Learning Through Experience: Enhancing Your Education
In This Section:
Key college experiences such as participating on a faculty member's research team or engaging in service-learning will help you to grow and learn in ways that enhance and complement your education.
In particular, the School of Arts and Sciences Office of Experiential Learning (OEL) assists undergraduates in finding opportunities to learn outside the classroom and to earn academic credit by participating in research, internships, and teaching related to their fields of study. These critical experiences give them a chance to apply what they are learning in class and to bring what they learn from these experiences back to the classroom for further study. Experiential learning provides great opportunities for you to explore areas of interest in order to select a major and prepare for graduate school, the world of work, and a fuller, richer life. For more information, contact OEL at 412-624-6828, B-4 Thaw Hall.
Academic Internships
An academic internship is an approved, monitored work experience that meets specific learning goals related to an academic field of study. This experience highlights the relationship between the practical skills gained in an internship and the academic work done in the classroom. Academic internships provide students with the flexibility to learn many aspects of organizations in which they are interns. Undergraduate students can earn between one and three credits for approved academic internships. Students register for academic internships either through the Office of Experiential Learning (ARTSC 1900) or through an academic department.
Prerequisites for ARTSC 1900 Academic Internships include: 36 credits; at least a 2.25 GPA; a completed Academic Internship Learning Agreement that is approved by the Office of Experiential Learning; and the ARTSC 1900 course must be added to the student's course schedule no later than the Add/Drop deadline for the term. Because students earn credit for academic internships, they do not receive pay for internship work.
You can look for internship opportunities in FutureLinks, a career management system available through Career Development, or make an appointment with the Academic Internship Coordinator in the Office of Experiential Learning. Career Development also has information about internships, through which students do not receive credit, but are paid. To contact Career Development, please call 412-648-7130, or go to 234 William Pitt Union.
Undergraduate Research
Students can plan, explore, and make an impact in their lives and the world around them through research. In the School of Arts and Sciences, there are several opportunities for research at the undergraduate level.
The Office of Experiential Learning offers the First Experiences in Research program, through which undergraduates partner with faculty mentors from across academic disciplines and participate directly on a faculty mentor's research team. This experience and mentoring helps you see what it would be like to be a neuroscientist, archaeologist, or art historian, for example. You can directly experience and explore careers you have always dreamed of or have just discovered.
While First Experiences in Research is designed particularly for freshmen in their second term, all Arts and Sciences undergraduates may apply. Interested students should contact the Office of Experiential Learning in early fall to find out how to apply for this spring program – contact them at 412-624-6828 or visit B-4 Thaw Hall, mid-campus.
Other research opportunities exist through academic departments. Students are encouraged to consider the fields that most interest them and to explore departmental Web pages to learn about the research of individual faculty members. Students may then contact faculty directly to inquire about assisting with their research.
Opportunities for summer undergraduate research are also available. Students can apply for Undergraduate Research Awards available through the School or Arts and Sciences or the Brackenridge Undergraduate Fellowship through the Honors College. Both programs make it possible for undergraduates to conduct independent research for 10 weeks during the summer. Some departments offer directed research for academic credit. To find out more about these opportunities, please contact the department of interest directly.
Field research means "learning in the field" through hands-on experience in outdoor laboratories, excavation sites, urban planning meetings, and other site-specific locations that allow students to explore an area of study. Geology, Urban Studies, Biology, and Anthropology are just a few programs that offer field research for credit in locations ranging from Pymatuning to London to Yellowstone National Park. Please check the Course Descriptions and those departments for more information about participating in field research for credit.
Undergraduate Teaching
The School of Arts and Sciences has many opportunities for undergraduates who would like to assist with the teaching of their peers. Undergraduates who have demonstrated mastery of academic material can help fellow students to learn, reinforce their own learning, improve their communication, and leadership skills, build their college résumés, and gain confidence and satisfaction by helping others learn. These experiences also provide a great means to explore careers in teaching. To find out more about these opportunities, please contact the Office of Experiential Learning at 412-624-6828 or visit the office in B-4 Thaw Hall.
Leadership
As undergraduates in the School of Arts and Sciences work toward mastery in a discipline within the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences, students can serve in positions of leadership within the many student organizations on campus and participate in specific programs that prepare them for future leadership roles within their scholarly fields, workplaces, families, and communities.
Students may hone their leadership skills through teaching, tutoring or advising their peers. Many departments have peer teaching opportunities such as the Chemistry UTU (Undergraduate Teaching Undergraduates). Through the Office of Freshman Programs, students can become UTAs (Undergraduate Teaching Assistants) for the Introduction to Arts and Sciences courses for freshmen. The Advising Center provides preparation and course credit for students who serve as Peer Advisors. The Academic Resource Center provides preparation for students to become tutors or mentors for their peers.
In addition to these opportunities, students may hold leadership positions in campus organizations, including the Student Government Board (SGB). Through the SGB, students also serve as representatives on faculty committees such as the A&S Undergraduate Council, A&S Council, and the Bellet Teaching Excellence Award Committee.
Arts and Sciences also offers a Leadership Certificate for students who, while majoring in specific academic disciplines, also acquire core leadership competencies through coursework in quantitative reasoning, economic principles, oral and written communications and human architectures. The Leadership Certificate is comprised of 24 credits from these four foundational areas, a capstone course, and participation in co-curricular experiences such as community service and the Emerging Leaders program, a workshop series offered through the Division of Student Affairs.