Arbitrary Hour

Arbitrary Hour is a Fall 2008 seminar series is a Student Designed Course at Olin College in Boston, MA. The course is essentially an educational collective in which each student in the course (there are no "teachers" or "professors") gives a one to two hour long seminar on a topic that interests them. The seminar can be about anything, from a hands on baking experience to a discourse on international politics.

Course Background, Description, and Expectations

Arbitrary Hour is a one-credit student organized seminar series for Spring 2009. The course is essentially an educational collective in which each student in the course (there are no "teachers" or "professors") gives a seminar on a topic that interests them. The seminar can be about anything, from a hands on baking experience to a discourse on international politics.

All students enrolled in the course will be required to plan and deliver at least one seminar during the course. All students are required to give written feedback about each seminar to the seminar leader. The leader must then write a written reflection about their seminar that will be posted to the Arbitrary Hour blog for others to read. This will enable us as a group to figure out what makes an effective experience. Students are encouraged to casually post about the seminar experiences (with photos and video!) to the Arbitrary Hour blog.

As a one-credit course, each week includes three hours of expected work time. This translates roughly into a one-hour seminar, and a one-hour feedback requirement. During the week in which a participant is delivering a seminar, they are expected to spend an additional two hours planning their seminar, and two hours reviewing feedback and reflecting on their presentation. Additional time can be allotted to publicizing documentation, such as posting about an experience to the blog, keeping the Wikiversity page up to date, and uploading videos.

Seminars

A twenty to thirty minute lecturing time limit might be important. It is difficult to give an engaging one hour lecture, and a discussion or hands-on experience is likely more effective for learning.

Feedback and Reflection

Written feedback should be given to the seminar leader by the end of the week, preferably within 24-48 hours. This can be combined with reflection, covering not only the experience as presented by the seminar leader but also the impact it had on the student.

Recording and Archiving

Talks will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube for posterity.

Competencies

Olin College employs a competency system. The following competencies will be addressed by the Arbitrary Hour course:

• Life Long Learning
• Communication

What is a Good Seminar?

In addition to the various documentation produced by the class, students should also present a final reflection addressing the question "What makes a good seminar?" - this should reflect the experiences of both leading and attending a seminar.

Question for consideration: should this be individual or team? (answer on the discussion page)

How to Join

Sign up for the Arbitrary Hour mailing list at http://lists.olin.edu!

Olin College (and other BBOW schools) students wishing to take this "course" should contact Nikki Lee, preferably before the first week of January, so that Independent Study paperwork and scheduling can be handled appropriately. You must also create a Wikiversity account and add yourself to our participant list below.

External learners who would like to participate in the course are welcome. While geography may be a problem, we will attempt to be accommodating, and would love drop-in lecturers or participants! To let us know your interest, please add yourself to our participant list below!

Participants

• Nikki Lee (Olin College)
• Kathleen Towers (Olin College)
• Andrea Lai (Olin College)

What Do You Want to Learn About?

Fill this space with topics you would like to learn about. Maybe someone knows a lot about it.

It's kind of like that wall from the movie Accepted.

• Car Maintenance
• Cooking
• making Dim Sum (I will be learning this summer and can theoretically teach it after --Nikki)
• international politics
• philosophy