My goal for this class was to develop an active, inquiry-based learning environment where students could explore some fundamental parallels between citizenship and the internship experience. In this course, the classroom, the workplace and the community become mutually supporting venues for learning, valuing and reflecting on the internship experience and for developing skills and attitudes helpful to maximizing the benefits of that experience. To this end, over the past year I have evolved and digitized an experiential education seminar that uses technology to assist students in reaffirming the meaning and value of the internship through a "critical education for citizenship experience."
The seminar enables students to grapple with the meaning of citizenship, democracy and participation using experiential education and their internship as tools supported by four approaches:
- Learning by doing: reflecting on their concurrent internship experiences and relating those to class concepts;
- Learning by talking: discussing these issues in class and online with me and with each other;
- Learning by practicing: implementing some of the tools provided in class on the actual internship and sharing the results of those experiences; and,
- Learning by learning: identifying what they are learning (anticipated and unanticipated), and identifying and confirming new learning through alignment of class discussions and internship participation.
The major class activity is a staged action research project. This project provides an opportunity for students in this seminar to explore the relationship of a series of new concepts to the internship experience by offering students an opportunity, both in class and online, to discuss the issues among themselves and to survey other current LaGuardia students outside of the classroom for their thoughts on these issues as well. The relevant concepts are experiential education, participation, community, civic participation and civic indifference, democracy (liberal vs. participatory), social capital, and civic capacity. The activity offers students an opportunity to reflect on group interdependence and allows students to demonstrate a variety of skills repeatedly over the course of the cycle. These skills include critical thinking skills, team building/playing skills, writing skills, time management skills, etc. – all skills that are essential factors in student success as students, as interns, and as members of a workplace team.
Ultimately, the staged research project offers a nicely blended coordination of concepts, issues, faculty support and skill-strengthening techniques that help support the course objectives.
The skill-strengthening techniques are all supported by technology and address skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, written/oral communication skills and time management skills. Some techniques include:
- Strengthening time management skills using the paperless class;
- Requiring team assignments;
- Strengthening writing skills using high-stakes/low-stakes writing assignments;
- Strengthening essay-building skills through periodic review of the stages of the final research project;
- Strengthening oral communication/presentation skills through required group PowerPoint presentations of the results of the research project; and, Strengthening teamwork/diversity appreciation skills through in-class and online teamwork and peer review and interaction. Students are also able to develop an appreciation for different kinds of diversity – diversity in ways of working as well as diversity in who they are working with.
Activity Overview
I experimented with different components of the class over a two-year period. The most difficult task is facilitating the teamwork and peer review. Though initially I had difficulty managing the comments in the Digital Drop Box of Blackboard, with the help of my Student Technology Mentor, I learned how to save the students’ work from the Digital Drop Box down to my desktop, make comments and corrections, and then “digitally drop” it back to the student.
I used the PowerPoint presentations to evaluate the success of the activity. In their presentations I could see evidence of the depth of students’ learning, the strength of their analysis, their team dynamics, leadership, etc. I am currently looking for assessment instruments to evaluate my work in this class more formally and would welcome any suggestions.
Grading Guide
The assignment is worth 70% of the grade. However, each component is graded separately.
First high-stakes writing assignment 10%
Second high-stakes writing assignment 10%
Third high-stakes writing assignment (Group) 20%
Fourth high-stakes and final writing assignment 30%
Total 70%
Below is a statement of the activity as it is given to students.
Staged Writing Project
The final research project will be written in stages and there will be an opportunity for peer review and instructor review at each stage. What I thought were the most important stages of these assignments are identified as high-stakes writing assignments in your syllabus. There are additional writing assignments identified as low-stakes writing assignments which should be useful in helping you develop your thoughts and analysis for this project as well.
The final writing assignment is based on an Action Research Project. The theme for the project is: Could discussions and writing about the relationship of the internship experience to the principles of service, civic responsibility, and community provide a different perspective and/or motivation regarding the internship experience?
In your groups you will be responsible for surveying students on campus with survey instruments designed to elicit information and conversation about this topic. You will cull your results and report on them collectively and in individual writing assignments. The assignments are structured in stages so that, if all goes well, in the end the final writing project will be like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. The stages are as follows:
First High-Stakes Writing Assignment
This first writing assignment is in two parts and is intended to help you develop your thesis statement. This assignment will be preceded by an in-class free writing exercise that will hopefully allow you to express your thoughts about what a community is. Subsequently, the first part requires you to find a definition of “community” in a library paper source or in an online source other than a dictionary or encyclopedia. Post the definition on the class Discussion Board under Community with the full and correct citation. We will review citations in class and you are also free to refer to the websites listed in the External Links section of Blackboard for assistance.
You will find that the word “community” is used in many different ways by people in different disciplines and settings. Look for definitions in books or journal articles that discuss community and are aligned with or expand your own perspectives about community. This may require you to use more than one definition. You needn’t limit yourself to the political or social science literature. Biology, psychology and other disciplines use the term as well. A database search for the word “community” using an online search engine or a periodical index will yield a wealth of possibilities (Since underlining is a little complicated on the Discussion Board you may indicate titles in the following way, Title: ________.) Finally, do not repeat a definition that is already posted. If someone else has beaten you to the screen, find another definition. (The early bird gets the worm.) Our goal here is to gather a wide variety of definitions so that we can look at what is common and what differs among them as we develop a consensus for ourselves about what the critical elements of community are. We will use the results of this assignment to develop that consensus for ourselves.
