Attendance policy
We expect that you attend each of our course meetings in person. However, if something comes up, please let us know and we can make arrangements for you to make up your absence. Unfortunately, we can’t offer remote attendance via Zoom this quarter, but we are happy to send you a class recap (and we will of course post all relevant materials and slides on Canvas).
And of course, your health is the top priority, so if you are sick or have ANY potential symptoms of COVID-19, flu, RSV, a cold, etc., please email us (when you can) and stay home and rest!
Grading & assignments
Our primary focus is to make this course useful for all of you.
Here is the breakdown of what we expect from all of you:
- Attendance (30%): Attendance is required to benefit from the panel discussions and from the presentation and demonstrations of a range of research skills, and from getting feedback from your peers. And most importantly, attendance is essential for creating and sustaining a culture in class that is supportive, informative, constructive, and provides a safe space for troubleshooting issues together.
- Active Participation (30%): Active participation encourages dynamic learning and enhances communication skills. Moreover, both individually and as a group, we benefit from hearing everyone’s perspectives. Therefore, we encourage you to actively participate in class discussions, including presentations of your work, asking and posting questions and engaging in discussion during panels, peer presentations, and skill development sessions.
- Final NSF Proposal (20%): Knowing how to write an effective grant proposal is an important skill in research. Writing this NSF proposal is an opportunity for you to crystallize your thinking in terms of the background and significance of your honors project and to think through the methods you’ll use, how you’ll analyze the data, and the conclusions you might draw from your work. This can then serve as an initial draft that you can refer to as you write your final thesis. Your NSF proposal will be due at the end of the quarter.
- Peer Feedback (20%): Providing constructive peer feedback fosters collaboration, hones your critical evaluation skills, and promotes a supportive classroom environment. Therefore, in addition to providing constructive feedback throughout the entire course, we’ll be asking you to provide written feedback to a peer on their NSF proposal.
Class norms
Be respectful of each other
- Be respectful of everyone’s ideas, work, identities and needs.
- Be respectful and helpful when giving and taking feedback.
Provide constructive feedback
- Start positively when giving feedback. Try to provide a solution when giving feedback.
- Participate in class discussions but don’t dominate the discussion.
- Be constructive with suggestions, not critical.
- Be honest when reviewing others.
- Take space, make space.
Recognize differences in the stages and fields of research
- Be aware that everybody may be at different places in the honors research process and don’t assume that everyone is at the same stage.
- Respecting different areas of research - every question is useful.
- Be mindful of the use of language and jargon.
Look for opportunities to help each other
- Step in to help out (especially for troubleshooting issues).
- Participate in each others’ studies when that would be useful.
- Share resources and knowledge
Support
Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability should initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education
(OAE). Professional staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which the request is being made. Students should contact the OAE as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066, URL: http://oae.stanford.edu).
Stanford offers several services that might be of help:
Feedback
We welcome feedback regarding the course at any point. Please feel free to email us directly, or leave anonymous feedback for the teaching team by using this form.
