RS stands for “Research and Scholarship intensive.” These courses are designed to give students an authentic scholarly experience through research or creative projects. By participating in one of these classes, students are actively involved in a project that is the central focus of the class. Students work on identifying the project, are responsible for carrying Read more about What is an RS course?[…]
This is a tricky question. In Students as Scholars, we define undergraduate scholarship as “the process of generating and sharing knowledge or creative works”. The Council on Undergraduate Research defines it as “an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.” Programs need to Read more about What is “authentic scholarly work”?[…]
The application is online, where there are complete details. The application is not meant to be onerous, only complete enough for the review committee to understand your course and your commitment to including authentic scholarly work in the course.
RS courses are listed on a student’s transcript, allowing them to highlight to future employers or graduate programs that they were in a class that involved a significant original research or creative project. When you teach an RS course, you get the opportunity to engage interested students in an exciting way – they become partners Read more about What are the benefits of having our courses RS designated?[…]
The registrar changes the official name of the course to “RS: COURSE NAME,” so that it appears on the transcript. We have a list of approved RS courses on the website, and there is a list in the catalog (unfortunately, this is only updated periodically, so our list is most accurate).
You can find the current list of classes in several places: the OSCAR website, and Mason’s catalog (unfortunately, this is only updated periodically, so our list is most accurate).
You can visit our Faculty Toolbox, which has a list of books and on-line resources. Many of the books are available in OSCAR (Johnson Center 246, above Burger King), and you are welcome to come hang out during regular office hours (8:30-5, Monday-Friday) and peruse the books. You can also visit either OSCAR or the Read more about What resources are available to help me design a course around a research or creative project?[…]
A course portfolio is required the first time that a course is taught with the RS designation, and after any substantial changes to the course. This portfolio is reviewed by the Faculty and Curricular Activities and Assessment subcommittees. The purpose of this portfolio is NOT to review how “good” the professor is. Instead, our goal Read more about What is expected of faculty and departments once a course is RS designated?[…]
This varies depending on the undergraduate program; many different types of courses have earned the RS designation. RS courses are typically upper-division courses, but can be required capstone experiences, elective topical classes, alternative honors paths through a major, senior theses, and individualized research/creative experiences (the typical independent study research course). In this diagram, you can Read more about What kind of course can get designated?[…]
This happens more often than you would expect! Some research projects span two semesters, and some are completed in more than one class. For instance, the Senior Advanced Design Projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering spans both ECE492 and ECE493, which is a two-semester sequence. In the Bachelor of Individualized Study, students meet most of Read more about What if more than one course is needed to fulfill the RS student learning outcomes? OR – What is an RA attribute on a course?[…]
