Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That not all Independent Studies are created equal.

The problem with teaching Independent Studies is that too few students are able or willing to work independently. What, though, is the solution?

I am doing Independent Studies with two students this summer, and they represent the extremes of the species. They have one thing in common: both students need to pass this course in order to graduate, so they ought to be equally motivated. They're not.

Student A does the reading assignments on time, does the writing assignments on time, and shows up at my office on time for every session. I may preface our discussions with some background material, but then I ask her to talk about the book and she leads us on a delightful tour of discovery through some pretty wonderful literature. By the end of the session, she has independently raised just about every point I had intended to cover, so I just tie her ideas together with with the theme of the course and talk about the next stage in our journey and we're on our merry way.

Student B showed up once and turned in one writing assignment; since then he has not appeared or responded to e-mails. His writing is good and he has interesting ideas about the literature, but as long as his ideas remain wrapped up within his head, they're not doing anyone any good. If experience is any indication, I expect him to come rushing in just before summer grades are due and beg for an Incomplete, promising to make up all the work before the fall semester starts. Maybe he will. Either way, I'm not motivated to put much effort into this situation.

Student B and others like him make me want to give up on teaching Independent Studies entirely, but if I had more like Student A, I'd teach them every semester. Certain idiosyncrasies in our scheduling system make it difficult to avoid Independent Studies entirely, but perhaps there's a way to cut down on demand for Independent Studies while also encouraging those who must take them to truly work independently. I'm thinking of adopting something like the British tutorial system: for each weekly session, the student will have to write a paper and present it for discussion. When word gets around that my Independent Studies actually require students to work independently, perhaps students will find other ways to meet their requirements.

I'll try this system out the next time a student comes to my office begging for an Independent Study. Meanwhile, I'll spend my summer eagerly looking forward to each meeting with Student A while awaiting the onslaught of pleading e-mails from Student B, who has apparently declared independence from the study of literature.