Honors Courses Instructional Criteria
Honors courses should have the following
characteristics to establish and maintain the academic rigor expected of an honors course.
1. Presentations, projects, and papers
should challenge students to demonstrate creativity. In addition, these assignments
should require students to demonstrate the ability to synthesize and critically evaluate course and other relevant materials
. Both written and oral presentations are legitimate measurements.
2. Exams should require students
to demonstrate the ability to synthesize and critically evaluate course and other relevant materials. Both written and oral
assessments are legitimate measurements.
3. Honors courses should be reading
intensive and should include reading assignments from books and journals that reflect recent scholarship in the discipline.
4. Honors courses should be writing
intensive, including writing assignments that are evaluated not only on content, but also on grammar and style.
Grade distribution
Instructors of honors courses should
not expect a normal distribution of grades, nor should they use a norm-referenced grading scale such as a bell curve.