Teaching Honors Courses: Perceptions of Engagement from the Faculty Perspective

Abstract

<jats:p> Research suggests that honors students are more likely to be engaged in some, but not all, aspects of the college experience, although there is less information available from the faculty perspective. This study presents findings from the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), comparing various engagement-related practices between faculty who teach honors courses and those who do not. Along with core FSSE items, this study uses responses from 1,487 faculty members at 15 institutions on two items about teaching honors courses. A series of ordinary least squares regression analyses suggest that faculty who teach honors courses are more likely to encourage engagement in the areas of student–faculty interaction, learning strategies, and collaborative learning, even after controlling for other demographic and institutional variables. These findings are considered within the context of existing research and theory, connecting knowledge from higher education and gifted education. </jats:p>

Reconsidering Achievement Goal Orientation for Undergraduate Honors Students

“…Miller and Dumford (2018) found evidence that honors students were more likely to engage in the use of learning strategies, collaborative learning, and student–faculty interaction when compared to their general education counterparts. Likewise, honors faculty was more likely to encourage collaborative learning, use of learning strategies, and student–faculty interaction (Miller et al, 2021). Students in honors programs were also found to be higher on subjective well-being compared with their non-honors peers (Plominski & Burns, 2018), and have reported that participation in honors brought about rewarding interpersonal experiences with other honors students (Mammadov et al, 2018; Perrone et al, 2010).…”

Learning Transdisciplinary Collaboration: Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Successes and Areas for Improvement in Transdisciplinary, Problem-Focused Honors Seminar Courses

“…Both honors programs and honors colleges provide a unique context in which to combine CBE and transdisciplinary approaches because they historically serve as an academic testing environment for innovative pedagogical practices (Sederberg, 2008; Miller et al, 2021). Honors programs, in general, typically provide connections for students to engage in enriching educational experiences (Furtwengler, 2015) in an advanced academic environment that promotes considerable rigor.…”

Honors College Faculty Support for High-Impact Practice Participation

“…Framing service learning as a pedagogy of engagement, Stewart (2012), using pretesting and posttesting, found that honors students who participated in a service-learning program improved their sense of community connectedness, civic attitudes, and civic efficacy. More recently, research from Miller and colleagues (2021) found that faculty who teach honors courses were more likely to encourage engagement in the areas of student–faculty interaction, learning strategies, and collaborative learning, compared to their faculty peers who did not teach honors courses, yet there were no discernable differences in other areas such as higher-order learning and quantitative reasoning. Although the role of faculty is important, there is little research on faculty support for various HIPs for honors students, although research indicates that in general, effective HIPs include faculty support (Kuh, 2008).…”