Unit 3 Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence.pdf
Factoring Student Backgrounds into Service-Learning
1. Factoring Student Backgrounds into
Service-Learning
New England Campus Compact Spring 2009 Conference
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Greg Freed
March 30, 2009
3. Overview
Considering Our Students (:20)
• Differentiating institutions, instructors, CPs, and students
• The theoretical case for taking students into account
• Considering students’ attitudes, interests, and beliefs
• Recognizing and integrating students’ backgrounds
The University Achievement Program (:20)
• A quick look at the UAP’s mission and structure
• Curriculum design, delivery, and assessment
Activity and Guided Discussion (:35)
• Applying a student-centered framework for course design
4. Considering Our Students
Differentiating Institutions, Instructors, CPs, and Students
• Institutions maintain broader missions and goals that instructors ought to
take into account as they design curricula
– Concerns: Academic integrity; accreditation; reputation; retention
• Instructors have their own goals and agendas that may or may not take
precedence over those of their constituents
– Concerns: Freedom of inquiry and instruction
• Community partners have needs and resources that ought to be
taken into account in campus-community partnerships
– Concerns: Organizational interests being co-opted
• Students have their own knowledge, experience, and goals
– Concerns: Interest in and applicability of material; grades
5. Considering Our Students
The Theoretical Case for Taking Students into Account
Postulates:
• Any academic course can be grounded in service-learning
• The efficacy of the pedagogy is heavily dependent upon:
– The instructor’s ability to formatively assess his or her students
– The instructor’s ability to select an appropriate community partner
– The instructor’s ability to adapt course content and structure
6. Considering Our Students
The Theoretical Case for Taking Students into Account
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778):
• Education should be guided by the student’s own interests1
• The student has native tendencies in which his or her interests are rooted2
Francis W. Parker (1831-1902):
• The aim of education is to teach students, not subjects3
1
Weber, Christian (1960) Basic Philosophies of Education, 289.
2
Ibid, 289.
3
Ibid, 292.
7. Considering Our Students
The Theoretical Case for Taking Students into Account
John Dewey (1859-1952):
• The learner is led, not driven; he or she should pursue the aims of
education through the impulses, aims, and interests he or she has when he
or she falls into the hands of an educator4
• It is essential that new knowledge and experience be related
intellectually to those of earlier experiences5
4
Weber, Christian (1960) Basic Philosophies of Education, 265
5
Dewey, John (1938) Experience and Education, 75.
8. Considering Our Students
The Theoretical Case for Taking Students into Account
Paulo Freire (1921-1997):
• In the banking concept of education, knowledge is bestowed by those who
consider themselves knowledgeable upon those they consider ignorant6
• Teachers justify their existence by deeming students’ ignorance absolute7
• In cultural synthesis, knowledge of the alienated culture leads to action
resulting in a culture which is being freed from alienation8
6
Freire, Paulo (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 181.
7
Ibid, 181.
8
Ibid, 72.
9. Considering Our Students
Considering Students’ Attitudes, Interests, and Beliefs
The nature of enrollment can:
• Impact students’ attitudes regarding the course
• Reveal students’ readiness to participate
The nature of previous service experiences can:
• Impact students’ preparedness for service-learning
• Reveal students’ level of connectedness
• Alter students’ willingness to engage
10. Considering Our Students
Considering Students’ Attitudes, Interests, and Beliefs
Other backgrounds to consider:
• Religion and Belief
• Culture and Ethnicity
• Geography
• Education
• Socioeconomic Status
11. Considering Our Students
Recognizing and Integrating Students’ Backgrounds
• Quantitative data
– Registrar
– Admissions
– Journals
• Qualitative data
– Student questionnaires
– Observation
– Campus calendar
– Professional organizations
– Peer institutions
12. The University Achievement Program
A Quick Look at the UAP’s Mission and Structure
Suffolk’s University Achievement Program (UAP) connects about 100
conditionally admitted students with support services and resources to
successfully navigate their first year of college. The UAP has both academic
and social components, and each student benefits from:
• Peer Mentor Program
• Annual Welcome Retreat
• Merit-Based Scholarship Opportunities
• Ongoing support from BLC education consultants
• SU101: Strategies for Academic and Personal Success
• SU102: Introduction to Leadership and Community Engagement
13. The University Achievement Program
Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment
In planning the new curriculum, we compiled information from multiple sources.
