, and culture of caring were woven into the fabric of the program she founded and developed. As Ada’s successor, the author …

Actualizing The Et Al.: Twenty Years Of Editor’S Introductions, Emily Walshe

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The complete process of writing, conceived as the production of a cogent piece, is rarely a solitary pursuit. This essay celebrates Dr. Ada Long’s contributions as editor-in-chief of NCHC journals for over two decades. Using content and bibliometric analyses, the author provides insights on Long’s use of language and rhetorical purpose; her fostering of collaborative, multidisciplinary scholarship; and unwavering commitment to developing and maintaining strong editorial boards. Term map and visualizations are included.

“The Direful Spectacle Of The Wrack”: Teaching Against Colonialism Through Shipwrecks And Shakespeare, Sara A. Rich

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

It has become increasingly apparent that anti-colonial and anti-racist pedagogies are necessary in higher education classrooms, and honors education as an experimental zone is an ideal place to test ideas that can be taken into the wider university community. Honors professors epitomize the teacher-scholar model, and this paper presents a six-year trajectory of anti-colonial pedagogy coupled with original interdisciplinary research in the social sciences, arts, and humanities. Bringing canonical Shakespeare into conversation with historical shipwrecks and their aftermath, students learn how The Tempest was written at a pivotal point in history, coincidentally situated in the same year as the earliest …

Marginalized First-Time Honors Students Explain The Impact Of Tracking Labels, Trina Sotirakopulos

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Many of the variables that determine college admission are beyond a student’s control, including the academic track they were assigned as early as primary school, a practice often referred to as “ability grouping” or constructing “skills-homogeneous” classes. Even in higher education, students feel the effects of unequal sorting and sifting from tracking. The purpose of this study was to learn from marginalized community college students placed in low- and middle-track courses in high school how taking honors courses for the first time shaped their perceptions of their identities. Data were gathered from a single cohort at a midwestern community college …

Equity And Inclusion In Honors: A Case Study Of Admissions Changes, Trevor Zink, Andrew Dilts

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Creative levers for change often emerge in times of institutional uncertainty. As higher education continues to confront institutional racism, honors programs can exercise their power to increase diversity and educational outcomes for excluded and marginalized students, as well as influence related university-level policy. This case study chronicles dramatic changes to admissions policies and programmatic offerings in honors between 2020–2023. Changes in admissions practices markedly diversified the student body, moving it from a 60% white population to 60% minority population in just three years. Conversations around race and racism were initiated, inculcating a culture of inclusion rather than elitist exceptionalism. As …

About The Authors [Jnchc (2024) 25(1)]

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

About the authors from the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (2024) volume 25, number 1, pages 185-189.

Dedication To Suketu P. Bhazar, Linda Frost

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Dedication to Suketu P. Bhazar, a fellow of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), member of the NCHC Board of Directors (2013–2016), and NCHC President (2021).

Guest Editor's Introduction, Linda Frost

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Guest Editor Linda Frost's introduction to the spring/summer 2024 issue of the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, volume 25, issue 1.

Building A Pipeline For Transfer And Scholarship Through (Virtual) Honors Research Partnerships, Lauri B. Cockfield

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Excerpt:

At the start of the 2020 academic year, I was approached by the president of the Barry Goldwater Foundation, who invited the Perimeter Honors College to participate in a new initiative they were undertaking with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to identify excellent candidates for the Goldwater scholarship from groups underrepresented in STEM. We were already establishing a framework in research that included appointment of a new Research and Scholarship Coordinator in the honors college, a campus-based research showcase, and a new research partnership with an interdisciplinary bachelor’s program. Because one of the goals of these structural changes …

Reaction To Intention: Developing Hybrid Honors Courses In The Wake Of The Pandemic, Megan Woller

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Applying lessons learned throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, this chapter considers the shift from the necessary but reactionary adjustment to a virtual learning environment toward an intentional use of online learning in honors courses. Specifically, this chapter draws on my own experience teaching an honors course entitled “Issues in Music History: Music and Gender.” This course was developed in December of 2019 as a face-to-face class for non-major honors students with a focus on discussion, writing, and teamwork via a final project.

For Here Or To Go? (Re)Packaging The Takeaway, Randi Polk

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

In this chapter, I intend to walk readers through my thought process for creating a virtual study abroad course and show how it was informed by lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as current pedagogical trends. I will then discuss the implementation, including what worked and what did not go as planned. Finally, I will show how this course culminated in a student-led conference presentation and how this topic has shaped future thinking for Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) honors regarding global learning opportunities.

Re-Reading Local Spaces: City As Text Tm Goes Virtual, Sara E. Quay, Season Ellison, Leslie Heaphy, Amaris Ketcham, Toni Lefton, Andrew Martino

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This chapter provides honors program faculty and directors with detailed strategies for running a City as Text^TM (CAT) experience in a hybrid or virtual format. It documents specific ways the traditional CAT institute principles were adapted to a virtual space, including changes made to the institute format, destinations, collaborations, and assignments. A new emphasis on multimedia platforms, central to the virtual institute, are discussed. Finally, a summary of what the facilitators learned in the process of shifting a fundamentally in-person experience to online is shared.

