2. Fostering Reciprocal Partnerships that Provide
Deep and Integrative Learning Opportunities
Dr. William J. Soesbe III and Dr. Daniel R. Kittle
Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa)
Thursday, May 30th
, 2013
@9:45-10:45 ARC 402
2013 Upper Midwest
Civic Engagement Summit

3. • Assistant Professor of Education
• Leadership Fellow
• Iowa Campus Compact Engaged Scholar
Faculty Fellow
• Former Director for the Office of Student
Field Experiences and School Partnerships
Coordinator at Wartburg College
• Served as a middle school science teacher
within the Waverly-Shell Rock CSD
Dr. William J. Soesbe III
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

4. • Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives
• Director, Center for Community Engagement
• Lecturer in Liberal Studies
• Leadership Fellow
Dr. Daniel R. Kittle
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

5. • Located in Waverly, Iowa
(pop. of 10,000)
• Private liberal arts school
• 1,800 undergraduate
students (about 90%
residential)
• Affiliated with the
Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America
(ELCA) Saemann Student Center
Wartburg College

6. • Largest majors on
campus are Biology,
Communication Arts,
Business and Education
• Largest minor is
Leadership Education
• Internationally known for
Civic Engagement
Wartburg College

7.  Network with other educators and expand your
Professional Learning Network (PLN)
 Better understand how to develop and foster effective
and reciprocal partnerships
 Learn about ways to create opportunities for
communities to engage in deep and integrative learning
 Brainstorm possibilities of how to develop and further
infuse meaningful partnerships into our communities
Goals and Objectives
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

8. Professional Learning Networks
Let’s not have these conversations in isolation or
stop them once this session is over.
Follow Bill on Twitter at @drbillsoesbe
Use the hashtag #UMCES2013 to share
information with others about this
session and to continue our dialogue in
the future.
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

9. Name, Institution, Position, Role(s)?
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

10. 1. Why did you attend this particular presentation?
AND
2. What do you hope/need to gain from the
presentation?
Two Questions…
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

11. What did you take away from the Ted Talk?
So Why Are We Presenting to You?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHfo17ikSpY
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

12. What Do We Want/Need our Students
to Experience and Accomplish?
 Deep and integrative learning
We are not doing enough for our
students and we need to. Deep and
integrative learning is not the only
answer, but is ONE of the answers.
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

13. Deep Learning AAC&U LEAP/Kuh High
Impact Practices
• Work closely with faculty and staff
• Common intellectual experiences
• Learning communities
• Writing intensive courses
• Collaborative assignments
• Service-learning
• Capstone courses that integrate and apply
previous learning
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

14. Deep Learning: Effective Conditions
and Practices
• Academic challenge
• Active and collaborative learning
• Student-faculty interaction
• Supportive campus environment
• Enriching educational experiences
 Civic engagement
 Co-curricular leadership
 Experiential learning
• Shared responsibility for educational quality
Kuh, G., Kinzie, J. Schuh, J. Whitt, E. (2005). Student success in college; Creating conditions
that matter. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

15. Deep vs. Surface Learning
Deep Learning Surface Learning
Focus is on “what is signified” Focus is on the “signs” (or on the learning as
a signifier of something else)
Relates previous knowledge to new
knowledge
Focus on unrelated parts of the task
Relates knowledge from different courses Information for assessment is simply
memorized
Relates theoretical ideas to everyday
experience
Facts and concepts are associated
unreflectively
Relates and distinguishes evidence and
argument
Principles are not distinguished from
examples
Organizes and structures content into
coherent whole
Task is treated as an external imposition
Emphasis is internal, from within the
student
Emphasis is external, from demands of
assessment
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/deepsurf.htm

16. How Do We Accomplish D & I Learning?
 Through the pedagogy of triangulated
learning
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

17. • Comprised of three key components:
1. Traditional learning
2. Peer (collaborative) learning
3. Experiential learning
**Intent is to forge links between deep thinking
and leadership education
Triangulated Learning
Waldstein, F. (2009). Triangulated learning: A bridge for deep impact pedagogy and
leadership education.

