Our Hopes & Expectations Student Learning Outcomes

The Schreyer Honors College is a committed advocate of the overall Penn State experience, and an engaged partner with numerous colleges, departments, and programs in the university. Its historic vision and mission lead it to be a multifaceted, holistic program that shapes its students to be moral agents that influence the world for the common good. More specifically, the ambitious task of the Schreyer Honors College is to invest in its students—in and out of the classroom—to the end that they will be committed to, and skilled in, providing principled leadership in the world, and contribute positively and effectively to professional, social, civic and intellectual outcomes.

Mission & Vision History & Traditions
Schreyer Scholars waiting to receive their medals

Student Learning Outcomes

Educators always have hopes for what students will learn. Codifying these hopes is an attempt to identify what has come to be called intended student learning outcomes. As the Preamble above clearly attests, the Schreyer Honors College has high hopes for the learning experience of its students. More specifically, students who graduate from the College will:

These four learning outcomes are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are best understood as being intertwined, having connections one to the others, both conceptually and practically.

The Schreyer Honors College will intentionally and strategically provide curricular and co-curricular programs, initiatives, experiences, practices, policies, and procedures—in collaboration with its various partners at the university as appropriate and/or relevant—that it believes may bolster students’ progress towards these learning outcomes.

Rationale

The Schreyer Honors College provides an experience for its Scholars that is intentionally designed to go “above and beyond” simply attending Penn State. This experience that the College has in mind involves academic, cocurricular, and extracurricular dimensions. That is, the College expects its Scholars to engage their studies more deeply and with more complexity. Being a Scholar in the Honors College requires leveraging opportunities to think more meaningfully in a broader context. Scholars must examine their own academic disciplines, but interface with students in other areas of inquiry and eventually with professionals in other arenas.

The College also expects its Scholars to be engaged citizens, well-rounded people who do more than simply go to class. Being a part of the College means being very deliberate and affirming that “Yes! I am a fully engaged member of this community.” The Honors College wants its Scholars to be actively involved in other experiences and activities above and beyond what is required of them academically; Scholars’ disciplines are springboards for further and additional engagement. And, although the College may not offer a specific event or experience, it facilitates and encourages Scholars to pursue multiple opportunities for diving deeper.

The Schreyer Honors College expects its Scholars to:

Elaboration of Learning Outcomes

Develop, engage in, and communicate scholarship in their field in order to examine and critically analyze selected topics, issues, or problems

The Schreyer Honors College expects Scholars to be actively engaged in and out of the classroom and through their academic disciplines. Participation as a Scholar enables students to explore more deeply within their academic disciplines. Progress toward this outcome, including evidence of tangible growth in their abilities as individual Schreyer Scholars, may take shape in the following ways:

Embody ethical principles and moral agency in personal, academic, professional, and societal contexts

The Schreyer Honors College expects Scholars to cultivate the lifelong pursuit of integrity and moral agency. In doing so, they will recognize ethics as essential to one’s character, goals, actions, and civic responsibilities. In turn, Scholars will integrate ethics into their academic, professional, and civic pursuits, and practice and model ethical leadership and decision-making in all facets of life. Progress toward this outcome, including evidence of tangible growth in their abilities as individual Schreyer Scholars, may take shape in the following ways:

Demonstrate respect for human differences, understanding of global interdependency, and engagement in civic life

The Schreyer Honors College expects Scholars to be outward-facing— in processing information, in interpersonal communications, and considering opinions, and in service to society. Schreyer Scholars will come to be characterized as those who actively appreciate human differences, engage in principled interactions and involvements, are articulate about the relevance and importance of mutuality and interdependence at local, national, and global levels, and are committed to furthering the common good of society through ongoing, active participation. Progress toward this outcome, including evidence of tangible growth in their abilities as individual Scholars, may also take shape in the following ways:

Collaborate with others and demonstrate leadership by exploring opportunities or implementing initiatives

The quality of a Scholar’s active engagements is more important than their quantity and should be readily characterized by co-creation of vision and shared discovery, all of which may take a variety of forms and occur within numerous contexts. For example, Scholars must model a spirit of collaboration in and out of the classroom and be responsible for completing all College requirements in conjunction with their Honors advisers, theses advisers, and Honors College staff. Progress toward this outcome, including evidence of tangible growth in their abilities as individual Scholars, may take shape in the following ways:

Opportunities to Demonstrate Learning Outcomes

The four Schreyer Honors College learning outcomes are intertwined and interconnected, as one might expect for outcomes that bridge disciplines and contexts. A given undertaking may make progress toward satisfying multiple outcomes.

Suggestions for how Schreyer Scholars document their achievement of these outcomes might include but are not limited to the following:

Schreyer Scholar Emily Snow

I think being in the Schreyer Honors College definitely helped me have a leg up in finding research opportunities and having professors confident in my ability to take on the responsibility of research. I’m working with stem cells and regenerative medicine. I was awarded an Erickson Discovery Grant this past summer and then the College gave me a summer grant to work on my research.

Emily Snow ' 23 Biomedical Engineering

Our Hopes & Expectations Student Learning Outcomes

Mission & Vision History & Traditions