SAU Honors College

The SAU Honors College was founded in 2003 by Dr. David Rankin, president of SAU. Dr. Lynne Belcher served as founding director and recently retired from SAU. The Honors College seeks and admits qualified students who seek to pursue a serious academic program with equally gifted peers and committed teachers. Honors classes are small and provide academically enriching opportunities for students and the faculty who teach them. Currently, SAU enrolls nearly 170 honors students and graduates about 66% of admitees in four years or less. Anyone interested in applying to the Honors College or seeking further information should contact the director, Dr. Edward P. Kardas at epkardas@saumag.edu or at 870 904-8897.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

SAU Students and Faculty to Present at SRHC

Several SAU students recently had their research proposals accepted for presentation at the 39th annual meeting of the Southern Regional Honors Council.

 Xi Wu, junior chemistry major will present:

Artificial Neural Network Approach to the Prediction of Estrogenic Activity of Environmental Chemicals


Courtney Fricks, junior psychology major and Samson King, sophomore biology major will present:

Alzheimer's Medications Prescribed in Southwest Arkansas and East Texas

Chris Harris, sophomore political science major, Carter Jones, junior Spanish major, Samson King, sophomore biology major, Thomas Kue, junior computer science major, and Suraj Manandhar, graduate computer science major, will present:

Preliminary Research Prior to Implementing an iPad enabled Honors Seminar Course

This research was done in conjunction with SAU faculty members Edward P. Kardas and Deborah Wilson.

Nimendra Mawalagedara, sophomore political science major will present:

Hamas: The Transition from Terrorism to Democracy

SAU faculty members Deborah Wilson and Edward P. Kardas, along with Rebecca Oliver, director of the Arkansas State University Honors College, Barbara Pemberton, director of the Ouachita Baptist University Honors College, and Loretta McGregor, chair of the department of psychology at Arkansas State University (and former SAU faculty member) will present a panel discussion titled:

When good students fail and what to do about it

The Southern Regional Honors Council will meet in Little Rock from March 31 to April 2 at the Peabody Hotel. More information about the meeting can be found by clicking HERE

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Press Release: SAU iPad 2 Pilot Study


 Here is today's "official" press release on our iPad 2 Pilot Study.
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These students will receive their own iPad 2 to keep and the Honors Seminar course’s format will be adjusted to maximize the power of the iPad 2 as a teaching device, according to Dr. Edward P. Kardas, director of the Honors College. The iPad 2 is the highly anticipated successor to the iPad, released last year with sales exceeding 14 million units to date.
             
The iPad 2 will likely add two cameras, additional RAM, a faster processor and will be thinner and lighter than the original. The device will allow students to access the Internet, send and receive e-mail, read online course materials, download textbooks, network with other students, faculty and friends over the campus’ Wi-Fi network or any other open wireless network.
             
Currently, four honors students enrolled in the Cognitive Science course are preparing the way for the pilot project. A $3,000 grant from the SAU Faculty Development for Teaching with Technology Committee purchased the four iPads being loaned to the students for the spring semester. These students will conduct preliminary research on using the current iPad in various educational settings. Later in the semester, they will present their findings at the Southern Regional Honors Council meeting to be held in Little Rock from March 31 to April 2. Their work will determine what software should be loaded onto the iPad 2 before giving them to the incoming students in the Honors Seminar class.
             
The Honors Seminar covers four main topics: the academic experience, the Honors College itself, critical thinking, and diversity. Students write extensively on each of those topics, and their final drafts are published online on the class blog: sauhc.blogspot.com.
            
 Soon, the iPad 2 may come to replace the book bag and the laptop, and tomorrow’s students may only have to carry a small tablet computer, Kardas said. In it they will find all their books, written assignments, and e-mails. They might browse the Internet, roam the stacks of a library, read a newspaper, visit with friends, or ask their professor a question whenever they wish. SAU is taking the first steps to exploring that digital future.
             
The pilot study will require no new funding. The incoming honors class will receive an iPad 2 in place of their usual first-year stipend. In subsequent years they will receive the monetary value of their stipends. Entering students who already own an iPad or iPad 2 will receive the stipend the first year.
           
If the pilot study is successful more SAU classes may be taught using the iPad 2. 
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            For additional information, contact Kardas at (870) 904-8897 or epkardas@saumag.edu.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The iPad 2 is coming to SAU Honors College


The Southern Arkansas University Honors College will conduct a pilot study next year by providing iPad 2 tablet computers for all 60 of its anticipated students enrolled in the introductory course, Honors Seminar. These students will receive their own iPad 2 to keep and the Honors Seminar course’s format will change so as to maximize the power of the iPad 2 as a teaching device. The iPad 2 is the highly anticipated successor to the iPad released last year with sales exceeding 14 million units to date. The iPad 2 should add two cameras, additional RAM, a faster processor, and be thinner and lighter than the original. The iPad 2 will allow students to access the Internet, send and receive e-mail, read online course materials, download textbooks, network with other students, faculty, and friends over the campus’ WiFi network or any other open wireless network (such as those at McDonald’s or Starbucks). Currently, four honors students enrolled in Cognitive Science are preparing the way for the pilot project. Thanks to a $3000 grant from the SAU Teaching with Technology Committee each was loaned an iPad for the spring semester. Those students will conduct preliminary research on using the current iPad in educational settings. Later in the semester, they will present their findings at the Southern Regional Honors Council meeting to be held in Little Rock from March 31 to April 2. Their work will determine what software should be preloaded onto the iPad 2 before those are given to the incoming students in the Honors Seminar class. That class has four main aspects: the academic experience, the Honors College itself, critical thinking, and diversity. Students write extensively on each of those topics and their final drafts are published online on the class blog: sauhc.blogspot.com. Soon, the iPad 2 may come to replace the book bag and the laptop and tomorrow’s students of may only have to carry a small tablet computer. In it they will find all their books, written assignments, and e-mails. Whenever they wish they might browse the Internet, roam the stacks of a library, read a newspaper, visit with friends, or ask their professor a question. SAU is taking the first steps to exploring that digital future. The pilot study will require no new funding. The incoming honors class will receive an iPad 2 instead of their usual stipend their first year at SAU. In subsequent years they will receive their stipends. Entering students who already own an iPad or iPad 2 will receive the stipend the first year. If the pilot study is successful then more SAU classes may be taught using the iPad 2.