WRITING THE LEARNING ESSAY

INTRODUCTION

The work you have done to this point has prepared you for writing a learning essay. The essay and its accompanying documentation becomes the primary coursework that is evaluated when the academic faculty makes their credit recommendation. You have the opportunity to earn college credit based on your ability to express and substantiate your learning experiences. Your portfolio is the means by which you incorporate 1) theory: what should be, has been and is effective; 2) application: what you did; and most importantly, 3) knowledge: what you learned. These three elements must appear throughout each and every learning essay. By following these guidelines, your experiential learning is more obvious to those faculty members at Eastern Oregon University who are assessing your credit potential.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

When you complete this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Discuss the parts of a learning essay.

2. Write a learning essay that expresses theory, application, and knowledge, and that avoids commonly made errors.

3. Make a credit request for a learning experience that includes the number of credits you are requesting, the subject area in which the request is made, whether the credit requested is lower or upper division, and whether you want the essay evaluated for meeting general education requirements.

READ THIS BOX BEFORE YOU STUDY THE FOLLOWING READING MATERIAL.

Writing a learning essay can be a rewarding experience if you know and apply certain key points. Once you write your first essay, you will learn some effective strategies, and you will feel more confident in writing subsequent essays. The reading in this chapter has been prepared to teach you how to write the essay effectively and how to avoid some common errors that students make while presenting learning in essay form.

Consider the following questions as you read. They will help you in the preparation of future essays.

1. What are the three parts of a learning essay?

2. What is the most commonly made error in writing a learning essay?

3. What resources do you have to help you make credit requests and to identify if credit may meet general education requirements?
THE LEARNING ESSAY-KEY COMPONENTS-
A well-articulated learning essay should describe all aspects of your learning so that your prior experiences and your analysis of the subject can be evaluated fairly. See APEL Workbook Tab 12 - Appendix D for samples of all components of the APEL Learning Essay.

I. Component - Front page:
Your learning essay should begin with a front page which…
1. Identifies by academic discipline what learning is to be assessed.
2. Explains how the learning was acquired:
a. Lists location, employer, or agency
b. Gives dates of your involvement
c. Describes your role and responsibility, including your position title (see Front Page in the sample's section later in this chapter)

II. Component - Competency Statement:
The competency statement precedes the Learning Essay. The statement is focused on the topic you are addressing within the current essay you are writing. Be sure to include the five parts as explained in the previous chapter.

III. Component - Learning Essay:
The learning essay section of the package gives you an opportunity to present to the evaluators your knowledge and skill in a particular academic discipline. What you put forth here is the primary determinant of the credit requested.

The learning essay should cover three major areas:
1. A clear description of the theory(ies) associated with the subject of the learning essay - Any references must be cited and expert opinions, past and/or present in the field need to be documented. (See information on Plagiarism later in this chapter). Your learning did not develop in a vacuum. You may not agree with all of the advice you see in print. However, a significant amount of theoretical examination must be present in your essay.

2. A concise account of the application of your learning (the "What I Did" component), including a portrayal of the circumstances in which your learning was acquired.

3. An analysis of the knowledge you acquired including an evaluation of your competencies (the "What I learned" component.)

One of the most frequently asked questions is, " How long does my essay need to be?" There is no standard length for an essay. Generally the broader the essay topic, the longer the essay. For example, an essay covering Principles of Nutrition will usually be longer than one that discusses Nutrition for Diabetic Children. Writing style also influences length. Some individuals write succinctly, while others tend to use more words for explanation. Remember, when considering essay length, it is not how long the essay is, but rather how well you cover the topic to prove your case.

CAUTION
You may be tempted to write at great length about what was done rather than concentrating on what was learned. All too often, a learning essay becomes a narrative of an experience or an autobiography rather than an explanation of learning. Your essay should be clear and precise, describing your learning so that an expert in the area can tell you know your subject. Avoid the use of jargon and abbreviations that are associated with your own experience.

