Course Components and Descriptions

A regularly scheduled course devoted to participation in or performance of some form of physical activity. Knowledge associated with the proper performance of the activity presented. Examples include physical fitness courses.

Students participate in client and/or client-related services as part of the learning process. Instruction usually occurs outside the institutional setting (or in an actual clinical laboratory setting) and may involve work with clients who receive professional services from students supervised by faculty members. Examples include medically-based clerkships or working in a clinical lab setting.

A regularly scheduled course, or section of a larger course, designed solely for group discussion. Discussions are typically non-credit bearing, linked to a credit bearing course, and not stand alone courses (see seminar). As such discussion sections generally contain fewer students than the course to which they are linked. Examples include a mandatory zero-credit discussion section associated with an Introductory Psychology course.

Students work with an instructor to create an audio or visual performance as a group. Section size may vary based on requirements of the musical score or script. Examples include an orchestral group course.

Students participate in credit bearing off-campus activities under faculty supervision and instruction. Probably some amount of time will be spent in a classroom/lecture environment, but the majority of time will be spent out of the formal classroom. Examples include students involved in field work might go into the mountains to learn about native flora, fauna, and geological formations or attend the theatre.

Students work to present the results of a study or studies submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an undergraduate degree in the Honors Program. The process requires one-on-one interaction between student and professor/mentor and may satisfy the upper-division Communication/Writing graduation requirement.

Students complete individualized and often self-paced plans of study. The instructor and students negotiate the details of the plan of study. Courses are usually small (10 or fewer students) and generally have no defined meeting days and times.

Courses meet in a defined physical setting (i.e., laboratory) for the purpose of the application of methods and principles of a discipline. Labs may be stand-alone (for credit), but are typically a non-credit supplement to instruction in a traditional classroom section (similar to discussions). As such, lab sections generally contain fewer students than the course they are linked. Examples include a required zero-credit chemistry laboratory associated with a chemistry course.

Standard non-variable/fixed credit course where instruction occurs in a traditional classroom setting. Lectures almost always have larger class sizes than seminar. Lecture courses may certainly include a variety of pedagogies (discussion, class presentation) but are predominantly lecture oriented. If a course is more discussion or non-lecture dominated, then seminar may be a more applicable course component

Courses are designed to give students supervised and practical application of previously studied theory in a setting outside the classroom, but not necessarily one that is strictly clinical or medical in nature. Examples include internships and student teaching.

Courses focus on research related to a specific interest or academic discipline, but do not entail an actual dissertation or thesis. The faculty member and student(s) mutually negotiate the nature of the study/research.

Students receive individual instruction including one-to-one demonstration and performance critique of their art. This would likely be used primarily for music (i.e., fine arts) courses.

A more interactive and typically smaller course forum than a lecture. Content may include student presentations and discussions based on literature, theory, problems, or research. Enrollment is generally limited to allow for greater focus on students’ critical reflection and exchange of ideas. Lecture is not the dominant pedagogical activity of the course, like in a LEC course component course.

Courses involve demonstration and application of design and theory in a defined physical setting (i.e., studio). Students explore and experiment under the guidance of an instructor, and the class size is usually limited by setting parameters. Courses typically focus on the development or creation of artistically static work, such as pottery, sculpture, or paintings/drawings/graphics, or the mastery of an art form itself, such as dance or theatre.

A formal treatise presenting the results of study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of an advanced degree. The process requires intensive interaction between the student candidate, thesis advisor, and supplemental committee members.

Undergraduate Senior Theses however are not THE, and should be categorized as either IND or HON.

These are special and infrequently/inconsistently offered devoted to specified fields of faculty expertise or interest. Content is not wholly included in the regularly offered curriculum and the format typically be seminar or smaller lecture.

Workshops may have irregular beginning and/or end dates (especially at graduate levels). In general, specific hours of actual work (dance, writing, performance, etc.) will need to be completed, work is then evaluated by the instructor and other students, and then work is appropriately revised in order to earn course credit. Workshops provide a creative forum for interactive learning between faculty and all enrolled students. Oftentimes, guest artists or experts may serve as instructors.