SUNY Empire State University
Founded in 1971 as the innovative campus of the State University of New York, Empire State University empowers learners from diverse backgrounds to achieve their educational goals. We have decades of experience providing educational access through online teaching and learning, individualized instruction, mentoring, and prior learning assessment. We are SUNY’s leading online institution and New York state’s only public online institution.
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The ABCs of CPL: How to simplify the very complex concept of credit for prior learningHow can the workbook help you? Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) has been demonstrated as an effective tool in increasing student engagement in the learning process and student degree completion. This self-guided workbook was developed to address the most frequently asked questions about CPL. The workbook allows students to reflect upon essential factors before enrolling in a degree program at a college or university. It can also assist students in assessing their knowledge and determining their ability to complete learning and obtain college-level credits within a particular area. It answers common questions about CPL and considers the advantages and obstacles students may face in this process. This workbook was also designed to help administrators, faculty members, and professional staff understand the value and importance of CPL. The workbook will help them explore existing areas for creating opportunities for students to access CPL and reflect on essential considerations when integrating this policy at their institution. The purpose of this workbook is to create a more equitable and transparent path toward CPL for any students interested in pursuing at any institution.
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Art History in the Virtual Reality EnvironmentThe objective of this project is to create a virtual reality environment for teaching art history in an interactive, collaborative way. The environment will make it possible for students to meet, interact with works of art and architecture, and work together on project-based art history assignments. The method for developing this project involved sourcing online teaching materials, and researching effective methods of assessment. Exploration of virtual reality platforms was necessary to find one accessible for most users, that could be developed for use as an art history classroom and galleries. A learning management system was chosen to organize information and materials, post feedback and grades, and be a repository for work done in the virtual environment. Research into online resources found that art museums offer a multitude of images, essays, and videos that are available for download or linking to, as well as online resources for downloading 3D architectural and sculpture models. FrameVR proves to be both the most accessible and user friendly VR environment for this project. The conclusion in the development of the project is that by providing an easily accessible VR environment, populating it with engaging and interactive art history resources, and offering collaborative, constructivist learning experiences with portfolio and project based assessment, a rich environment for the teaching and learning of art history is provided. This project also provides a template for future specialized topical courses in art history.
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Exploring Pathways to Purpose in ScoutsYouth purpose was investigated using a two-phase embedded design with youth participating in Scouts BSA (N=3,943), ages 9–20 (M=14.0, SD=1.9). Participating Scouts were mostly White (91%) and male (98%). In Phase 1, we conducted a two-step cluster analysis on Scouts’ survey responses to three purpose dimensions (personal meaning, goal-directedness, beyondthe-self orientation). Four clusters emerged: Purposeful, Explorers, Dreamers, Nonpurposeful. In Phase 2, we explored qualities of purpose within each cluster and programmatic features and relationships within the scouting context fostering youth purpose with a Scout subsample (N=30) who completed semi-structured interviews. Results demonstrated that adults supporting scouting, inspiration from older peers, and opportunities to help others and explore new activities supported youth purpose.