New Old Words

Vol. 2 No 2.

So, what does the foundation of Honors look like?  In many ways, it's the same as it always has been:  reflection, inquiry, and collaboration in the pursuit of learning that lasts beyond the classroom and the institution.  But we feel that we've infused it with a few more words that capture the essence of what Honors at FLCC is and where it came from.

Curiosity.  Passion.  Engagement.  Challenge.  

So many who teach and learning in Honors Studies will tell you that it's not MORE work, it's different work.  But it's not just about 'work' - there are so many other words and things that you should know if the core of Honors Studies is something you seek to really understand.  From our mission, talked about last week, comes our learning outcomes.  These are the things we want students to have gained by the time they leave us and FLCC.  

• Students will be able to reflect on and evaluate their internal learning process
• Students will be able to analyze external connections among their own learning experiences
• Students will be able to articulate the value of intellectual pursuit in a scholarly tradition

Can you see them?  Those same ideas of reflection, new modes of learning, inquiry, and intellect.  There are some parts that might look or sound new, though they are really not.  We've just found new ways to say them.  And we made sure that the things that we hold as the heart of Honors Studies link to the FLCC Values.   It wasn't hard to do - they overlap and inform each other in so many exciting ways.

Vitality is reflected with all three of our learning outcomes in Honors Studies, most readily with the third one.  Exploring scholarly tradition really encourages us see how the concepts and content of a course exist outside the classroom in complex ways.  Within the classroom, the second learning outcomes leads Honors Studies students to explore their learning in a collective context, while self-evaluation (in the first learning outcome) is directly linked to well-being.  We have to look to ourselves to engage in self-care at all levels - emotionally, physically, intellectually, and even spiritually.

We find interconnection most obviously in the second learning outcome where you will be directly challenged to find connections among learning experiences.  The first learning outcome hopefully leads to us realizing that our internal selves is what connects all the arenas of our lives and the one thing over which we have the most control.  Internal reflection also encourages you to connect with other students as well as faculty and staff. Meanwhile, the third learning outcome highlights that a discipline is a community of scholars and the conversations of the classroom are just one facet of conversations going on all around us.

All of the Honors Studies learning outcomes require perseverance.  Our emphasis on analysis, reflection and scholarship requires the continual push against intellectual, emotional, and circumstantial barriers.

Similarly, reflection, evaluation, analysis, and scholarship are based squarely in inquiry.  When students meet the three Honors Studies learning outcomes, they demonstrate the ability to pose questions and utilize endurance to pursue the answers.

So, there you have it.  The events, courses, and experiences you have in Honors Studies is so much more than just 'fun classes' that are taught in a different way.  We've put so much work in behind the scenes so you could have these experiences and we hope that you find just as much value in them as we do.  We also couldn't do ANY of this without you.

“It is only once in a blue moon that you are able to honestly say the experience of a classroom has changed your outlook on life. This course was one of my blue moons.”

-Amber