Since SAT and ACT tests have been long-suspected and then shown to contain class and race biases while not accurately predicting retention, the Schedler Honors College at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) shifted to a holistic, multi-criterion selection process, de-emphasizing standardized tests, and then analyzed the outcomes. This essay…

The Honors College program prepares leaders for the 21st century to become forces for positive change through problem-solving, scholarship, service, teamwork, and leadership. Its structure involves nine sequenced courses familiarizing students with challenges facing communities. Courses are team-taught by professors in different disciplines to…

This qualitative study was conducted to explore gifted students' conceptions of their high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Participants were seven male and female college freshmen selected from the Honors College of a large research university. In-depth interviews captured students' retrospective accounts…

In this essay, the authors 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,…

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…

While the attractions and advantages of freedom that differentiates honors education from regular teaching are both theoretically and practically significant, the authors' experience at Utrecht University in the Netherlands has demonstrated drawbacks that need to be addressed and resolved in creating effective honors education. Freedom poses…

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…

Research suggests that secondary teachers across the United States are regularly turning to popular film as a way to engage students and deliver content. However, research on the use of film in secondary education has yet to focus on how students of varying abilities are able to understand and synthesize academic content when it is presented…

The primary goal of the study presented in this dissertation is to describe 11th-graders' understandings, through different representations, of: (1) the definition of function, (2) the production of a function, and (3) the interpretation of a function. In addition, this dissertation seeks to describe the relationship between 11th-graders' scores…

University honors programs emerged in the 1920s, growing to over 1,000 programs in existence today. Honors programs provide enhanced educational opportunities to students who excel academically. University honors students are experts who effectively apply metacognitive knowledge, strategies, and experiences to enhance academic behavior. Although…

This paper describes a series of laboratory exercises for upper level biology courses, independent research and/or honors programs. Students sampled fish from a local water body with the assistance of a local fish and wildlife agency. Tissue samples from collected fish were utilized to obtain estimates of the stable isotopes delta[superscript 13]C…

Research in history education has long suggested that teaching with primary source documents adds significant value to a student's learning experience, resulting in deeper levels of understanding beyond mere fact acquisition. Recent studies have specifically identified the value of using digitized primary sources. One category of primary source…

Interdisciplinary approaches do not merely satisfy an abstract longing; in post-educational life--especially in a secular, Western, post-modern culture--young people must confront complex issues that transcend any one discipline. Educational systems accordingly have a duty to offer frameworks for understanding this complexity that go beyond any…

The purpose of this study was to obtain an accurate picture of minority student enrollment in honors and advanced placement (AP) classes at Wichita (Kansas) High School East and to develop a plan of action to close the achievement gap between White and non-White students. Prior to this study there was no clear, concise data to move this discussion…

Self-reflective writing is one method of inquiring into one's inner experience of learning. But what aspects of self are honors students invited to reflect on when they are asked to write informally in their notebooks on what they've just heard or read? Are they asked to explore their "thoughts" and "feelings"?…