Navigating Without Knowing, Elizabeth M. Hodge, Bhibha M. Das, Tim Christensen, Teal Darkenwald, Gerald Weckesser, Wayne Godwin

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This chapter examines the process and outcomes of how honors college faculty at a southeastern university shifted their introductory freshmen seminar from a traditional face-to-face format to an online one. These shifts included using technological resources, innovative pedagogy, and social media to foster a sense of community within the honors college. The chapter provides several examples grounded in Chickering and Gamson’s “seven principles of good practice,” which readers can utilize to improve teaching and learning. An overview of the course design using Canvas as the learning management system along with pedagogical examples grounded in the nationally recognized Quality Matters standards …

Journal Of The National Collegiate Honors Council (Spring/Summer 2024) 25(1): Whole Issue

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (spring/summer 2024), volume 25, issue1.

Forum on Honors as Neighborhood

Contents

Dedication to Suketu P. Bhazar

Guest Editor’s Introduction, Linda Frost

Honors as Neighborhood, Ada Long

Honors as a Changing Neighborhood, Betsy Greenleaf Yarrison

Honors, Equity, and the Difference Principle, Patrick Fazioli

Institutional Neighborhoods and the Stories They Tell, Joyce Olewski Inman

From Individuals to Neighbors: Growth through Embracing Positionality, Joy L. Hart, Andrea Radasanu, Timothy Nichols, Rebecca C. Bott-Knutson, and Jonathan Kotinek

International Honors Neighbors, Mimi Killinger, Abigail Arnold, Abby Bouchard, Katharine Poulin, Gabriella Shetreet, and Kailee Soucia

Neighbors Outside, Inside, and …

Through The Looking Glass: Honors In Virtual Reality, Betsy Greenleaf Yarrison

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Within the context of the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the author discusses the potential role of virtual reality technologies in honors programs in instiitutions of higher education.

Reimagining Honors Curriculum: Delivered Through Technology Utilizing Our Alumni Community, Mollie Hartup, Amy Cossentino, Lexi Rager

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This chapter describes our thought process and the practical steps we took as we created a new course. It also provides student, faculty/ staff, and alumni perspectives on our triumphs and tribulations throughout the year. We hope that by sharing the early results of our efforts, other honors colleges or programs also looking to reimagine their first-year experience will benefit from the lessons we have learned.

Exploring Incoming Honors Students’ Beliefs About Online Courses, Kristy Spear, Pavlo D. Antonenko

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This essay highlights the findings of a 2018 longitudinal mixedmethod explanatory sequential design study conducted at a large research institution with this purpose in mind. The study explored incoming honors students’ beliefs about online courses and how beliefs changed after the first semester of college coursework. Beliefs about online courses were deconstructed using the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer 88), a questionnaire aligned with this theory (Arbaugh, Cleveland-Innes, Diaz, Garrison, Ice, Richardson, and Swan 135), and semi-structured interviews. The findings, highlighted in this essay, provide valuable insight into design and instructional strategies that support online learning and …

Online Faculty Professional Development And Community As Nexus, John Zubizarreta, Beata M. Jones, Marca V. C. Wolfensberger

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Our goal is to share ideas and experiences related to the design of dynamic, interactive professional development opportunities that focus on learning skills for managing remote or online teaching but more importantly that create a relationship-rich sense of community. Our Honors International Faculty Learning Online (HIFLO) model is a successful example in honors, but it offers reasonably adaptable strategies that can be used in future virtual professional development ventures inside or outside of honors. No matter what other topics may be addressed in later Honors International Faculty Institute (HIFI) or HIFLO seminars, the essential principle of community will always be …

International Virtual Exchange During And Beyond The Pandemic, Ian Mcintosh

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

The first goal of this chapter is to describe the virtual class. The second is to demonstrate just how easy such exchanges are when using technology such as the CN (Course Networking), which is like Facebook for academia. This software, plus the use of What’s App for free mobile calling, allowed students from both countries to get to know one another and explore course topics well beyond what can be delivered in a classroom setting. Finally, I will share information on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and some of the impressive discoveries made by the students in their respective …

Online Education, Honors, And The Engaged University: Modeling Experiential Learning For Fully Online Students At Fort Hays State University, Kevin S. Amidon, Gregory Atkins

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This essay outlines the principles upon which the Fort Hays State University Honors Online initiative will be based and proposes ways of achieving successful honors outcomes in student-centered ways that are appropriate and meaningful to both on-campus and online cohorts. We propose a structure guided by a Community of Inquiry (COI) framework that respects and reflects the social, cognitive, and academic needs of diverse students as individuals and groups. This results in a concentric curricular model in which the student’s academic major field provides a broad, encompassing space for inner fields of co-curricular experiential learning and service. Honors staff work …

Cultivating Delight, Crossing Divides, And Solving Impossible Problems: Lessons Learned From A Year Of Virtual Conferences, Jon Blandford, Kathy J. Cooke, Erik Liddell, Kathryn M. Macdonald, Tara M. Tuttle

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This chapter highlights some of the lessons learned from a year of virtual conferences held by three different honors organizations, the Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC), the Northeast Regional Honors Council (NRHC), and the Kentucky Honors Roundtable (KHR) during the COVID-19 pandemic.