Fostering Microenvironments for Teaching and Learning: Findings of a Study of Program Quality in Honors Programs

INTRODUCTION Honors education has long enjoyed a reputation for adding something unique to undergraduate education, and the advantages are touted widely, but there has been limited examination of quality in undergraduate honors education. Previous efforts have typically stopped short of considering program quality as it relates to student learning. Instead, program administrators and other researchers have examined the topic from the perspective of a single stakeholder group, focusing primarily upon student satisfaction or administrative concerns, such as enrollment management or program development. To be sure, these are important considerations--but it is becoming even more critical for stakeholders in honors education to communicate the efficacy of honors programs and the resources necessary to develop and support a high-quality program. Present economic conditions in the United States have constrained college and university budgets, challenging all programs to do more with less. In addition, because resources for undergraduate honors education are allocated to a relatively small number of students, some critics argue that this is unfair because these students are already advantaged by secondary and higher education systems. These critics (Sperber, 2000) charge that generous scholarships awarded to honors students regardless of financial need would better serve regular undergraduates who demonstrate financial need. The types of experiences designed for honors students can also be costly, especially smaller classes or residential programs. Students, faculty and administrators need to know more about the attributes of high-quality honors programs in order to respond to these critics and make informed decisions about the appropriation of funding, faculty time, campus space, and related resources. The purpose of this study was to develop an original theory of high-quality undergraduate honors programs, i.e., an ideal type, in order to advance our knowledge and understanding of undergraduate honors education, and ultimately, to improve undergraduate teaching and learning. This, in turn, will provide students, faculty, and administrators with a foundation upon which they can thoughtfully reexamine their expectations of honors education, assess their own programs, better align resources and evaluation tools, and, if warranted, create an agenda for change. For the purpose of this study (1), high-quality honors programs were defined as those programs that "contribute to enriching learning experiences for students that have positive effects on their growth and development" (Haworth and Conrad, 1997, p. 15). Haworth and Conrad developed this definition after extensive review and synthesis of the literature on academic program quality and in preparation for their comprehensive study of program quality in master's degree programs. The definition was selected for use in this study because it emphasizes both student learning and development and accommodates the diversity of honors program types. Developing a theory of high-quality undergraduate honors programs was accomplished by inviting and examining the perspectives of students, faculty and administrators in four honors programs at two large, public doctoral/research universities (based upon Carnegie Classification 2000 edition) in two states located in the Midwest. The following question guided all aspects of the research process: "What are the attributes of a high-quality honors program? " Drawing upon and extending the work of Haworth and Conrad (p. 22), three sub-questions were considered throughout the study to enhance the identification of program attributes. First, what steps or actions do stakeholders take to implement or enact the attribute? Second, in what ways do these actions enhance students' learning experiences? Third, what positive effects, or outcomes, do these learning experiences have on students' growth and development? …