18. Triangulated Learning
Traditional
Peer
Experiential
Tabb, M. (2011). The Sacred Acre: The Ed Thomas Story. Zondervan: Michigan.
Heifetz, R. and Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of
Leading. Harvard Business School Press: Massachusetts.
Discussion,reflection,
presentations
Leadership on the Line & The
Sacred Acre , worksheets CommunityBuildersor
IndividualizedService
Project
Deep and
Integrative
Learning

19. Traditional Learning
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

20. Peer (Collaborative) Learning
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

21. Individualized Service Projects (ISP’s)
Experiential Learning (Service-learning)
http://www.wartburg.edu/cb/
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

22. What is One Way That D & I Learning
can be Attained?
 Reciprocal, significant, and meaningful
partnerships
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

23. Arrange yourself into five diverse groups.
Let’s Create Groups
Do not open until
5/20/2013
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

24.  Satisfy a community need
 Reciprocal and beneficial
 Common goals established
 Expectations clearly articulated
 Resources allocated appropriately
 Expenses and costs “shared”
 Invest in social capital
 Transparent and frequent communication
 Continuous assessment AND evaluation
 Admit and “accept” failures
 Celebrate and promote successes
Essential Characteristics of Effective
and Meaningful Partnerships….
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

25. Director of CCE – Dr. Daniel R. Kittle
School Partnerships Coordinator – Mrs. Mandie Sanderman
Internship Coordinator – Ms. Jo Dorrance
Service-Learning Coordinator – Miss Renee Sedlacek
Coordinator of Church Relations and Faith Community
Outreach – Mrs. Gail Sexton
Office Coordinator – Mrs. MaryBeth Koberna
Five work study students
Center for Community Engagement
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

26. • Began in 2000
• Intergenerational S-L project involving 6th
graders,
Wartburg students, and Adult Volunteers
• Embedded within a leadership course (ID 315) and
the Institute for Leadership Education (ILE)
• Uses Triangulated Learning as a pedagogy
• Service-learning component of ID 315
• Awarded McJannet Prize for Global Citizenship in 2010
• Involves an assortment of local & national partnerships
Overview of Community Builders – an
exemplary program and partnerships
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

27. School Partnerships
Waverly-Shell Rock Community School District
and St. Paul’s Elementary
• All 6th
grade students
• Utilize district standards and benchmarks for academic
objectives (http://www.wsr.k12.ia.us/site_District/info_curriculum.html)
• Utilize Iowa Core standards (www.educateiowa.gov)
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

28. Local Partnerships
• Waverly Police Department
• Self Help International
• Waverly City Hall
• Waverly Recycling Center
• KWAY Radio station
• Trinkets and Togs
• Bartels Lutheran Home
• Waverly-Shell Rock Sports
Booster Club
• The W (Wartburg)
• Waverly Public Library
• Shell Rock Public Library
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

29. Local Partnerships
Trinket and Togs The W – recreation centerVolunteer Action Center
Public LibraryRecycling CenterKWAY Radio Station
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

30. Local Partnerships
Goodwill Industries Sports Booster Club Self Help International
Waverly Police Department
Waverly Health Center
North Star Community Services

31. International Partnerships
www.watertothrive.org (3 minute video)
• Self Help International
www.selfhelpinternational.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4KaEX8tOoU (2 minutes)
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

32. Future Partnership
Retrieving Freedom, Inc.
Retrieving Freedom, Inc. is an organization that trains service dogs
for disabled veterans and children with autism.
http://www.kwwl.com/story/22034461/2013/04/21/scott-dewey-
trains-service-dogs-through-retrieving-freedom-in-waverly?
autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8800617#.UXaIdHP
-gPw.facebook (3 minutes)
RFI will serve as a local community site for Community Builders as
well as a site for students wanting to complete an Individualized
Service Project.
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

33. How were/are Partnerships Established?
Maintained? Assessed?
 Personal relationships
 Communication through websites, email, phone, letters
 Verbal contact between collegiate participants and site
supervisors
 Successes with other initiatives
 Luncheons and celebratory events
 Reciprocal nature and meets a community need
Assessment is often times very organic and anecdotal
 Combination of both quantitative and qualitative data
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

34. 1. What are you currently doing in your
position/role to help foster and improve
partnerships?
2. What do you want/need to do to further
develop partnerships?
Peer Learning Experience
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

35. What External Entities Influence Your
Partnerships and Programs?
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

36. Questions and
Comments?
2013 Upper Midwest Civic Engagement Summit

37. Thank you for your attention
and insight.
Dan Kittle daniel.kittle@wartburg.edu
Bill Soesbe bill.soesbe@wartburg.edu