Application of Knowledge

The ability to recognize relationships between different areas of knowledge, and to connect theory and practice intellectually and in practical situations

Drawing connections is one of the important aspects of learning. We make connections between our experiences – between ideas in different courses, between our life at school and our communities, and of course between college and post-graduate lives. One of the best ways that we learn is by applying knowledge to new or different situations.

At Pine Manor you have many opportunities to apply your learning and make connections between ideas. You might be involved in a service-learning project as part of a class; you may hold a leadership position on campus, such as an RA or FYA; you may hold a job on or off campus; and you will have an internship (at least in your senior year). As you consider the ways in which you are applying your classroom knowledge, you may think about some of these questions:

What specific skills or concepts that you have gained in one situation have you applied or used in another setting?
How have you applied ideas, insights, or information that you learned in course to a situation outside of the classroom?
When have you found that an experience outside the classroom, such as a job or an internship, helped you understand topics in a course?
Did you ever select a class with the specific goal of learning something you could apply?
What experiences have prompted you to take particular courses? Did you find the connections that you expected?
When have you had an experience in a class in which you directly drew on knowledge you had gained from a course in an entirely different discipline?

Criteria for evaluating reflections on Application of Knowledge

Exemplary

Satisfactory

Needs Improvement

Not Acceptable

Evaluates the interactions between experiences inside and outside of course settings in terms her own personal strengths and objectives.

Recognizes the relationships among different areas of knowledge and learning.

Identifies connections between specific learning experiences.

Discusses the ways in which she used knowledge gained in one place to help achieve a specific goal in another setting.

Describes an experience outside of a classroom, without drawing connections.

Provides a general statement of two potentially related experiences.

Inadequate reflection or missing artifact.