A Collo contract...

One complaint I hear not infrequently about Collo concerns the distribution requirement for hours. I think this is a legitimate complaint. The idea behind the requirements is to nudge you into doing a variety of things and to keep you doing something throughout the semester. I still think those are worthy goals. Overall, though, the goal of Collo is to get you to be "consciously honors," and that can be accomplished in ways other than following the prescribed distribution of hours.

So in an effort to increase flexibility, I plan to offer a contract grading option next semester (for non-freshmen). If you choose this option, you will draft a proposal for what you plan to do during the semester to earn credit for Collo. Your plan need not follow the guidelines in the syllabus, though it should accomplish the same broad goals. This might be an opportunity to engage in a more sustained project throughout the semester or to front/backload your hours if you know your schedule will be hectic at a particular time. If I accept your proposal, then you will be graded based on it and the standards you set for yourself.

More details to come, but that's the general idea.
   

What makes a course an honors course?

I've been reading course evaluations* for all of our honors courses from the past few years. I've come across a number of comments where someone says a particular course really felt like an honors course, or was what they thought an honors course should be. I've probably come across a dozen or so such comments and it's been said about a range of courses. I have a sense of what I think an honors course should be, and I know what  NCHC says  an honors course should be. I would like to hear more about what you think an honors course should be.

Other than putting "honors" in the title or making it an 088 section, what is it that makes a course feel most like an honors course to you? Is it the content? Pedagogy? Something else? Or, on the negative side, what makes a course not feel like an honors course?


*It would be really great if more of you actually filled out the evaluations. I don't think any course made it to double digit responses this year. In case it isn't obvious, you completing evaluations is a necessary condition for your evaluations to contribute to decisions about courses and curriculum.