At the end of January I posted a note about January-term classes. I said that I wanted to be more strategic in scheduling our “Winterim” classes, but didn’t have any specific ideas. Today’s Inside Higher Education, though, has changed that, as the start of the “Questioning Value of ‘Janterm'” article reminded me that January-term classes should “offer time for students to immerse themselves in travel abroad or a single, intensive course they never would take otherwise – because it’s far outside their course of study, or nontraditional, or both.” Our Winterim schedule, on the other hand, is packed with regular courses that are offered during all other terms (for example, CRMJ 101 Introduction to Criminal Justice). I’ll have to encourage faculty to develop truly unique classes for Winterim, such as an experience that would produce a local version of Minneapolis’ Historyapolis project. Hhhmmm…
Comments 3
David Banks — March 17, 2014
My alma mater used January for student-centered independent study projects. The work I did in those was always supremely useful and helped a lot in managing big research projects and producing well-written assignments.
Walt Jacobs — March 17, 2014
Thanks for the info, David. The NCF Independent Study Project definitely looks like a great model for us to consider!