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. 

Midway Collo?...

Okay, question just for you, Midways. Would you like to have your own section of Collo, at least for your first two semesters? Unlike UHS and FPAs, you don't take many classes together as a group and with Collo having 160 people and not many real class meetings, it barely counts as having a class together. If there were a separate section for first year Midways, we could perhaps do more to address your particular wants and needs, and maybe enable you to better or more easily get to know each other and maintain those connections. Feedback welcome, good, bad, or indifferent.

No credit collo?...

Anyone have thoughts on making Collo a zero credit, pass/fail course.  (Or perhaps some portion of Collo, e.g., leave it as a one credit course for UHS and FPA freshmen and entering Midways.) Requirements could be adjusted accordingly, though I envision that it would run much as it does now, perhaps with fewer hours required and probably no "class" hours. Consider this an open thread to discuss the possibility. (Really would like feedback. Really doubting you'll provide it. I have hope, though.) 

Collo book club?

I hate myself for even making that the title of a post. This is approaching Oprah territory and, well...yeah. Anyway, this seems like a possible way to make Collo more Colloquial. Obviously not everyone needs to participate, but if we have a handful of people all reading the same thing, it might make for good, focused discussions both online and off. If that sounds at all appealing, you should indicate that to me in some way, and consider this an invitation to nominate a book.

Collo for freshmen

I like the idea floated a while ago of essentially dividing Collo into "Collo for freshmen" and "Collo for everyone else." If we go that route, what are some things that freshmen should be required to do? What are the things (if any) that you've done in the past in Collo that you think are useful? We'll still do the program of study, hopefully with some older people helping out the freshmen. What about the Basler challenge course? Good, bad, indifferent? Study abroad info? That seems like a good thing to hear, especially if coupled with some students who have actually studied abroad. Alcohol education? What else? The beauty here is that you're not subjecting yourselves to any of this, just the incoming class. If you were designing classes they had to attend, what would those be?

You lead the class

In a twitter discussion a while ago, someone suggested adding to Collo some classes that are taught by students. I am 100% on board with that idea. But we need to fill in the details to take it from idea to actuality. So here are some thoughts:

1. I envision this working a lot like GRGs, especially the ones that are more substantive (not that there's anything wrong with ones that are entertaining, but that's a different animal.) You would need to propose a class/session/etc. and schedule it. It could be during regular Collo hours or at some other time. Unlike GRGs of the past, this would count as class, not something over and above the normal class hours.

2. I worry that we won't have many of you volunteer to do this, so we need some incentive. What would actually get you to put in the time and effort it will take to organize and lead a class? It's a valuable experience on its own, but I wouldn't count on such intrinsic motivation. Part of this will depend on how grades end up being calculated. If they do end up being based on hours, then the hours you put into preparing for the class would all count and would lessen the hours you needed to spend doing other Collo related tasks.

3. What would the substance of these classes or GRGs be? I think they could cover a lot of territory. It might be a way for older folks to give valuable information to younger folks. It could be helpful for the program of study. It might be a way to talk about your study abroad experiences, or service projects, or getting into a particular program, or your internship, etc. You might discuss the thesis process or discuss current events. This could also be a way to teach other useful skills--changing a tire, baking a cake, making an origami rose.

4. There's really no cost to making this an option and putting it on the table, but it would be great if you actually took advantage of it. If we had a enough of these, it would be a way to offer more classes, increase options and flexibility, and get class size down. All good things. So think about it.