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Working with honors students

Working with honors students. 2014 Fall Faculty & Staff Conference. Calvin college Honors program. Calvin college honors program. honors students: Characteristics. Based on experiences (or expectations) identify some characteristics of high-achieving/honors students Beneficial/Adaptive

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Working with honors students

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  1. Working with honors students 2014 Fall Faculty & Staff Conference

  2. Calvin college Honors program

  3. Calvin college honors program

  4. honors students: Characteristics Based on experiences (or expectations) identify some characteristics of high-achieving/honors students • Beneficial/Adaptive • Maladaptive • “Our day-to-day interactions with our honors students require that we remain sensitive to their individuality; at the same time we can look to collective data to give us some sense of any underlying common elements and influences.” (Clark 2002)

  5. honors students: Characteristics • From the literature: • A Review of the Research on Personality Characteristics of Academically Talented College Students • Clark, L. • “Teaching and Learning in Honors”, NCHC Monograph Series, 2002, 7-20. • Characteristics of the college honors student • Mathiasen, R. E. • Journal of College Student Personnel, 26(2), Mar 1985, 171-173. • Trends Among Honors College Students: An Analysis by Year in School • Rinn, A. N. • Journal of Advanced Academics, 16(4), August 2005,157-167.

  6. Academic Characteristics • Strong study habits… effective in high school academic environment • Treat challenges as adventures, not threats • Large number of interests – overwhelming possibilities? • Motivated by: • Achievement – limited experience with failure/being wrong • Grades • Competition • Approval (praise/acceptance) Confidence reinforced by obtaining superior grades, approval

  7. Cognitive Style CharacteristicsMyers-Briggs type indicator • Intuitive (more than sensing) • Perception of possibilities, meanings, and relationships by way of insight • Abstract thinking • “Conceptually-set” – see facts as smaller elements in a large scheme; prefer to learn principles, theories and relationships • Introverted • Preference for engagement in abstract, reflective, conceptual, and integrative thought • Higher autonomy, lower affiliation

  8. Personality Characteristics • Many positive characteristics • Persistence, intellectual energy, originality, ambition • Ability-drive-creativity combination Set on the right task, students can run with a project and take it to interesting new places.

  9. Personality CharacteristicsSome Challenges • From the Literature • Perfectionism, Stress, Social (Dis)Connection: A Short-Term Study ofHopelessness, Depression, and Academic Adjustment Among Honors Students • Rice, K.G., Leever, B. A., Christopher, J., Porter, J. D. • Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(4), Oct 2006, 524-534. • Perfectionism • Adaptive – high performance expectations • Maladaptive – self-critical, discrepancy, social disconnection, greater stress • Associated with feelings of academic inferiority, depression, and hopelessness • Partially mitigated by social connection Maladaptive perfectionism, hassles, coping, and psychological distress in university professors. Dunn, J. C, et. al.; J Counsel Psych, 53(4), Oct 2006, 511-523.

  10. Honors program/courses/Projects“double demand” • Honors education needs to provide challenge and support • “it may be important to nurture the high performance expectations of honors students while simultaneously lowering the self-critical views they may possess” (Rice 2006) • “Students rise to challenges when they believe the community values them, will not let them founder, and offers them the help they need to succeed.” (West, NCHC2002 Monograph Series)

  11. supervising honors contract Projects and Honors theses

  12. Honors program – Proposed Revisionshelping students and faculty get the most out of an honors experience • Clearly Defining Program “Pillars” and Corresponding SLOs Rationale: • Honors courses, contracts and theses aligned with SLOs • Means of assessing success of program • Opportunities for assessment-based program improvements • Consistent/clear messaging to prospective students • Potential “Pillars” • Independent Research • Community Engagement (disciplinary and broader communities) • Effective Communication/Shared Learning

  13. Honors program – Proposed Revisionshelping students and faculty get the most out of an honors experience • Moving from a Course-Based System to a Credit-Based System Rationale: • More options for earning honors credit (especially at the upper level); relieve stress on honors contract system • Resolve inconsistencies (courses “count” regardless of number of credits) • Enhanced community among honors students • More opportunities to share gained knowledge and skills with campus community • Potential New Honors Credit Opportunities • Interdisciplinary Interim Courses • Honors Thesis Discussion Group and/or Seminar Series • Conference Attendance (off-campus disciplinary or on-campus)

  14. Honors program – Proposed Revisionshelping students and faculty get the most out of an honors experience • Comments or Ideas? • Questions?

  15. resources • Honors in Practice – available online through Hekman • Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council– available online through Hekman • NCHC Monograph Series – available through Univ. of Nebraska Digital Commons • http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchcmono/

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