Independent Studies

[HigherEd7]

Has anyone ever done an independent study? From my understanding, it is not like a full blown course students are given a topic and they complete a study.

[sinenomine]

My university requires a syllabus, outcomes, and deliverables for independent studies, so they are, in that sense, like a full-blown course — just on a topic we don't offer and that the student is interested in. The student and professor a proposal together with a syllabus, so it tends to be well planned.

[Wahoo Redux]

I've done several with varying degrees of success.  How well it goes, in my experience, depends a lot on the student, how willing one is to hold standards, and of course the subject matter or design of the study.  Creative independent studies in which students work on lengthy projects which they design and which they are enthusiastic about, and for which you are a mentor, tend to work really well.  Trying to recreate a 3 credit class as a study is somewhat more challenging and doesn't really work.

[Parasaurolophus]

As a student, yes. As faculty, no.

As a student, the faculty member and I talked about my interests and she put together a core reading list pertaining to those interests. We met regularly to discuss the reading, and I produced a brief critical summary for each of the articles. At the end of the semester I produced some sort of essay on the topic.

It was a lot of fun for me, and (I can now confirm) for the faculty member, too. It's nice to nerd out with someone who cares. The workload for the faculty member seems like it would have been quite low, too, especially since it was on a topic in an area she specialized in. (The lower workload is reflected, here, in the fact that faculty members get paid a fraction of a section per independent study. Not that anyone in our department gets to supervise any.)

[waterboy]

Just finished giving one. We worked through a text on the subject and I required a written paper afterwards. Fairly straightforward.

[mamselle]

I did two in college as an undergrad, and oversaw two honors theses as an adjunct in a different school.

The two I did were in music.

One was a study of electronic music in conjunction with a new prof teaching a course that I couldn't attend. I got a lot from it, including a practical understanding of recording, playback, and other equipment and how to use it that stood me in good stead in more professional music settings (I still prefer acoustic, however). And I made a couple of tapes that I still have (I'd need the old reel-to-reel playback machines to hear them, though). I had access to the equipment and occasional access to the prof. Another prof (in electronics) for whom I did editing was also interested and would sit in, so it was kind of a fun thing. Well-organized and productive; I think I got an A.

The other, in Byzantine chant, was puzzling. The prof was also newly arrived, but didn't seem to understand that he needed to do more follow-through and explain stuff. I also never had a final paper due (that I recall--and I think I would). I went to meet him weekly, sometimes he didn't show, and usually he just assigned some reading in a couple of recently-translated books on the octoechos that I didn't quite understand (I'd thought my music theory and music history background was in decent enough shape to follow them, but the structures were different, so even a bare understanding of the modes escaped me and I felt a bit asea. I still got an A, which bothered me, it felt unearned.

I don't know what either prof got in return, possibly some time release or service credit of some kind? I didn't ask.

The honors projects I oversaw were in art history and I received small stipendiary checks for them, which I put towards a research trip I took later that year.

They were for two students I had in my "modern art history" classes, one on Socialist/Realist artists of the early-to-mid 1900s, and one on...it was never clear what. Both were dual Arts/Education majors in a program that was pretty rigorous and produced pretty good graphic design students in particular.

They submitted work plans, which I went over and approved, mostly focused on locating visual sources, reading related materials, and creating a final slide lecture to be used as a teaching tool for a class, with an accompanying position paper. They each consulted with me twice during the term, and I oversaw their progress with comments and input by email. Their final presentations were attended by other students in the art program.

The first did an excellent job, linking stylistic approaches (identifying ties to, say, Cezanne's use of broken lines in a still life's table edge, with the broken edge of a park bench's back between two people). The second kept claiming relationships between two artists without any effort to show visual resonance or borrowings, or to point out what made her think they had anything to do with each other historically or stylistically. (I had pointed out the problem with this once it appeared in our consultations, but she kept brushing it off and not taking the corrections seriously).

The main teacher for the program (who had not had time to do these, as he usually would have) set up all the presentation elements and agreed with my grading assessments: the first passed with an A+, the other passed with a D, which she appealed, and he upheld the decision, saying he'd noticed the same thing, "She seems to think if she just keeps repeating something it will become true."  When I showed him my notes on our consultations, that clinched it. He wrote back and told her she was lucky she'd passed at all.

So, the whole thing can vary quite a lot, over time, by setting, and by subject matter.

M.

[rxprof]

I imagine it depends on your institution's requirements, but I LOVE independent studies. I only work with independent study students when it is beneficial for both the student and me though. I usually have 5-10 students working with me at any given time. I have worked with independent study students on topics ranging from updating/developing new materials for courses I teach that they have taken, conducting systematic reviews, and data collection and analysis. My suggestions are to (1) carefully select students and (2) have very clear expectations regarding communication and deliverables. I prefer to have students work on larger projects in pairs, as opposed to overseeing individual students on projects. I typically meet with students about every 2 weeks with emails in between, as needed. I must certify that they completed a specific number of hours per credit therefore they share an electronic time sheet with me.

[the_geneticist]

I imagine it depends on your institution's requirements, but I LOVE independent studies. I only work with independent study students when it is beneficial for both the student and me though. I usually have 5-10 students working with me at any given time. I have worked with independent study students on topics ranging from updating/developing new materials for courses I teach that they have taken, conducting systematic reviews, and data collection and analysis. My suggestions are to (1) carefully select students and (2) have very clear expectations regarding communication and deliverables. I prefer to have students work on larger projects in pairs, as opposed to overseeing individual students on projects. I typically meet with students about every 2 weeks with emails in between, as needed. I must certify that they completed a specific number of hours per credit therefore they share an electronic time sheet with me.

At a previous job, we had to do "senior projects" as independent study with 6-8 students each.  And not necessarily ones we would choose to work with.  For the strong students, it was a great experience for both of us!  For the weak/struggling/under-motivated students, it was simply awful.  The lack of clear expectations or consistency across faculty members meant I really had no good way to hold students accountable.  One of my students plagiarized the introduction to her paper and I was told I could not fail her or report her to the honor board because "she's a senior who needs to graduate".  Wish I'd dropped that student like a hot brick.
tl;dr Make sure YOU get to choose your students.

[apl68]

The other, in Byzantine chant, was puzzling.

Yes, I can see how that might have been the case....

[marshwiggle]

Not exactly the same, but I did a reading course in my 4th year, since I was the only one who wanted to take a specific course. Each week the prof and I would meet for an hour, he'd assign readings and assignment problems, and we could discuss any questions I had. The final exam he just wrote on a piece of paper and I think I might have just answered on the paper itself.

I've supervised a few students in a similar way; the course didn't have enough students to be "regular", so I'd meet with them once a week; they'd show complete lab tasks, and I'd go over key points for the next week's reading and tasks.

[spork]

Why take on independent studies at a time when fall course enrollment is likely to significantly decline? Students should be going into courses that are in the schedule.