Information for Faculty - Course Types
Grading Philosophy
Lloyd International Honors College offers a variety of courses for Honors students in the International Honors Program and the Disciplinary Honors Program. To assure that students are not penalized for taking Honors courses, grades are assigned relative to the general University student population. As a result, Honors students who typically receive 'A's in their regular courses will typically receive 'A's in their Honors courses.
Honors Proseminars
The Honors Proseminar (HSS 198) introduces Honors students to (1) the purpose and value of a university education, (2) the international/global context of one's education, (3) cultural self-awareness and culture shock, and (4) how to design one's own education. Entering freshmen are required to take HSS 198 in the fall of their first year.
The elective Honors Proseminar in Research Methods (298) introduces sophomore students to the fundamentals of research methods in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Honors Seminars
Honors Seminars are designed to foster discussion, collaboration, and mutual discovery among students and faculty. Capped at 25 students, in Honors Seminars, students and faculty are able to have more class discussion, collaboration, and mutual discovery, and students are evaluated primarily on their written and oral work. With rare exceptions, Honors Seminars satisfy University general-education requirements.
In their first fall semester, entering Honors freshmen must take an Honors Seminar. These seminars are for entering Honors freshmen only. They satisfy University general-education requirements and offer students the in-depth exploration of a particular topic, with an emphasis on writing and analytical skills.
Regular Honors Courses
Lloyd International Honors College, in cooperation with other academic units across the University, offers Honors versions of regular University courses. These courses are typically capped at 25 students and allow students to get a more sophisticated treatment of the course material than is possible in the regular version of the course. Because of the small class size, students are able to have more class discussion, collaboration, and mutual discovery, and are evaluated primarily on their written and oral work rather than through the types of testing used in larger courses. Many of these courses satisfy University general-education requirements, but some Honors versions of University courses satisfy particular major requirements, while others provide elective credit.
Embedded Honors Courses
Embedded Honors courses meet in lecture with a larger non-Honors course but have a minimum of 15 hours of additional contact hours arranged by the professor for further exploration of the material. Embedded Honors courses have different syllabi and may have different texts, readings, assignments, and/or tests than the non-Honors courses. The 15 additional hours of contact time may take a variety of forms ranging from weekly one-hour discussion periods to extended excursions or special activities on weekends or over breaks.
Embedded Honors courses may be used to fulfill requirements in the International Honors Program or the Disciplinary Honors Program. Faculty interested in offering embedded Honors courses are encouraged to talk to the Director of Lloyd International Honors College for more details.
Honors Contract Courses
In an Honors Contract Course, a regular course is turned into an Honors course and may be used by students when pursuing Disciplinary Honors in their major. Contract courses completed in fall 2006 or later may not be used toward fulfilling the requirements of the International Honors Program.
All Honors courses emphasize independent work, greater depth and breadth of study, and more advanced work than do regular courses. Honors Contract Courses should embody these same qualities. Typically, Honors Contract Courses entail more writing, research, and hands-on practical work than regular courses. The form of an Honors Contract varies according to the level of the course and the discipline. It may take the form of a redesign of the course's entire structure, or it may enhance an existing course structure with such things as in-depth studies of special topics, research papers, oral reports, fieldwork, group projects, and class leadership. Such work should allow the student to get a fuller or more profound understanding of the course's subject.
Honors students can earn Honors credit for a regular UNCG course by coming to an agreement with the course's instructor about how the course is to be enhanced to bring it up to an Honors level. Honors Contract Courses can only be used to fulfill Disciplinary Honors Program requirements; they cannot be used to fulfill General-Education Honors Program requirements.
While Honors contract courses are typically initiated by students, faculty and departments (or schools) are welcome to design a "standard" honors contract for courses they teach and to let Honors students know that such contracts are available to Honors students. Typical enhancements in Contract Courses include such things as in-depth studies of special topics, research papers, oral reports, field work, group projects, and class leadership.
Click here to see examples of previous Honors Contracts
Please note: all forms require the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader, which can be downloaded from the Adobe web site.
The Instructions and forms for Completing an Honors Contract Course can be found in the LIHC Contract Course Bundle (*PDF).
