John Sedarous

Professor Tim Moran

Honors PS1010

26 April, 2017

My Experience in Honors PS1010

Honors PS1010 has been unlike any course I have been a part of before. With the entire

course being based around a single project, this class was a very unique experience. I truly

enjoyed the structure of the course, with lecture being based on general governmental concepts

and structures groups would need to understand and circumnavigate to solve their issue, and

seminar focusing on a deeper analysis of lecture and each groups individual issue.

As the semester progressed, I was very surprised at the true complexity of my issue

which was bike sharing as a possible solution to Detroits broken transit system. While at first I

did not think this topic would be particularly challenging, as I had some prior knowledge

regarding the subject, the more I researched the different levels of government, groups,

institutions, and people involved in such an initiative, the more I realized it was much more

complex than I originally believed.

Furthermore, I learned a lot about myself as a student through this course. Because most

assignments involved group work, I have discovered that I thoroughly enjoy working with

others. At first, I believed the only portion of group work I would enjoy was the division of labor,

but I have come to find that one can synthesize ideas much more effectively when working

amongst a group, rather than working alone. I, however, was fortunate enough to have a group of

people who were intelligent, motivated, and very friendly. This contributed greatly to the

enjoyment I derived from working from my group. I do not think I would have enjoyed this
course if I was assigned a group of people who were lazy or unfriendly, which I had not

previously considered regarding group work. I consider myself fortunate having gone through

this experience, as group work now seems much more natural and much less intimidating to me.

Aside from the group work, my favorite aspect of this course was how narrow and

detailed the learning was. Instead of briefly covering a wide variety of topics and issues, which

has been a recurring theme in many of my previous courses, this class encouraged my peers and I

to do thorough research on just one issue. Not only did this aid in truly comprehending the issue

at hand, but it also allowed my group to discover how we personally could make a difference.

Furthermore, with this style of teaching, the information learned is much more retained than that

of a course covering many issues in a relatively short time-span.

Reflecting on this course has lead me to think of what I would do differently if I could go

back. Although, overall, I was highly satisfied with how the course was taught, I would have

preferred a smaller number of essays, and perhaps an increased number of individual

assignments. While the essays were essential in the development of my groups ideas, I felt that

had there been more individual assignments encouraging us to explore the often-ignored aspects

of government, particularly regarding local government, that many groups would have stumbled

upon potential obstacles to their project they had not previously considered.

Overall, this course has provided me with a great semester. KDK provided very gripping

lectures regarding American Politics, and Professor Tim Moran presented the material in a

humorous way that made the course enjoyable. I am now close friends with the three members of

the group I was assigned to, and have learned a great deal regarding how to make change within

the American political system. I would highly recommend this course to anyone considering

joining the honors college, there are very few similar courses taught at Wayne State.