IV. Component - Annotated Bibliography
Although reading is never the sole basis for a credit request, it can be useful in organizing theoretical principles in writing a learning essay. Annotation of books, periodicals, or reviews should be presented in an abbreviated, paragraph form. The annotation in the bibliography should indicate where the author is "coming from," where the author wants the reader "to land, and describe the reader's personal responses to what he/she read." The annotation should include your responses to the resource and not be just taken from the blurb on the book jacket. Check your Writing Style Guide or EOU's Online Writing Lab for information on proper citation of references. The Faculty Expectations written by faculty in the various disciplines may identify required citation styles (APA, MLA, APA, etc.) for an essay written in their respective subject field. In the learning essay, referring to what you have learned through reading will link the theoretical to the practical and will likely provide strong support for your essay and credit request.

V. Component - Credit Request
After the learning essay, include your credit request. The credit request is similar to the competency statement; the main difference is that the credit request includes a statement about the amount of credit that you feel you deserve based on the comparability of your knowledge to that gained by students in similar courses.

At the end of your essay, make a credit request in which you identify the following:
1. the basic information from the competency statement including subject area, source of experience, level of achievement, setting, and what you know (theory) and can do (practical)
2. the number of credits you are requesting
3. the credits be evaluated as lower or upper division
4. if needed, the credit meets general education requirements in a specific gen ed category

Use any Oregon college catalog to aid you in requesting credit. If you can find a course offering that is similar to the learning category for which you have written your essay, you may want to use the number of credit hours suggested for that course as a guideline. However, do not use a course number in your credit request. For example, do not say, "Considering my knowledge and skills, I request five upper division credits for BA 419-Advanced Accounting." A course prefix number is indicative of a course taught in a traditional method. A better way of expressing this request is: "Considering my knowledge and skills, I request five upper division credits for Advanced Accounting." In the area of credit requests, use the catalog as a guidepost-not a hitching post.

Occasionally you select a special topic within a discipline and the faculty reader of that discipline gives approval prior to you initiating the essay development. If you find a course description and course credit notation for this specific topic in the catalog of another accredited institution, include a copy of that information as an addendum to your credit request.

Another help in making a credit request is to estimate the clock hours you have spent in a certain experience. Beware, of assuming that unlimited application hours will yield unlimited credit. Each discipline has limits to credits awarded in subject areas. Your APEL instructor or academic advisor will be able to provide you with some guidelines in this area. Upper or lower division status is entirely dependent upon the nature of the experience and the application/analysis or other higher-level critical thinking skills involved.

Examples of Credit requests include the following:

· Based on my demonstrated knowledge of the forms, styles, methods and process of preparation and presentation of public speeches for the La Grande City Council and at my employment for the State of Oregon, I am requesting three lower division credits in Speech Communication: Public Speaking. Please evaluate my essay to meet requirements for the General Education category of Language and Logic.

· In the above referenced essay, I have demonstrated a firm understanding of principles regarding marketing and sales as they apply in the real world. I request that through my demonstrated application of these principles in my years of experience at the Western Bank, Moppet Shoppet, Southwestern Oregon Community College, and Kid's Day Out that I be awarded five upper division credits in Business: Marketing and Sales

PLAGIARISM*

Basically, plagiarism is copying words from a book or magazine or imitating (paraphrasing) the language of someone else's work, failing to give credit to the source, and thus turning it in as your own. This form of stealing also includes using unacknowledged quotations. Thus, you will not avoid plagiarism by simply making a few changes or omitting a word here and there, by changing the order of words in a sentence, or by changing the order of sentences in a paragraph. Also, when you use words directly from a source, you must indicate so by the correct use of quotation marks.

All work must be your own, both on assignments and in learning essays, unless proper acknowledgement is made. Any evidence of copying from books, unacknowledged borrowing-including close paraphrasing-or of cheating could warrant the assignment of a failing grade, the forfeiture of all fees, and the denial of future service by this department.

* Statement Adapted from the University of Oklahoma