Applying to Teach in McBride

Dedicated and inspiring professors teach in the McBride Honors Program. They come to McBride not just to teach, but to learn. The seminar format of McBride classes, in which students and faculty engage in spirited discussion and debate, fosters genuine learning by students and professors alike.

Honors courses are often laboratories for piloting new courses, exploring interesting ideas, testing out new pedagogical techniques, and applying research in innovative ways. And, with many team-taught courses that pair faculty from different disciplines, McBride encourages faculty to hone their skills as teachers while broadening their intellectual horizons.

Course Proposal Form
Join McBride

The McBride Honors Program invites applications from faculty from all Mines divisions and departments for Honors Faculty Fellows.

Successful applicants will:

  • Propose and develop an innovative, inspiring, and often interdisciplinary course for the McBride Honors Program
  • Teach that course in a seminar style to a small group of Honors students (typically about 16-18 students)
  • Have the approval of the appropriate department head to teach for McBride, ideally as part of the faculty member’s normal load but if necessary as an “overload”
  • Be recognized as Honors Faculty Fellow for the duration of service to the program

The McBride Honors Program welcomes applications from all faculty members, but it is especially interested in proposals that:

  • Contribute to the learning outcomes of the program;
  • Include logical interdisciplinary collaboration between STEM, HASS, and EB faculty members, via team-taught courses that blend technical and liberal arts expertise;
  • Relate meaningfully to faculty expertise and passions;
  • Promise to engage students in novel and inspiring ways with interesting and complex problems and issues;
  • Connect to grants for which McBride can play a role (e.g. include McBride students in conducting research or using Honors seminars or projects to meet “broader impacts” obligations);
  • Integrate the best practices for Honors courses nationwide and follow the principles for McBride Honors course design.

To Apply

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. To apply, complete the application at the top of this page and propose a course (or courses) for inclusion in the McBride curriculum. Proposed courses may be either team-taught or taught by a solo instructor, but all courses must emphasize active learning, as identified in the Course Design section of the McBride website.

Grants and Research

The program is interested in exploring connections between faculty research and Honors learning, such as involving Honors students in research, using McBride to help fulfill “broader impacts” requirements, or pursuing a grant on Honors STEM education. To discuss possibilities, contact the program associate director, Melanie Brandt.

For further information

Faculty interested in teaching for McBride are encouraged to discuss preliminary ideas with the program director.

Course Design

Bloom’s taxonomy of learningHonors courses are expected to provide increased intellectual challenge through more sophisticated material, a higher level of intellectual engagement, and more student responsibility for the learning process than would typically be expected in undergraduate courses. Honors courses are intended to be more complex, not merely “more work.” Thus, most Honors courses teach to the upper end of Bloom’s taxonomy of learning by stressing the analysis, evaluation, and creation of information and ideas.  

McBride Honors courses should

  • Seek to meet multiple Program Learning Outcomes;
  • Prioritize discussion and active learning over lecture and memorization (courses should be seminar-style, focusing on discussion, research, writing, and presentation);
  • Expose students to complex ideas and problems, typically through in-depth examination of select case studies rather than through broad surveys of material;
  • Emphasize learning through writing, as well as the development of writing skills;Include multiple writing assignments, typically including about 6000 words of both formal and informal writing;
  • Incorporate opportunities for revision;
  • Provide students with meaningful and extensive feedback that facilitates their learning and improvement;
  • Include opportunities for working individually and in groups;
  • Include some formal presentation component;
  • Create an environment that is constructive by challenging student ideas in ways that are stimulating and critical, but also positive and encouraging;
  • Emphasize the collection, analysis, and synthesis of information from diverse sources, ideally with an emphasis on primary sources and scholarly works;
  • Develop student research and analysis skills, as well as oral communication abilities and presentation skills;
  • Incorporate “out of the classroom” learning when possible;
  • Include a workload that is commensurate with high expectations, while emphasizing innovative and creative pedagogical strategies to put focus on independent student learning;
  • Hold students to rigorous standards that encourage and reward excellence.
Faculty Resources

Technology, Library, and Other Resources

McBride provides many resources for the use of faculty and students. Click here for details.

Teaching for McBride

Teaching in Honors

The National Collegiate Honors Council provides a wide range of useful materials related to teaching in Honors. Especially useful materials include:

Scholarship on Honors

The National Collegiate Honors Council publishes academic scholarship related to all aspects of Honors education. Almost all NCHC publications are available online, and printed copies of some publications are available in the McBride house. Key publications include:

  • Honors in Practice (HIP) publishes articles about nuts-and-bolts issues, innovative practices in individual Honors programs, teaching in Honors, and other topics. HIP publishes practical and descriptive essays, including descriptions of successful Honors courses, suggestions for out-of-class experiences, and administrative issues. The journal is published annually.
  • The Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (JNCHC) is a refereed periodical publishing scholarly articles stressing research in and on Honors education. Articles include analyses of trends in teaching methodology, articles on interdisciplinary efforts, discussions of problems common to Honors programs, items on the national higher education agenda, and presentations of emergent issues relevant to Honors education.

JNCHC themes include:

  • Liberal Learning In the New Century Vol. 1 No. 1
  • Science in Honors Vol. 1 No. 2
  • Educational Transitions with Special Forum On Honors Education Vol. 2 No. 1
  • Honors and the Creative Arts Vol. 2 No. 2
  • Liberal Learning Vol. 3 No. 1
  • Technology in Honors Vol. 3 No. 2
  • Students and Teachers in Honors Vol. 4 No. 1
  • Multiperspectivism In Honors Education Vol. 4 No. 2
  • Research in Honors Vol. 5 No. 1
  • The Psychology and Sociology of Honors Vol. 5 No. 2
  • Students in Honors Vol. 6 No. 1
  • What Is Honors? Vol. 6 No. 2
  • Outcomes Assessment, Accountability, and Honors Vol. 7 No. 1
  • Honors Administration Vol. 7 No. 2
  • Grades, Scores, and Honors Vol. 8 No. 1
  • Managing Growth in Honors Vol. 8 No. 2
  • Honors Culture Vol. 9 No. 1
  • Honors and Academic Integrity Vol. 9 No. 2
  • Social Class and Honors Vol. 10 No. 1
  • Honors in the Digital Age Vol. 10 No. 2
  • Honors and Athletics Vol. 11 No. 1
  • Helping Honors Students in Trouble Vol. 11 No. 2
  • Honors Study Abroad Vol. 12 No. 1
  • The Institutional Impact of Honors Vol. 12 No. 2
  • The Economy of Honors Vol. 13 No. 1
  • Honors Around the Globe Vol. 13 No. 2

The NCHC Monograph Series explores important pedagogical and administrative issues pertaining to Honors education. The following monographs are currently available from NCHC:

  • Assessing and Evaluating Honors Programs and Honors Colleges: A Practical Handbook
  • Beginning in Honors: A Handbook (4th Ed.)
  • A Handbook for Honors Administrators
  • A Handbook for Honors Programs at Two-Year Colleges
  • Honors Composition: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Practices
  • Honors Programs at Smaller Colleges (2nd Ed.)
  • Place as Text: Approaches to Active Learning
  • Teaching and Learning in Honors
  • Shatter the Glassy Stare
  • The Honors College Phenomenon
  • Inspiring Exemplary Teaching and Learning: Perspectives on Teaching Academically Talented College Students