ELPS429 Case Study A

8/2/2019 ELPS429 Case Study A

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Lynette Henderson

Case Study AELPS 429:

Experiential Learning: High-Impact Learning in Theory and Practice in Higher Education

Dr. Patrick Green

Part 1:

In this experience, students from MSU’s Urban and Regional Institute (URSI) had to

partner with those from South Central College (SCC); their goal was to combine their respective

talents in order to benefit the surrounding communities. Together, they had undergraduate and

graduate members who were preparing for careers in economic and community development,

administration, planning, printing/graphics and publishing (Cherrington, 2011, p. 3). At its core,

this experience sought to allow students a platform for applying the learned content of their

professional interests and acquire new skills as needed within context. They were given the

opportunity to practice their research and planning skills and the practical experience of what it

means to work for a client and satisfy their expectations.

Intrinsic to service-learning is the need for students to reflect before, during and after their

experience. Summative reflection was asked for at course start and end. The data refers to these

measures as expectation and feedback (Cherrington, 2011). Students completed surveys to help

quantify their expectations before starting. How/If this data was used within course design is

unclear. They were also given the opportunity to share the value of the experience at the end of the

course. The four areas of evaluation were the following: value to communities, value to students,

value of the course format and value of the course to the program (Cherrington, 2011, p. 8).

Helpful as those measures may be, it appears that there may have been missed opportunities to

learn more. The aforementioned surveys are formative reflection measures that allow for

summative reflection on the part of faculty and administration. The sense of pride or “job well-

done” that students felt in completing their projects may easily have been lost in translation if

formative reflection was not included in course requirements.

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Dr. Patrick GreenThe classroom and community activities shared in the case study do not emphasize

deliberate formative reflection as a mainstay of the course itself. Reading of Kuh (2008, p. 11) and

other literature immediately brings one to the definition of service-learning as application plus

reflection. For this reason, it is difficult to imagine that reflection was not built into the course. By

closely analyzing the given components of the service-learning projects, one can see rich

opportunity to attempt formative reflection in particular. Students are earning credit not only for

their service but for the ability to at least partially digest the broader meaning of their work. In the

classroom, discussion should have touched on the social constructs that they saw, any obstacles

that they encountered in the field, and technical aspects of their Marketing and PR work. Assumed

in the brief of this experience is that students are not in this course to learn the mechanical aspects

of producing data and a final product. They have the skills, competence and will to learn project

management, and now need to apply those skills in a “real-world” setting. The communities for

whom they work are supplying them with this opportunity. The real fodder for discussion is in the

details, not simply the project’s completion.

Students should have used their knowledge to appropriately help brand and market the

towns they served. To ensure quality, another summative reflection component was used to test the

efficacy of the marketing materials. In this way, they could quantitatively see the results of their

efforts.

It is not the expectation or desire of faculty to see students come “full-circle” and

completely make meaning of their experience. It is understood that students will not be able to

come in and fix systemic issues. However, they should be invested in exploring the social and

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Dr. Patrick Greeneconomic constructs that have caused their work to be necessary or desired, and grow in some way

from that understanding.

Service-learning is supposed to demand collaboration by participants not only with their

faculty and peers but also with community members. In this case, the communities involved

actively sought the help of URSI and SCC. The issues prevalent in the town were not decided upon

by the students. Rather, in every case, city officials offered their diagnosis of needs and asked the

students to help them remedy those areas. In the case of a small community near MSU, they voiced

concerns about “survival issues, such as competition with other towns, growth and tourism”

(Cherrington, 2011, p. 4). By defining their own needs, the community gave direction to the

student’s service-learning experience and ensured that the expectation of reciprocity was

understood. Their needs were to be met in the form of media/public relations services, and

students, faculty and their respective educational institutions expected to benefit in many forms

from gained knowledge.

Part 2:

Course Title: Painting and Creative Writing: The Holistic Effect of Art and Reflection

Description:

As a faculty member in the School of Education, I have elected to create an undergraduate

course for the use of students who are studying Education in Art and/or Creative Writing. The

University has partnered with an under funded inner-city junior high school to provide an outlet for

their students to be artistically expressive. Their art classes were eliminated four years ago due to

budget cuts made by the state. Since the curriculum change occurred, test scores in reading and

composition have steadily declined. School administration has not been able to secure funding to

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Dr. Patrick Greenreinstate the classes, and they approached the University in hopes that they would be able to share

resources and possibly create an outreach program. Through much thought and research, this has

been made possible.

Class Format:

Although I will act as co-facilitator, two graduate students have volunteered to serve as

advisors to the class and bring expertise on the subject matter of Arts in Education as well as

Children’s Literature, respectively. Optimally, I hope to enroll 15 students and present results of

the experience as basis for receiving federal work-study permissions for the graduate advisors

when the class is offered again.

After careful collaboration with faculty, I have decided to format the 15-week semester

with two activities per week. One will be the formal class period, and the other will be the “service

delivery” (a 50-minute after-school period). The first week’s activity will be a discussion of a

creative literary piece, followed by time for student art expression based on a prompt. They will

paint and draw individually (materials will be supplied by the University as part of a grant that was

rewarded for the purchase of supplies) for the remainder of the after-school period. Upon returning

the following week, they will view the art of their peers and creatively write about all the positive

things that they see and how the pieces make them feel. This interpretation will be turned in, and

the remaining weeks will follow the same pattern.

