Friday, June 22, 2012

Writing Study Contracts, Part 3 of 3

The Materials and Evaluation sections of a study contract can contain lists of items rather than paragraphs of complete sentences.Yet both still need to be specific and well thought out.


We sometimes think that the list of materials for a course will be mostly a bibliography and the question often arises, what bibliographic form should the list be in? For books and journals, do give enough information that a reader could easily locate a copy of the material easily. Usually this means the full name of the author, title of the work, and the date of publication--this is the bare minimum. Films can be listed in similar fashion.


The materials section should never be left blank with the idea that the student or the mentor will recommend readings as the course goes on. The point of the study contract is to demonstrate the focus of the course and the best way to do this is to show that the student and the mentor have agreed to focus on at least a core set of materials. A list of specific materials lets your core faculty know that you have a plan, the way a syllabus lists assigned readings so the students can judge the amount of work they'll have to do.



Because so many study contracts promise experiential learning, you don't have to limit your materials to books, films, websites, or journals. If you need access to a lab, kiln, community garden, or special facility, spell this out in your materials section. Give the address and name of the person who can give you access to this resource. Besides showing that you've thought of how you're going to fulfill your contract, listing all tangible resources you will need for the course will prompt you to get permission to use these facilities before the course starts. It would be a mistake to plan your course around access to a darkroom only to find out mid-semester that you can't get permission to use it.

As for the
evaluation section of your study contract, the most important consideration is that you create products or artifacts in the course that your mentor and your core faculty can evaluate without interviewing you. Papers, journals, multi-media projects, videos, and artwork are physical objects your mentor can evaluate. Be specific and give the number of pages, hours, or pieces that quantify your output. Of course, the mentor will evaluate you on how well you meet your objectives and complete your activities. But this evaluation must be evidence-based; mentors aren't asked to evaluate your personality or good intentions. Each activity you propose in your study contract should have some endpoint and product beyond what transpires in your head. Find a way to demonstrate that each activity did occur and list this tangible evidence of your performance in the evaluation section, one item at a time. This will help your mentor set her or his expectations all the better and round out your completed study contract with authority. 

Creating your own exciting, challenging course is one of the best opportunities  Prescott College offers you. Use the study contract framework to full advantage in shaping your degree program and always be open to feedback from your mentor and core faculty as you create these special documents. You can also get help from Writing Center coaches with any portion of a contract. Just email the Writing Center with a draft or questions.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Writing Study Contracts, Part 2 of 3

Course objectives are statements that spell out what the student expects to know or be able to do as a result of a self-designed course. While everyone has to do something to meet the objectives of a course, objectives are not the same thing as the activities that the student will complete to meet the objectives.
 

The best way to grasp the difference between objectives and activities is through an example. Here's a well written course objective for a course in Intermediate French:
 

Objective 1: As a result of this course I will be able to identify and correct grammatical errors in my conversations with fluent French speakers on everyday topics.

Notice how this objective implies but does not state that the student will have conversations in French during the course. It's in the activities section of the study contract that you list how you will meet a course objective. Always list at least one activity for each objective. Here are two activities that will allow the student to meet course Objective 1:

Activity 1: Attend a weekly French conversation group speaking only French for at least two hours per week.

Activity 2: List in my learning journal the kinds of errors I notice myself making in French conversation and include notes on how to correct them.

Unlike the course description, objectives and activities are written in the first person, as shown in our example. Use a 'frame' for your objectives to help you get the right syntax for good objectives. For objectives, which usually are presented as bulleted items in your final study contract, use the frame "As a result of this course I will be able to _____." The first verb that fills in the blank in the frame should be an action word such as examine, describe, diagnose, or write. By using this frame you will avoid vague objectives with stative verbs like be or see. You will also end up with objectives that allow your mentor or instructor to evaluate your progress toward your objectives during and at the end of your course.

When writing the activities that show how you will meet each objective, use the frame "During this course I will _______." As in the example above, the first verb you use a the end of the frame should name a specific action rather than state. Be sure to quantify your activities to convey careful planning. That is, if you are attending a workshop as part of your course, how long is it? If you will conduct interviews for the course, how many people will you interview? Note that your mentor can evaluate you at the end of the course on a kind of yes/no basis when your activities are written correctly. Did the student complete the workshop as planned, yes or no?

To conclude, there's a reason that faculty require you to sort out objectives from activities when you're designing your own course. It is possible to complete all the activities in a semester but still not meet your objectives. But it is not possible to meet your objectives without completing any activities. The better you understand the differences and connections between these parts of your study contracts, the more credible and useful your 
contract will be. There are sample study contracts on the PC website and in the LRUP student handbook if seeing more sample objectives and activities statements will help you start writing your own. 


Next week: Materials and Evaluation Sections of the Study Contract    

Friday, June 8, 2012

Writing Course Descriptions for Contracts


All PC undergraduates have the opportunity to customize their degree programs with courses they design themselves. Whether you are drafting an independent study contract or a mentored studies contract, you may feel a little unprepared to write your first study contract. This post begins a series of tips on writing study contracts, beginning with the course description.

Function of the course description

When you think of a topic for a self-designed course, there’s a tendency to think first of what you’re going do in the course: plant an organic garden, lead a book club, travel to a foreign country, etc. But the function of a course description in a study contract is to give the reader—not just your mentor or adviser but any reader—a sense of the focus, purpose, and scope of the learning you will do to earn academic credits (usually 4-semester credits). You are limited to about 250 words, so here are the questions you must answer in every course description you write:
  • What is the topic of the course (stated as narrowly as possible—one sentence)?
  • What approach will you take to studying this topic? (this might be from a theoretical perspective, or using a methodology such as ‘experiential’, ‘literature-based research’, or ‘experimental’)
  • What are the most significant outcomes of this learning? (e.g., is it a prerequisite to more advanced study? does it fit into your competence/breadth area? or will it develop new insights in an emerging field?)
  • What are the social or environmental justice aspects or applications of the course?


To help you achieve the tone of overview (the details will be spelled out in other parts of the contract), always write the course description in the third person. Make sure your course title distills your course description and doesn’t just name what you will do in the course. Keep the title short, so it fits into the space allowed. 

Importance of the course description

You are creating an element of your academic transcript that must be credible and professional for many years to come. Will your description and title stand up even if they were used for other students, at a future time? The reader should not have to know you personally to understand the value of your course in the world of higher learning.

You may find it easier to write a convincing course description once you have identified your learning objectives, activities, and materials, all of which are separate sections in your contract. Whatever your writing process, the course description should make sense on its own and not merely repeat what other sections of your contract state.

To get started on a study contract, get either the Study Contract Worksheet or the Study Contract form from the PC website and draft language for each section of your contract. Share these thoughts on paper with your mentor and/or advisor. They may offer detailed suggestions or directions for the course that you hadn’t thought of. Always check the course description just before you finalize the contract to be sure that it still matches what you have planned for the course. Only once your mentor and advisor have pre-approved your study contract should you submit it electronically to enroll in the course.

Next week: How course objectives differ from a course description