• Retention data
• Past observations
• Focus group feedback
• Student surveys
• Conversations
14. The University Achievement Program
Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment
An informal review of this information yielded insights regarding the population.
• A 10% retention differential existed for conditionally admitted students
• Students’ chief stressor was procrastination, not time spent studying
• Student confidence reached a fleeting high second semester
• Students liked interaction but didn’t study with peers
• Students disliked lessons on college adjustment topics
• Students felt they learned the most from experience; less
effective sources included the news and classes
15. The University Achievement Program
Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment
Enduring Understanding
My academic and personal choices impact my success. Suffolk provides
resources, but it is my responsibility to know what they are, how they can help
me, and when to use them. Being self-aware and engaging in broader
communities can help me transition into college and lead an interdependent
adult life. As an integral part of these communities, I have a duty to be
informed, ethical and civically engaged.
16. The University Achievement Program
Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment
Intentional Coupling of Natural and Contrived Experiences
Natural: At the beginning of the semester, students are concerned with making
friends, adjusting to roommates, and becoming involved on campus. Their
concerns are very much at a macro level.
Contrived: As instructors, we deliver most of our micro-level
lessons during this time to redirect student attention to:
• Goal setting
• On-campus resources
• Time management
17. The University Achievement Program
Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment
Experiential Pedagogy
• Activities
• Discussions
• Written reflections
• Community partnerships
• Group projects
• Presentations
18. The University Achievement Program
Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment
We completed a formal assessment of SU101, and of its service component in
particular, at the end of the semester. We found:
• Students were significantly more overwhelmed in other courses (the mean
was 2.8, which according to the value labels, was between ‘sometimes’ and
‘often’) than they were in SU101 (the mean was 4.0, which according to the
value labels, was ‘rarely’)
• No statistically significant difference in students’ perceptions of
the experiential value between service sites
• A statistically significant correlation between service event
attendance and the predicted value of an ongoing service
requirement (i.e. semester-long service-learning)
19. The University Achievement Program
Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment
By designing SU101 with intention (i.e. taking students’ attitudes, backgrounds,
and frames of mind into account), we were able to:
• Minimize academic stress
• Creatively deliver disliked topics
• Change attitudes regarding service and community engagement
As we designed SU102, student feedback prompted us to:
• Institute a mandatory service component
• Embed structured support in coursework
• Actively link service experiences to course content
20. Critical Case Study
Using a Framework
Please read the provided case study. As you read, pretend that you are either:
• A faculty member preparing to design and teach the course
• A service-learning practitioner preparing to assist said faculty member
After you finish, partner with your respective counterpart (i.e. if you are a faculty
member, meet with a service-learning practitioner).
Each S-L practitioner will assist a faculty member in completing
the Student Characteristics Inventory.
Each Faculty-Practitioner pair should then discuss the implications
of the information with regard to the course’s design and delivery.
21. Critical Case Study
Discussion
What student characteristics did you identify?
What frustrations did you face in completing the SCI?
What was the most difficult thing to identify or define about the class?
What course components did you change after meeting with your partner?
What challenges might the faculty member encounter?
What challenges might the S-L practitioner encounter?
- Rousseau’s philosophy stresses a deep understanding of both the learner and the educational process - In application, Parker’s theory requires that instructors understand students (which is in accordance with Rousseau’s philosophy)
- The banking concept is congruent with Parker’s theory that teachers ought to teach students, not subjects, but is also explicitly dialectical. - Freire’s views on cultural synthesis can be applied to the instructor-student relationship – no longer are they “the millenials,” a mysterious, unreachable group of iPod listening, Facebook poking, Twitter tweeting techno-chic geeks. They have experiences to bring to the table.
Were going for balance; this was evident at the end of the semester when they felt less stressed by our course than by others.
N = 59, 47.5% male, 52.5% female , 94.9% reduced course load First stat: P = .046, Paired Sample Statistics Third stat: those who attended a service event were more likely to predict an ongoing service requirement would positively impact them and their peers(α<.05) Of all respondents, 52.7% predicted a positive impact; of those who served, 67.7% predicted a positive impact, one-way ANOVA Students felt they had time to commit to service (84.5% of respondents felt they could devote two or more hours per week to service without it negatively impacting their academic work)
