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E3 Research and Learning Assistantships

Undergraduate research and learning assistantships may be eligible to fulfill the E3 Learning Milestone requirement. 

Important First Step

Not all experiences automatically qualify for this milestone. Before beginning any research or assistantship experience, students must confirm with their prospective faculty supervisor that the specific opportunity will fulfill the E3 Learning Milestone requirements. This confirmation should be obtained before starting the experience.

Please note

Experiences that were not initially identified as fulfilling the E3 Learning Milestone cannot be retroactively approved to fulfill the milestone after completion. Students must establish E3 eligibility before beginning their research or assistantship work.

Application Process

Once you have confirmed that your research or learning assistantship will fulfill the E3 Learning Milestone, you will need to complete the E3 Application form. See below.

E3 Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of an experience that fulfills the E3 Learning Milestone requirement, you should be able to:

  • Make connections between your disciplinary and scholarly learning and the practice or application of that knowledge.
  • Explain how your course/experience contributes to and is informed by their learning goals at Cornell (i.e. in your major or course of study, as you define it).
  • Explain how you engaged with and contributed to, or served, a community or cause greater than yourself.

E3 Criteria

For a research or learning assistantship experience to fulfill the E3 Learning Milestone requirement, it must:

  • Involve practice and application of knowledge in a real context.
  • Provide learning outcomes at the outset of the course or experience, including but not limited to the learning outcomes articulated above.
    • This means you are aware of the E3 Learning Outcomes and have discussed your learning goals with your supervisor BEFORE you start the experience.
  • Include an assignment or activity that promotes reflection on your experience - how will you demonstrate your learning and if you have achieved the E3 Learning Outcomes.
    • You need to identify what this will be in your application, so make sure you have discussed this with your supervisor.

Applying for E3 Research or an E3 Learning Assistantship

You will need the following information to complete the application form:

  1. Supervisor’s name and email address
  2. Start and end date for the experience
  3. For Learning Assistantships - course number and name of the course that you will assist with
  4. For Research - brief description of the research project
  5. A list of your responsibilities and expected activities in this role (discuss/confirm with your supervisor beforehand)
  6. Description of your goals for this experience. In other words, what do you hope to get out of this?
  7. Any additional Learning Outcomes beyond the E3 Learning Outcomes (discuss/confirm with your supervisor beforehand)
  8. You and your supervisor’s reflection plan. You will need to describe the method (for example, will you write a reflection paper, do a presentation, have a meeting with your supervisor, etc.) and specify how you demonstrate your achievement of your goals and the learning outcomes for this experience.

Once you submit this form, your supervisor will review your responses and determine whether to approve your application. When approved, you will receive an enrollment code to self-enroll in your supervisor’s section.

Two weeks before your designated end date, you and your supervisor will receive reminder emails that include the information that you submitted on the application form.