Honors class offers tour in place of education, homework
Honors 2000 is an online class that offers more than just education and classes online.
Optional social and learning activities have included hiking to the Wind Caves and a tour of the Space Dynamics Lab.
The tour of SDL allowed students to see many of SDL’s projects and equipment used in their ongoing experiments such as clean rooms and a vacuum chamber.
“These activities are great. I get to meet people and learn at the same time,” said Phillip Anderson, a freshman studying aerospace engineering. “It lets me see what goes on in the real engineering world.”
The activities help students become familiar with the local community and helps give direction and ideas for possible job opportunities.
The class is comprised of about 300 students who are given a chance to participate due to their past academic performance.
Tours and activities are not all that the online class is comprised of.
Online discussion groups are also available to answer questions and make friendships with other students.
The class is led by Panu Puikkonen and mentored by Katherine Shakespeare and Thayne Batty.
The idea behind the class is, “for the students to become familiar with USU and make the most of their academic experience” said Puikkonen, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering.
Assignments relate to on-campus activities, leadership, deciding a major, and setting goals for schooling.
The class allows for experience in the honors program and gets participants energized for their educational pursuits, Puikkonen said.
-gmblake@cc.usu.edu