Western Kentucky University Honors College

Desirable Features of an Honors Colloquium

Proposal Form Link

"The most rewarding honors courses for me so far have been the Colloquia. I have learned more from these classes than all other Gen Ed. courses combined ... Smaller classes and more discussion have opened the door to learning for me, especially in subjects outside of my expertise." (WKU Honors Student, April 2006)

Structure of the Course

Readings should come from primary sources, rather than textbooks, whenever possible. Honors students have the capability to comprehend higher level readings and should be given the opportunity to engage key thinkers and researchers in their own words.

Assignments should encourage analysis, application, inquiry, and synthesis rather than knowledge-level (rote memorization) reasoning. Honors students typically have greater abstract reasoning skills than average ability students. Assignments that focus on knowledge-level reasoning will not be challenging for an honors student.

Colloquium courses do not include exams as part of the course grade. With regard to assessment, the focus of a colloquium course should be on participation in discussion, writing assignments, debates, presentations, group work, etc.

Active learning is preferable to lecture. Students should be actively involved in the learning process within a colloquium course. Strategies for promoting active learning include class discussions, debates, simulations, group work, experiments, case studies, field work, etc. Lectures should be kept to an absolute minimum.

Colloquium courses should be themed on interdisciplinary topics. The overall theme/topic of a colloquium course should be accessible to all majors, regardless of the college from which the colloquium course originates.The theme/topic of the colloquium course should not be found anywhere else in the WKU curriculum.

Colloquium courses should be themed on classical debates or contemporary issues. A strong colloquium course includes a set of readings on both sides of a contentious issue that engenders debate and discussion across a wide spectrum of positions.

Colloquium courses should have no prerequisites. The only prerequisites for colloquium are good standing in the Honors College, sophomore standing and/or permission of the instructor.

Role of the Professor

The professor typically serves as a facilitator, rather than the sole expert. The professor should share in the learning process with the students. Rather than relaying information to students as in a typical lecture course, the professor and students can work together to set the pace and direction of the course

The professor should model methods of learning, thinking, and discovery. The professor can help students to become lifelong learners by revealing that he or she is continually learning and staying actively engaged within his or her discipline and the broader culture of academia. By modeling methods of learning, thinking, and discovery, the professor is not only teaching the students more about his or her discipline, but is also teaching the students about he process of scholarship.