Students enrolled in the course will be present to offer guidance and mentorship to students

as well as facilitate discussion. They will make suggestions and constructively critique or

discipline students. Co-facilitators (myself included) will be present to provide guidance when it is

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Dr. Patrick Greenneeded. All students (graduate and undergraduate) will be given pre- and post-class surveys to

quantify their expectations and help them make meaning of the experience.

The15-week session will culminate with a “gallery opening” displaying every student’s

artwork, framed with the praises of their peers. The program will be quantitatively assessed by

comparing the pre- and post-experience reading and writing assessment scores of the junior high

school student participants. It is my hope that they will gain skills and that we will have the

opportunity to share their improvement with them at the gallery opening.

Academic Credit:

Students will earn credit based on their reflections, presentations and completion of all

assigned writing and reading assignment completion. Learning will be demonstrated in the

classroom and the field by demonstrating sound, ethical practices.

Academic Rigor:

Class meetings will occur weekly. They will be where community reflection will take

place, partially drawing from Dewey’s insight to the idea of “lateral learning” (Dewey,

1938/1997). Students will share their thoughts, impressions and suggestions from the previous

week in light of theory and holistic observation of their progress.

Outside of required course readings, a minimum of two journal entries will be required per

week—one after in-class sessions and the second after service sessions. The service itself will take

place once per week in the form of after-school seminars that will be fifty minutes in duration.

Learning Objectives:

Develop and practice skills in evaluating learning programs;

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Dr. Patrick Green

Increase knowledge of how public policy and state funding affect the outcomes of students

and educational institutions;

Develop ability to plan and adjust lessons based on student needs and behaviors;

Acquire the ability to collaborate with parents, teachers and school administration;

Document and reflect on experiences with students in the school setting and use this

formative reflection to gain insight for future practices;

Witness the effects of implementing best practices for art education;

Learn how to evaluate the consistent input of community and educational stakeholders and

modify practices to satisfy the needs of those being served;

Learn to holistically analyze student’s public speaking and communication abilities

Criteria for Service-Placement Selection:

By being deliberate in the selection of students for this course, we ensure that the

placement will be a relevant learning experience. Also, although students are expected to

collaborate with those outside their discipline, learning objectives will allow them to deepen their

personal area of study and expand what they know to real-world application. We will act to ensure

that neither visual art nor literature receive preferential attention in the classroom.

This community project has at its core the needs of the community as determined by the

community. Students and facilitators expect to be equal collaborators with stakeholders in the

school and surrounding community.

Educationally-Sound Learning Strategies and Realization of Course Learning Objectives

Students will critically reflect upon their experiences both in and out of class. They will be

prodded to view their experience through the lens of their prior assumptions about the nature of

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Dr. Patrick Greeneducation, government and social constructs. In presenting their information to their peers as well

as sharing the summative success or inconclusive results of the course at its end, they will be well

equipped for future learning and professional work in the community.

Preparation for Learning from the Community

Students will be provided with examples of how to complete assignments, as suggested

within the Principles of Good Practice for Service-Learning Pedagogy (Howard, 1993). Their

examples will be taken from successful service-learning experiences at our and other universities.

They will also receive guidance and support from their two co-advisors and me. Prior to meeting

with students, parents and faculty, they will be required to research the school and surrounding

community. This will task is not intended to create bias, but to understand where they will be and

begin to unpack what biases they may be unknowingly harboring. They will be seen as leaders in

their new setting and therefore should be self aware.

Minimizing the Distinction between Community and Classroom Learning Roles

Upon beginning this class, students will be introduced to their advisors and me as

facilitators, not “teachers”. In the context of service-learning, our hope is to learn from one another

and the experience, not to passively acquire information while seated in the classroom. The

classroom will be our workshop, in a sense. The place we go to review our progress and put our

heads together to continue to benefit the young adults and community that we serve. Active

learning will be the expectation both inside and out of the classroom.

Rethinking the Faculty Instructional Role

The hope is that distributing leadership to two non-faculty partners will diffuse student’s

tendency to revert to the traditional classroom power structure.

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Dr. Patrick Green

Maximizing Community Responsibility Orientation of the Course

Students will be active stakeholders in the classroom just as they are in the community.

They will assess one another’s work and approach tasks (in and out of class) with an attitude of

symbiosis. They will be encouraged to help one another ask questions and seek answers pertinent

to their service-learning experience.

Cherrington, J. (2011). Urban studies, students, and communities: An ideal partnership—a case

study of urban studies service-learning. Partnerships: A Journal of Service Learning &

Civic engagement , 2(2), 1-12.

Howard, J. (1993). Community service learning in the curriculum. In J. Howard (Ed.), Praxis I:

A faculty casebook on community service learning. (pp.3-12). Ann Arbor: OCSL Press.

Kuh, G.D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them,

and why they matter . Association of American Colleges and Universities.

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Documents

ELPS429 Case Study A