Courses that carry the Independent Inquiry Flag are generally upper-division or capstone-style courses that challenge students to integrate skills and knowledge they have acquired over the course of their undergraduate careers. Students use these skills and expertise to create something new and contribute meaningfully to their discipline.
For a class at UT to satisfy the Independent Inquiry Flag, it must meet the following definition:
- At least one-third* of the course grade must be based on the students’ independent investigation and presentation of their own work. The presentation of their work can take place in many venues including presentations in a capstone course, a performance, independent research, or a thesis.
*For three-or four-credit courses. For two-credit hour courses, at least one-half of the course grade should be based on Flag content. For one hour credit courses, the whole course grade (100%) should be based on Flag content.
What is an Independent Inquiry Flag class like?
The emphasis for courses carrying this Flag is on how the student is engages in the process of inquiry over the course of the semester rather than on the final project or product that results from the student’s independent work. Independent inquiry is viewed as a culmination of a semester’s work rather than one exercise.