Honors First Year Experience (FYEX)
Date: August 2017 – December 2017
Competencies: Information Literacy lv. 1,2&3, Information Synthesis lv. 1
Competencies: Information Literacy lv. 1,2&3, Information Synthesis lv. 1
Summary
The first semester I was at MNSU, I took the Honors First Year Experience class. We met once each week during the semester. This was one of the first classes I took on a college campus, as well as my first experience with the Honors Program. During class each week, we would discuss various aspects of the competencies of the Honors Program: Leadership, Global Citizenship, and Research. This gave me a good base on which to build my knowledge and experience of the Honors Program’s core competencies and helped create a framework through which I could experience the remainder of my time in the Honors Program and at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
The first semester I was at MNSU, I took the Honors First Year Experience class. We met once each week during the semester. This was one of the first classes I took on a college campus, as well as my first experience with the Honors Program. During class each week, we would discuss various aspects of the competencies of the Honors Program: Leadership, Global Citizenship, and Research. This gave me a good base on which to build my knowledge and experience of the Honors Program’s core competencies and helped create a framework through which I could experience the remainder of my time in the Honors Program and at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Reflection
Coming into Honors FYEX, and my first year of MSU, I had a decent amount of research skills under my belt. I’d written numerous essays for my English and Speech classes in High School, many of which involved researching a topic.
However, learning the basics of proper research made me realize that I didn’t quite have my research skills polished yet. I found out that Google was not an efficient medium to access information on (Literacy lv. 1), and that I should be going for the ‘gold standard’ of peer reviewed writing, making sure that the site is of a ‘scholarly caliber.’ I also realized that I had to critically sift through information, since most of what is on the internet is merely opinion or outright false (Literacy lv. 2). Class also touched on how to accurately cite and use sources in our writing, and I was able to practice using information that was correct and pertinent to the subject material. I felt that I had a good grip on this subject, but realized that when I write, I usually rely heavily on quotes, and seldom relied on cited paraphrases and other equally valuable writing tools (Literacy lv. 3). At the end of our research unit, my class wrote an essay on what we’d learned about research and how we could apply it to the rest of our college journey. I got the chance to do some research on research and share my findings! After writing, I reflected that some of the information I found was pertinent to my research subject, but not directly applicable, and I had to sift through my sources to decide which information was best suited for the topic at hand (Synthesis lv. 1).
Moving forward, I will apply my research ethics and skills to my future coursework and career. As an Accountant, there will always be tax laws, auditing principles, and client information that I will need to know how to accurately research and synthesize, and this base will help me do it correctly and ethically!
Coming into Honors FYEX, and my first year of MSU, I had a decent amount of research skills under my belt. I’d written numerous essays for my English and Speech classes in High School, many of which involved researching a topic.
However, learning the basics of proper research made me realize that I didn’t quite have my research skills polished yet. I found out that Google was not an efficient medium to access information on (Literacy lv. 1), and that I should be going for the ‘gold standard’ of peer reviewed writing, making sure that the site is of a ‘scholarly caliber.’ I also realized that I had to critically sift through information, since most of what is on the internet is merely opinion or outright false (Literacy lv. 2). Class also touched on how to accurately cite and use sources in our writing, and I was able to practice using information that was correct and pertinent to the subject material. I felt that I had a good grip on this subject, but realized that when I write, I usually rely heavily on quotes, and seldom relied on cited paraphrases and other equally valuable writing tools (Literacy lv. 3). At the end of our research unit, my class wrote an essay on what we’d learned about research and how we could apply it to the rest of our college journey. I got the chance to do some research on research and share my findings! After writing, I reflected that some of the information I found was pertinent to my research subject, but not directly applicable, and I had to sift through my sources to decide which information was best suited for the topic at hand (Synthesis lv. 1).
Moving forward, I will apply my research ethics and skills to my future coursework and career. As an Accountant, there will always be tax laws, auditing principles, and client information that I will need to know how to accurately research and synthesize, and this base will help me do it correctly and ethically!
Artifact
Attached is the research essay I wrote at the end of our research section of my FYEX class.
Attached is the research essay I wrote at the end of our research section of my FYEX class.