With the revision (simplification) of the rubric and the course definition, this is easier. Students will need to demonstrate “Proficiency”-level accomplishments (see the SaS Program Rubric) on the three required project-focused learning outcomes and on one of the methods-related outcomes. That is, by the time they have finished the course or project, students will be able to: Read more about How do I pick my Student Learning Outcomes? I want my students to know all of this![…]

Yes, it would be great to get these courses RS designated (since the purpose is doing research!), if the course number is only used for individualized research or creative projects, and there is a common syllabus to the research experience. Note that this syllabus doesn’t need to be prescriptive, but it should include the student Read more about Can independent study get an RS designation?[…]

Unfortunately, no.  The RS designation is attached to the course number, not individual sections.  All sections need to be taught as RS if it is designated. In this case, you can either have the department agree that whoever teaches the course will include authentic scholarly work, or you can go through your department and college Read more about Two of us alternate teaching the same course. I think that my section is an RS course, but hers probably isn’t. Can I get my section RS designated?[…]

OSCAR offers Scholarship Development Grants that offer “catalyst funding” to help department defray the expenses related to scaling up research opportunities within classes. These grants can help support widgets for the students, as long as widgets are durable items that can be used each time the class is taught.  Funds can also be used for Read more about I’d like to teach an RS course but I don’t have enough widgets in the classroom for all the students. How do I get more widgets?[…]

The Faculty and Curricular Activities Committee, a committee of the Students as Scholars QEP Leadership Council. The FCA consists of representative faculty from all schools/colleges with undergraduate programs, University Libraries, and the director of the Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence.  Bethany Usher, director of Students as Scholars/OSCAR serves as a non-voting chair.

Once you submit your materials, the applications for RS designation are distributed by OSCAR to all members of the FCA. The members review the application, looking specifically at the criteria for RS courses. They then meet, discuss the applications, and make a recommendation to the chair of the committee (Bethany), which can fall into one Read more about How does a course get reviewed for RS designation?[…]

All RS designations are provisional until the course has been taught for the first time as RS and a full RS portfolio has been submitted. The course is permanently (see “in perpetuity” below) approved after the portfolio is accepted, unless significant changes have been made to the course.

The FCA reviewers look to make sure that: Courses have a sustained, authentic research or creative project that is a significant aspect of the class The syllabus identifies the course as RS and describes the student learning outcomes (in the best cases, the outcomes correlate with the Students as Scholars learning outcomes but use language Read more about What are the reviewers looking for in the RS proposals?[…]

Just as with faculty, scholarship doesn’t become meaningful until it is disseminated, and we want student to have this opportunity.  Having the expectation that the results of their work will be, in some way, public, increases the quality of the work. And students can point to the final product as evidence of their scholarly work Read more about What does it mean to share the results beyond the classroom, and what possibilities are there?[…]

In writing that language, we are trying to get departments to understand that the courses will be taught as RS, with the associated student learning outcomes, for the foreseeable future – that this is a permanent change to the course as a whole, not just a single section, under one professor, or for a specified Read more about What does “in perpetuity” really mean?[…]