HO 401: INDEPENDENT STUDY
SPRING 2008
INSTRUCTOR:
DR. ERIC DAFFRON,
DIRECTOR OF THE INA E. GORDY HONORS COLLEGE
OFFICE HOURS:
WHITFIELD (241-6850): TR 8-9:30 AND BY APPOINTMENT
E-MAIL:
edaffron@muw.edu
WEB SITE:
www.muw.edu/honors
Text: none
TOPIC APPROVAL FORM
PROPOSAL APPROVAL FORM
Course Content:
The
Independent Study provides a structure for the
completion of the honors project, which is
intended to be a model of excellence for
undergraduate research. In the first semester of
Independent Study, the student selects a
committee of three professors–an advisor in the
research area, a reader in the department of the
research area or an appropriate related
department, and a reader on the honors committee
in the college of the research area–and
progressively produces a proposal for a written
or performance project that will be completed in
the second semester. To ensure the high quality
of the proposal and the successful completion of
the entire project, the student also completes
other assignments, begins research, and solicits
faculty feedback during the first semester of
Independent Study.
Learning
Outcomes of the Honors College that this course
will fulfill:
1.
Honors students will conduct research projects
that demonstrate competency in design,
implementation, development, and documentation
while simultaneously manifesting the
sophisticated knowledge and skills acquired
during their undergraduate careers.
2. Honors
students will exhibit scholarly traits not only
in their academic performance and scholarship
but also in their comradery with other student
and faculty scholars, their leadership roles,
and their mutual social and intellectual
support.
Requirements:
Formation of a project
committee and attendance at scheduled
meetings
Completion of the topic
approval form and the proposal approval form
Completion of topic summary
and bibliography
Participation in the poster
session
Completion of the proposal
with three drafts
Submission of an application,
if relevant, to the IRB
Method of
Evaluation:
The student
is expected to meet weekly with his or her project
advisor for guidance in analysis, composition, and
research, to meet with the other committee members
as necessary, and to meet at least once during the
semester with the entire committee. The student
must complete and submit both the topic approval
form and the proposal approval form on the due dates
to receive credit for the independent study. The
student must also participate in the poster session
in order to continue with the project. Finally, the
student must submit all required drafts of the
proposal and all other required written assignments
to all three members of the project committee and to
the Honors Director on the due dates. The student
must submit all required written assignments to the
Honors Director as e-mail attachments except for the
final draft of the proposal, which must submitted in
hard copy only. The student should check with the
members of the project committee for the form in
which they would prefer submissions of written work.
The
student’s grade will be assessed in consultation
between the project advisor and the other committee
members and in consultation between the advisor and
the Director of the Honors College. All parties
will assess the quality of the student’s work as
well as the student’s cooperation in the timely
completion of drafts and attentiveness to the
committee’s suggestions. Each of the requirements
that the student fails to submit to the entire
committee and to the Honors Director on the due date
will result in a ten-point reduction in the final
grade unless the student’s advisor calls or writes
the Honors Director with a legitimate explanation
and a revised due date. The student must complete
all requirements to receive credit for the course.
Schedule
January 17:
Orientation at 3:00 PM in the
Honors Office.
January 30:
The student must have a
preliminary topic, a project committee, and a
completed copy of the topic
approval form.
February 13:
The student must submit to the
three-person committee and to the Honors
Director a list of ten potential
sources and a brief description of the project
topic.
March 12:
The student must submit a first
draft of the proposal to the three-person
project committee and to the
Honors Director.
March 25:
Roundtable of Scholars at 3 PM in
the Honors Office.
April 9:
The student must submit a second
draft of the proposal to the three-person
project committee and to the
Honors Director.
April 24:
Poster session.
April 28:
The student must submit the final
draft of the proposal to the three-person
project committee and to the
Honors Director.
May 1:
Research Symposium; all
researchers should attend this forum in Parkinson
Hall.
May 2:
The student should submit the
completed proposal approval form to the
Honors Director.
Note:
February 13 is the last day to drop without a WP or
WF; March 12 is the last day to drop a class. |
