HONORS 3500/4500 COURSE SYLLABUS
Course Number/Section and Title:
Semester and Year:
Course Meeting:
Days
Time
Location
Credit Hours:
Total Credit Hours
Is this a Travel Course:
Yes
No
Lecture Credit Hours
Lab Credit Hours (if applicable)
If Yes, list travel dates:
Instructor:
First, Last
Office Location/Room #
Email Address
Office Phone Number
Other Number or preferred contact information
Set Office Hours (Days and Time) Also available by appointment.
(If multiple instructors, please copy and paste table here.)
Course Catalog Description, including pre- or co-requisite course work or other required items. (Copy and paste from
online course description.)
Honors 3500/4500 Description
The Honors Thesis Project is a two-year independent research or creative work. Students begin work on projects in
the junior year, when they enroll in the Junior Honors Seminar (HNRS 3500) to choose a topic, select a faculty advisor,
and develop a proposal and research plan, subject to approval of the Honors Advisory Committee. The Junior Honors
Seminar is an interdisciplinary and highly interactive seminar which enrolls students from across the disciplines.
Preliminary independent research on projects begins in the latter half of the junior year. During the senior year
students register for four thesis independent thesis credits (HNRS 4500) and complete projects under the direction of
their faculty advisor. Projects are completed in spring of senior year.
Evaluation
Honors Thesis Projects are presented and evaluated at a defense held in spring. The defense committee includes the
faculty advisor, a second reader, and an assigned faculty representative from the Honors Advisory Committee. Project
evaluation criteria include the student’s ability to integrate, synthesize, and transfer learning; the student’s mastery
within their field of study, discipline, or profession; and the oral performance at the defense. Projects are scored via a
Project Rubric and may receive a designation of High Pass, Pass, or Pass with Reservations.
Presentation to the Campus Community
Honors students present and celebrate their projects with the campus community on Honors Reporting Day, held
annually in April.
Honors Programs Goals
The Honors Program at Otterbein University is an exciting academic opportunity for motivated and high-achieving
students. The Honors program offers a unique set of innovative and challenging seminar courses from a variety of
academic disciplines. Honors courses will:
 Immerse students in challenging and rigorous material.
 Engage discussion and sharpen presentation and participation skills.
 Inspire practices of independent inquiry and curiosity.
 Demand a sustained and attentive intellectual pace.
 Create a culture of research.
 Foster community within the Honors Program at Otterbein.
Honors 3500-4500-Specific Goals:
Upon successful completion of the Honors Thesis Project, students will:
 Show the ability to acquire, interpret, organize, and synthesize new knowledge.
 Integrate knowledge in their discipline toward complex problems or contexts.
 Use appropriate strategies and tools to present and analyze information.
 Understand and reflect on the broader implications of scholarly work within their chosen field.
 Be active and engaged members of a scholarly community.
Student Learning Outcomes specific to this course:
ePortfolio Requirement:
Students are required to build an ePortfolio, if applicable, to save work done in class, to reflect on your learning and your growth
at Otterbein, and to make connections between different IS courses, between IS courses and your major, between all of your
courses, and your full range of experiences outside of the classroom. (Identify 2-3 learning artifacts created in the course for
inclusion in the ePortfolio related to the integrative learning outcomes.)
Required Texts and/or Ancillary Materials
Attendance and Participation Policy
Cultural Event Attendance and Participation Policy
Assignments/Tests and expectations for out-of-class work
Deadlines for submitting work
Final Exam Date and Time
Academic Honesty
All academic work should be your own. Academic dishonesty (plagiarism and cheating) may result in automatic failure of the
assignment or the course itself, and you will be referred to the Academic Affairs Office for suspension or expulsion proceedings.
You are plagiarizing when you:
1. Copy material from a source without using quotation marks and proper citation.
2. Follow the movement of the source, substituting words and sentences but keeping its meaning, without citing it.
3. Lift phrases or terms from a source and embed them in your own prose without using quotation marks and proper
citation.
4. Borrow ideas (that are not common knowledge) form a source without proper citation.
5. Turn in a paper wholly or partially written by someone else.
The complete statement on Plagiarism, Cheating and Dishonesty can be found in the Campus Life Handbook, page 33, at the
following web link: http://www.otterbein.edu/public/CampusLife/HealthAndSafety/StudentConduct.aspx.
Learning Differences
If you have a documented learning difference please contact Kera McClain Manley, the Disability Services Coordinator, to
arrange for whatever assistance you need. The Disability Services is located in Room #13 on the second floor of the Library in the
Academic Support Center. You are welcome to consult with me privately to discuss your specific needs. For more information,
contact Kera at kmanley@otterbein.edu, 614-823-1618 or visit the Disability Services at the following web link:
http://www.otterbein.edu/public/Academics/AcademicAffairsDivision/AcademicSupportCenter/DisabilityServices.aspx.
Statement on Credit Hour Definition/Expectation for Student Work
For each credit hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction, students are expected to engage in two hours of outof-class work (readings, homework, studying, project preparation, etc.). A four semester credit hour course requires
eight hours per week of out-of-class work.