Honors Course Contracts are individual agreements established between an Honors student and a faculty member. An individual honors student "contracts" a non-Honors course for Honors credit; students must complete alternate or additional course activities that add breadth, depth, or complexity and are thus deserving of Honors credit. Honors Course Contracts are initiated by eligible students, receive initial approval by the instructor of record, and must be approved by Honors Academy (other restrictions apply).
The "contract" will establish a plan for a scholarly experience that will enhance the student's learning experience and emulate a free-standing Honors course. The student's application should clearly explain how their experience will differ from what is described in the course syllabus and how the student's work will be evaluated. Honors Course Contract applications should identify learning objectives, learning activities, and describe how the student's work will be evaluated.
Contracts could propose any of the types of activities described in the free-standing and embedded sections above. Previous approved activities have also included the following:
The "contract" will establish a plan for a scholarly experience that will enhance the student's learning experience and emulate a free-standing Honors course. The student's application should clearly explain how their experience will differ from what is described in the course syllabus and how the student's work will be evaluated. Honors Course Contract applications should identify learning objectives, learning activities, and describe how the student's work will be evaluated.
Contracts could propose any of the types of activities described in the free-standing and embedded sections above. Previous approved activities have also included the following:
Science or Engineering
- Undertaking an undergraduate research project with the faculty member on a topic related to the class.
- Designing a product to accomplish a given task using particular methods.
- Analyze datasets related to classroom topic and faculty expertise and interpret outcome.
Social Science
- Attending an exhibit, lecture, film or performance series and discuss its relevance to the classroom material.
- Participate in community or service learning activity, keep a journal and discuss relevance to classroom material.
- Become involved in a student group or organization you would normally not participate in (ethnic, cultural, interest), keep a journal and discuss relevance to classroom material.
- Develop material (paper, presentation, group work) that brings an international perspective to the topic.
Humanities
- Produce a creative work (writing, music, art, performance) to illustrate a concept or technique.
- Significant readings in contemporary critical theory related to the course topic.
- Imagine a classic piece of literature written in a different context (gender, country, historical timing, socio-economic level, minor character).
- Describe what a specific time frame would have been like if a major historical event had had the opposite or different outcome (WWII, Waterloo, Alexander’s conquests, creation of the auto industry in the US).
Interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary
- Develop materials to teach a particular concept using three different modalities or teaching philosophies.
- Produce a creative work that explains or illustrates a natural or man-made phenomenon.
- Create or adapt a computer program to carry out a particular type of data analysis.
- Propose a mechanism to convert a small-scale operation to a large-scale process.
- Design a procedure to allow a laboratory assay to be carried out in the field.
- Survey and analyze government policies or laws directly related to the course topic or its applications.