Actually I hadn't thought of whether an "honors" course was aimed necessarily at "gifted" students. So I guess a course could differ in being aimed at the top 0.1%, or the top 3%, or the top 20%, and that would be something you'd want to know about a course.

But then I'd phrase my question; for a course that is supposed to be aimed at the top X% of students, what are the ways it can do that well, and what are the ways it can do that badly?