Honors Independent Studies
Honors independent studies provide a way for students to design their own courses to assure that their education better fits their needs, desires, and abilities. Independent studies may involve studying subject matter through a set of directed readings, learning or refining specific academic skills through a set of exercises, or conducting research of the student's own design. There are two ways for students to conduct Honors independent study:
HSS 330: Honors Independent Study - This course, which can carry from 1 to 3 hours of academic credit, allows the student to do any of the activities noted above. This course is particularly useful for supplemental independent study activities that may not be worth 3 hours of credit, or which are interdisciplinary in nature. But it can also be used for other forms of independent study as well.
XXX 493: Honors Work in XXX - This course, which can carry from 3 to 6 hours of academic credit in the XXX major, allows the student to do advanced independent study in the major. With credit levels that vary from 3 to 6 hours, this course is particularly useful for conducting preliminary work that leads to the student's Senior Honors Project.
Faculty members are encouraged to consider supervising such independent student work if asked. Instructions for developing and completing HSS 330: Honors Independent Study can be found in the LIHC HSS 330 Bundle (*PDF).
Faculty Guidance for Developing & Completing HSS 330: Honors Independent Study
HSS 320: Honors Tutorial
HSS 320: Honors Tutorial is a great way for a small group of students to get together regularly to explore an agreed-upon topic under the supervision and guidance of a faculty member. Credit for the course is 1 to 3 hours. 1 hour of credit is typically given for courses that place more weight on reading and group discussion and that meet for a short but sustained amount of time to work on a project. 3 hours credit is typically given for courses that meet regularly throughout a full semester and that include the same amount of work expected of regular 3-hour credit courses. Note also that the course may be repeated for credit as topics change. Faculty members are encouraged to consider supervising such independent student work if asked. You should consider some of your best Honors students to join you in a tutorial.
Instructions for completing an Honors Tutorial (HSS 320) can be found in the LIHC HSS 320 Bundle (*PDF).
Faculty Guidance for Completing an Honors Tutorial
The Senior Honors Project
The Senior Honors Project represents the culmination of a student's Honors work and can take a variety of forms - a paper, a performance, a scientific experiment, a demonstration, a product. The Project should have a written component, should employ the scholarship learned by the student at UNCG, and should make a significant contribution to a body of knowledge.
Topics, methods of investigation, and modes of presentation vary from discipline to discipline. Typically, students identify a problem to solve, survey background information to define and explain the problem, and present evidence and reasoning in support of a thesis or hypothesis. The student's work culminates in an original essay, an annotated creative work or performance, a scientific experiment or report, or an equivalent product.
The length of the project depends on the topic and discipline. A project in the humanities could be a paper of 30 to 50 pages, whereas the written part of a project in the sciences or performing arts could be significantly shorter. The project can focus on any topic of the student's choosing, but all projects must be supervised and approved by a UNCG faculty member from a department in which the subject under consideration is taught.
For Senior Honors Project Guidelines, the Proposal Form and the Notice of Completion Forms, here is the LIHC Senior Honors Project Bundle (*PDF).
Lloyd International Honors College maintains a file of Senior Honors Projects for interested students and faculty who wish to look at them. If you or colleagues are asked to supervise a Senior Honors Project, please feel free to talk with the Director of Lloyd International Honors College about the process or the quality that is expected for the project.
Students typically conduct their Senior Honors Project by taking HSS 490: Senior Honors Project. However, it is also possible for students to conduct their Senior Honors Project under a particular discipline’s course code by taking XXX 493: Honors Independent Study in XXX or under the support of the Undergraduate Research Assistantship Program.
Faculty Guidance for Completing a Senior Honors Project
Examples of recent Senior Honors Projects
- "Multi-Culturalism in the Choral Music of Dave Brubeck" (Music)
- "Factors Affecting the Postpartum Mother's Decision Regarding Rooming-in with the Infant" (Nursing)
- "Othello's Desdemona: An Exploration of the Actor's Approach to Shakespearean Performance" (Theater)
- "Effects of Nonpharmacologic Pain Relief in Acutely Ill Children" (Nursing)
- "Jesse Daniel Ames and the Women of the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching" (History)
- "U. S. Foreign Aid Policy: Change or Continuity in the Post-Cold War Era" (Political Science)
- "German Romantic Historians: Interpreting the Past through Science and Faith" (History)
- "Vinylogous Cope Rearrangement in a Barbaralyl System" (Chemistry)
- "The Mystique of Perfect Love: Father-Daughter Conflict in Verdi's Operas" (English)
- "BVRI Photometry of Supernovae (SNe) 1999 dq, 1999 el, and 1999 eb" (Astronomy)
- "Teaching Clarinet Through the Theory of Multiple Intelligences" (Music)