Policy Experiment

Well, it's time to report on the great policy experiment. In all three of my classes, I gave students the opportunity to create the policies for the course. I let them work in groups to brainstorm ideas, I circulated around answering questions and pointing out various circumstances and consequences, and provided them a sampling of policies that I have used.
It was really quite remarkable to see the process as they worked. Now, any teacher knows that students will always digress some when set to work in groups, but I must say they stayed on task remarkably well. The general discussion and debate was quite interesting as well.
The results, well, the results were staggering. All three courses, with only very minor adjustments, adopted the policies I gave them as examples. All the students found those policies to be fair and representative of what they wanted in a course, allowing for flexibility when needed, and rewarding effort above presence.
Best of all, the students are now conversant with the policies, and have taken an ownership in the class. As a result of my experiment, I will say that the policies I'm most comfortable with will continue to be part of the course, and the students are invested in the course, knowing that I respect them and the part they play in the learning experience.
This was a resounding success. Will it always be so? Probably not, but the results are such that I'm willing to continue the experiment on again next semester.