Essential Education Experiences (E3) are 3-credit, upper-division courses, intended for students in their junior year (at the discretion of the course instructor). In E3 courses, students will actively apply their Essential Abilities through hands-on learning designed to increase their social awareness, global understanding, civic engagement or cultural competencies. E3 projects or activities engage with communities beyond the traditional classroom in the advancement of public good.
E3 courses should include a significant curricular component rooted in the SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts for People and the Environment/Economy) disciplines that connects to the immersive or community engaged activity. Instructors can design their own projects for the course or connect courses to existing student activities (i.e. volunteering, student leadership roles, etc.). Engagement can happen at different locations, including on-campus, in our local community, abroad, or virtually.
Required Course Elements
All Experience courses must have the following course elements:
- Experiential Learning: The instructor should provide an academic framework, best practices, and space for reflection and discussion to strengthen student hands-on learning. At least half of academic work should be dedicated to a real-world project or activity (i.e. direct service, reflection, research, project work, immersion, etc).
- Best Practices and Ethical Standards: Faculty should ensure that best practices and ethical standards for community engagement are upheld throughout the project or activity and teach those standards to students in the course, drawing on disciplinary expertise.
- Critical Reflection: Assignments connected to the experience should be included regularly throughout the semester. Critical reflection assignments should promote, for example, self-awareness, continuous learning, and the integration of theory and practice.
- Applied SHAPE Approaches: Academic content should be based in SHAPE disciplines, emphasizing interdisciplinary and integrative approaches to knowledge and problem-solving.
- Husky Folio: Student work should be showcased in an individual-effort Husky Folio submission (a PebblePad workbook or portfolio). This should include reflection related to how the student applied at least one Essential Ability from the Contribute/Transform learning goal (described below) in their Experience. It might also include examples of student project work (done individually or as a member of a team), connections to previous learning, reflections on community impact, or how they will apply their Essential Abilities going forward.
- Substantial Support for ONE Essential Ability from the Contribute/Transform Learning Goal
– Select one Essential Ability from the Contribute/Transform Learning goal as noted as options in the table below:
| Learning Goals | Essential Abilities | Essential Ed Experience Courses |
| Think Critically | Question Assumptions | |
| Evaluate Information | ||
| Analyze Ethical Implications | ||
| Communicate | Communicate Quantitatively | |
| Communicate Contextually | ||
| Foster Collaboration | ||
| Adapt | Explore Diverse Perspectives | |
| Reflect | ||
| Welcome Challenge | ||
| Contribute/Transform | Engage in Civic Life | 1 required for this goal |
| Innovate Solutions | 1 required for this goal | |
| Create | 1 required for this goal |
- For the Essential Ability selected, include the following in the course:
- Instruction and assignment(s) to help students develop the EA.
- One assessment task that encourages students to demonstrate EA mastery at a level 3.
Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Experiences includes courses such as:
- ENG 4070 – Peer Mentoring Practicum
- FW 3114 – Reading the Forest
- FW 3760 – Human Dimensions in Natural Resources Stewardship
- HON 4070 – Leadership Practicum
- HU 3000 – Humanities Experience: Community-engaged learning
- HU 3289 – HU Experience: German Abroad
- HU 3370 – The Documentary Experience
- MUS 3700 – Visual and Performing Arts Tour
- PSY 3511 – Teaching Digital Newcomers
- SS 3541 – The Copper Country
- SS 3913 – Sustainable Living Practicum
- SS 4050 – Advanced GIS Methods
- SS 4700 – Communities and Research
- SS 4921 – Washington Experience Seminar
- THEA 4190 – Directing for Theatre
- UN 3013 – Interdisciplinary Experience
See the full list of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Experiences here.
To learn more about Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Experience courses, check out our website which will have updates as classes are added when approved in Fall 2025.