This is the only question that is not open-ended. Instead, it provides 5 possible ways that a conversion may create an Honors learning experience. This question should prompt the student and the instructor to think about their goals for the conversion and to go beyond simply adding more work.

When reading the descriptions of each checkbox below, keep in mind that most conversions will  use a combination of two or more to create a rich experience.

• Increased depth in one or more topics promotes exploration within the existing course content. Examples include additional assigned readings, the student conducting a literature review, or extended laboratory experiments.
• Increased breadth through the addition of one or more topics is another way to promote exploration. There is always more available material than will fit in a single class. In fact, many instructors will find that they have content they wanted to include but could not. Try to leverage that for a conversion.
• Increased complexity is part of building skills related to learning, problem solving, and analysis. This may come from using primary sources or engaging with more difficult problem sets, for example.
• Development of one or more additional skills may include those necessary for research or scholarship in the discipline; conducting a literature review is a common example. The skills may also be more general, such as idea generation, accepting feedback, or working as part of a team.
• Student involvement in research, scholarship, or inquiry encompasses most of the above checkboxes. It's separated to help students and instructors consider whether the planned conversion can incorporate any aspect of scholarship in the relevant field.

The description does not have to be long or especially detailed. It won't include all of the directions that the instructor might provide. However, it should include the following:

• The basic components of the conversion, such as attending symposia, writing reflections, conducting experiments, etc.
• How those components differ from the other assigned work in the class
• Sufficient detail to explain the selected checkboxes from the previous question

The best conversions take place over a period of time. This may not be the entire semester—perhaps a certain topic in the course is necessary before the conversion can begin—but neither students nor instructors are satisfied when the entire 20-25 hour conversion is done in the space of 1-2 weeks at the end of the semester!

The response to this question should, at a minimum, include any relevant due dates. If there are no firm due dates, it should include milestones and approximate dates to keep the student on track.

The description (question 2) includes what the student will do as part of the conversion. This response specifies how well those tasks will be completed. The purpose of this question is to clarify expectations and avoid conflict.

Since the conversion work is not factored into the final grade for the course, it does not need to be assigned a letter or percentage unless that is the easiest way to describe the quality of the work. Instead, the requirements might include factors like a minimum number of symposia attended, minimum number of additional problems completed correctly, or a description of a satisfactory research paper.