The NAE Grand Challenge Scholars program requires a service learning experience to deepen the student’s motivation to bring their technical expertise to bear on societal problems.
Requirement will be fulfilled by:
Taking UH 267. This course is required for UT-HELM. This course is a component of a partnership between the College of Education and the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy to promote the full service school concept to currently underserved schools in the Knoxville area. Students combine classroom work on the concepts and traditions of service learning with conducting independent projects in local elementary schools.
UH 267 Service Learning, 3 Credits
This class will immerse you in a local community to provide you with a new way of learning through service. Success in any field requires not only knowledge of your discipline but skill in taking initiative and fostering interconnectedness with peers and the community. This class builds specifically on this basis by emphasizing the mutual benefits of service for both the community and the students. Components of this course will include weekly journals, weekly service activities in local underserved schools, interdisciplinary discussions and speakers, and creative, self-designed projects.
As an alternative, students may petition an alternate service learning experience to their GCSP advisor.
For a full list of service learning courses, please see https://honors.tickle.utk.edu/breadth-requirements/service-learning/
Planning and Documentation
Students in this program are expected to act independently, know all requirements of the program, and bring problems to the attention of the GCSP director promptly. They have the responsibility of choosing their interdisciplinary and optional coursework wisely, proposing a plan that has thematic continuity and connectivity. A yearly plan update meeting with the Director is required.
A narrative Portfolio is required at the end of the program that summarizes how the requirements were met, including any substitutions that were requested and approved, and a reflection on the total GCSP program both from the perspective of what the student felt they gained from the experience, and how the program could be improved. Documentation should include course syllabi, significant projects, and copies of published research results.