The second part of the assignment requires you to write a one-page essay that describes where you are doing your current internship and what your responsibilities are. The essay should also answer the following questions: Does your current internship fit your idea of what a community is? If it does not, explain why. If it does, explain why. At least one citation is required for this assignment. For proper citation form, see the external link on MLA formats.
Please apply sufficient effort to this and the subsequent writing assignments so that they will be useful to you in your final paper. Feel free to look at the sample research papers posted online in the Course Documents section of Blackboard to give you a sense of how you might ultimately make use of these assignments. Also, please relate each assignment to your current internship experience and express that relationship in your online contributions.
The total assignment is 10% of your grade. The first part of the assignment is 3% of the grade and the second part is 7%.
Second High-Stakes Writing Assignment
The internship is an exercise in experiential learning. To help you to clarify your thoughts about experiential learning and reflect on the relationship of your internship experience to this area of pedagogy, the second high-stakes writing assignment will be preceded by an in-class free writing exercise that will hopefully allow you to express your thoughts about the relationship of experiential learning to the internship experience. Subsequently, you will write at least a one-page essay on the definition, principles and benefits of ed Action Research Project Francine White “experiential education” using the information posted in Course Documents under “Experiential Learning.” Post your essay in the Digital Drop Box using the send function. Feel free to refer to the External Links section for websites on the Kolb and Dewey theories of learning to support the analysis in your essay. Finally, please describe your current internship and relate your internship experience to your analysis of experiential education. Please make sure that all elements of your essay are connected, flow logically and are properly cited.
Third High-Stakes Writing Assignment
This is the beginning of your final research project. Before this assignment we will discuss how to analyze survey data and we will review again how to do citations. Subsequently, you will be asked to write a “team essay” providing a detailed analysis of your team’s survey results. Make a team effort to align these results with the analysis of the previous writing assignments. For example, what is the relationship of your survey results to our consensus on “community” and to your analysis of experiential education? Please make sure that all elements of your essay are connected, flow logically and are properly cited. The essay must be two to three pages in length, double-spaced and spell-checked.
Fourth High-Stakes Writing Assignment
Please complete your first draft of the final research project, including topic analyses, connections and survey results. Remember that one way to approach an essay is to make an outline and develop your analysis from the general to the specific – general might be a development of the theory of experiential education and specific might be a development of your own internship experience with survey information and student conclusions in-between. However, this is your opportunity to add what you thought was missing from the team analysis. Expand your ideas and add your personal twist to the information. Again, add information about the theory or theorists of experiential education that you prefer. You might also want to conclude with information about your own internship experience and what you plan to do with what you’ve learned here in your future internship or workplace experiences. This first draft should be three to five pages in length, double-spaced and spell-checked.
There will be a final opportunity for you to submit a revised version of your final project one week before the final class.
Materials and Resources
The following is a list of documents and links available to the students on Blackboard. To access the Blackboard materials, please contact Francine White (francine@lagcc.cuny.edu).
- Experiential learning information Definition and principles of experiential learning
- Concept definitions
- Definitions of new terms that students will be introduced to in connection with the curriculum, such as: community, civic capacity, social capital, liberal democracy, participatory democracy, civic indifference, service, service learning, civic responsibility, citizenship, community, diversity, etc.
Readings Posted on Blackboard
- Selected reading materials from the text: The New Citizenship: Unconventional Politics, Activism and Service by Craig A. Rimmerman, (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1997). Craig A. Rimmerman is a professor of political science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is also the author of Presidency by Plebiscite: The Reagan-Bush Era in Institutional Perspective and co-editor of The Politics of Gay Rights (with Kenneth A. Wald and Clyde Wilcox).
- Ordinary People/Extraordinary Heroes. This is an article about an ordinary woman producing extraordinary results. The woman in this article is none other than Rosa Parks.
- The Goose Story is a short (one-page) story about how geese form a community and fly in “V” formation when they are heading south for the winter. As the story goes, as each bird flies, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in this way they are able to add approximately 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. In addition, if a bird falls out of the community for whatever reason, two other geese fall out with that one and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies. There are some thoughts provided at strategic points in the story.
- The Mondragon Cooperative is an example of the ultimate community.
Research Survey
This is the research survey that you will use to gather information for the final research project. Remember, each student will be required to do two surveys so that each team will be writing a report based on information gathered from at least 14 surveys. Please ask for additional clarification if this is not clear.
Web Page Evaluation
Print a copy of this document and use it to evaluate a website.
http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/ctl/dfl/sampler/pdf/Website_Eval.pdf
Writing Resources
A Five Paragraph Essay http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/ctl/dfl/sampler/fwhite.htm
MLA Citations http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/library/mla.htm
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant http://www.powa.org
CUNY Writesite http://Writesite.cuny.edu
WID Website http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/wid
University of Louisville OWL http://www.louisville.edu/provost/wroffice/newsletter.htm
OWL from Purdue University http://owl.english.purdue.edu
Other grammar resources http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/english/writingcenter/links.html
Blackboard Etiquette
- Never insult another user online. Valid criticism is acceptable, but needless "flaming" is not.
- In fact, avoid writing things that you might regret later or that you would not say directly to the class or to another person.
- Don’t type in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. This is seen as shouting, and might offend someone. It is also very hard on the eyes...
- Be precise about what you are saying, and try to describe the tone of your message.
- Always sign your name on a message – people can’t always figure out who you are by your email address!
- Write in full sentences. Don’t make the reader decode your message!
- Use capital letters where required.
- Proofread your work before posting for grammar and spelling errors.
- Blackboard writing should follow the rules of other professional writing.