Description of an Applied Learning Experience

Honors Experiences Based in Applied Learning

To isolate the academic experiences in this category from “Honors Courses” is, in a sense, misrepresentative: they are, in fact, special Honors courses, distinguished from Plenary or Honors Dimension courses by their degree of selectivity (they will be open only to Honors students, who will be carefully selected to pursue activities germane to their specific interests); by their emphasis on the application of knowledge; and by the flexibility of their venues. Like Plenary and Honors Dimension courses, these decentralized Honors Experiences will require Honors students to document their work in the Honors Portfolio.

Since individual departments play a major role in defining the nature and substance of applied learning experiences, they differ widely from discipline to discipline. There are, however, four basic expectations every Honors student and Honors mentor must take into consideration when defining an applied learning experience:

The experience must derive from the Honors student’s major and must significantly differ from or augment any conventional applied learning experiences already defined by the major discipline and available to non-Honors students. The experience must culminate in a substantive PRODUCT—for example, an analytical essay, a research paper, or a formal presentation of some kind. This product should be documented, and, if possible, included in its entirety, in the student’s Honors portfolio. The experience must give value back to the context in which the student is working. The experience must be defined and justified in a formal Honors contract that identifies its major milestones and posits a tentative schedule for their completion.
The following are examples of potential Honors Experiences based in applied learning:

1.	A teaching assistantship that allows undergraduate Honors students to lecture or lead discussion in general education courses or courses in their majors. A CSIS major in the Honors Program becomes a teaching assistant in a section of CS 2290 devoted to “Multimedia Literacy.” He or she receives Honors credit for directed study (“Honors 4400”). A Junior Nursing major becomes a teaching assistant in a sophomore skills laboratory. An English major serves as a teaching and program aide with the summer workshop co-sponsored by the Honors Program and the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project.
2.	An Honors apprenticeship, coordinated through Career Services, through an academic department, or through an academic honor society, that allows undergraduate Honors students to apply what they have learned in a corporate or service learning environment. A Chemistry or Biology major is employed in a special cooperative education program by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the Emory University Genetics Laboratory. A major in Business Administration is employed in a special corporate apprenticeship with Coca-Cola. A major in Nursing assumes a specialized preceptorship, culminating in a special project, with the administrator of an H.M.O. or with a case manager responsible for quality management. A member of the Blue Key Honor Society conceives a special Honors project in conjunction with her extensive commitment to community service.
3.	A research assistantship assigned through participation in the Presidential Scholars Program (SALT) or through the discipline in which the student is majoring. An Education student helps a professor in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education research theories of pedagogy for a presentation at a national conference and for subsequent publication. A SALT student helps a History professor research and write an NEH grant.