advancing the leap challenge: infusing community ... · community arts and activism this ce course...
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Advancing the LEAP Challenge: Infusing Community Engagement
into General EducationNadia Garzon, Meredith Hein, Erik Kenyon, and Dan Myers
Rollins College
Winter Park, FL
Introductions
Nadia Garzon
• Adjunct Professor, Theater and Dance
Meredith Hein
• Director, Center for Leadership and Community Engagement
Erik Kenyon
• Director, Student and Faculty Engagement, Hamilton Holt School
Dan Myers
• Professor, Computer Science
Today’s Workshop & Backwards Course Design*
Course Goals Community Needs
*Wiggins and McTighe (2005) Understanding by Design
Assignments & Assessment
Content
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Institutional Support
Rollins Foundations in the Liberal Arts
Five developmental courses with associated LEAP outcomes
One 100-level• Information Literacy
Three 200-level• Critical Thinking
One 300-level Capstone• Information Literacy, Written
Communication, Critical Thinking
Competencies
Divisional ways of knowing
Writing
Quantitative reasoning
Ethics
Foreign Language
Health and Wellness
Foundations Themes
Five integrative areas
• Environments• Innovation• Identities• Cultural Collisions• Enduring Questions
These themes are consistent with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges
The program allows themes to evolve over time
• Breadth vs. specific global challenges?
Backwards Design & Philosophy for Kids
Course Goals Community Needs
Assignments & Assessment
Content-----------------------------------------
Institutional Support
Scenario
You’re told to teach a CE course.
You specialize in Ancient Philosophy.
???
Question 1: GOAL
Q: What will students retain from my course in 20 years that will
be of use in the real world?
A: Skills of useful dialogue…
• enthusiasm for hard problems
• formulating questions
• articulating positions
• giving reasons for positions
• altering positions based on
arguments
Question 2: NEED
Q: What need in the community provides opportunities for
undergraduates to pursue those goals?
A: K12 Education Reform
• Nationally: Test-taking Culture
• Locally...
• Schools need programming
• Children need interaction
• Teachers need models
Question 3: ASSIGNMENTS & ALIGNMENT
Q: What assignments bring together
learning goals and community need?
A: Philosophy for Kids program
• Undergrads use philosophy to
develop & lead lesson with children.
• Games, Dialogical Reading, Art
• Children practice “Philosophy Rules”
• Listen, Think, Respond
Question 3: ASSIGNMENTS & ALIGNMENT
Q: How do these assignments align with LEAP rubrics?
• Ethical Reasoning
• Critical Thinking
• Information Literacy
• Written Communication
• Civic Engagement
(First-Year Experience)
Question 4: CONTENT
Q: What disciplinary content could be used in assignments?
A: It varies…
• epistemology
• logic
• metaphysics
• ethics
Question 4: CONTENT
Q: What content could frame reflection on CE work?
A: Philosophy of Education
• Plato, Republic
• Aristotle, Ethics & Politics
• Mill, Utilitarianism
• Dewey, “Education as Growth”
• Hamilton Holt & Rollins’ Curricula
• Piaget vs. Vygotsky
• Ethics for the Very Young (2019)
Discussion
Question 1: GOAL
What will students retain from my course in 20 years that will be
of use in the real world?
Question 2: NEED
What need in the community provides an opportunity to pursue
my goals for undergraduates?
Assignments & Assessment: Two Case Studies
Course Goals Community Needs
Assignments & Assessment
Content-----------------------------------------
Institutional Support
Common Challenges
• Faculty connecting with partners• Creating assignments that produce
artifacts to be assessed
Creating the Digital Future
Created a walking tour app for Hannibal Square, Winter Park’s historic African-American neighborhood.
Assignment Design
LEAP Outcomes
• Critical Thinking• Written Communication• Information Literacy
Projects
• History of a site in Hannibal Square• White paper on near-future
technology
Community Arts and Activism
This CE course actively explores the use of performing and visual arts in activism and social change.
Students develop and execute a Community Arts project with a local community organization.
Students do 25/30 hours of on-site work and prepare in class by doing research and activities related to their project.
Community Arts:Recognition of the resources of individuals and communities in order to change social realities through creative acts.
Augusto Boal’s Aesthetics of the Oppressed:The most important thing is the Aesthetic Process not the finished work of art
Engagement of “Non-artists” and “Non-experts” in Artistic Projects
Information LiteracyResearch (Annotated Bibliographies):
Students collect, analyze, and share information about the use of visual and performing arts in social change around the world
Critical Thinking Project Proposal:Students design (in writing) the community arts project that they intend to do with their community partner
LEAP Outcomes and Assignments
Critical Thinking and Expressive Arts Challenges
Pick an issue
Pick a side (asses both sides)
Critique/challenge experts
Explore ambiguities
Consider own biases (discuss assumptions)
Funding, Impact, Techniques• Should we prioritize funding for the arts over other
disciplines? (or other disciplines over the arts)• Are the arts the most impactful method to address
some needs/issues?• Is involvement of the community in the creative
process necessary/relevant?
Foundations Summit
Pediatric cancer patients, children grieving the death of a loved one, gifted children, children with
disabilities, at-risk girls and young women
Projects: Murals, theater, arts and crafts, art shows/exhibits, creative curricula and campus visit
Discussion
Question 3: ASSIGNMENTThink about a potential assignment for your course.
What artifact(s) will be produced that can meet the specific sub-outcomes for your given LEAP rubric?
Framing Reflection
Course Goals Community Needs
Assignments & Assessment
Content-----------------------------------------
Institutional Support
Utilizing Reflection and Assessment Tools
● CE/S-L Best Practice = Reflection (Diverse Tools)● LEAP - Civic Engagement Rubric● 50 Courses ‘17-’18 AY; Assessment - 80%
Completion● Survey Goal - Better Understand the Impact that
Participation in CE Designated Courses Has on Students.
● Artifact - How has your experience in this course affected your understanding of your role in creating positive social change in your community?
Creative Journal and Final Reflection
Experience
Lessons
Changes in perceptions and opinions
How has your experience in this course affected your understanding of your role in creating positive social change in your community?
Institutional Support
Course Goals Community Needs
Assignments & Assessment
Content-----------------------------------------
Institutional Support
Rollins College Commitment to Community Engagement
Infrastructure and policy changes to support CE efforts across the institution.
• Strategic Plan and Mission alignment
• CE Designation
• HR Hiring
• FSAR (Faculty Self-Assessment Report)
• Course Scheduling
• Transcript Denotion
• Integration with Center for Career & Life Planning
• Institutional Partnership
• CE Assessment Data
• Sharing Documents
• Community Impact
Strategic Plan - Commitment to CE
Three C’s of Civic and
Community Engagement
• Co-Location
• Curricular Innovation
• Campus-Community Impact
Discussion
Question 5: INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGY
What strengths and weaknesses do you see in how your institution supports community engagement work?
What opportunities exist for improvement?