Community Research Service Learning
Professor Stephanie A. Johnson
California State University Monterey Bay
Visual and Public Art Department (Spring 2005)
Course Description
The Community Research Service Learning Course is a learning experience designed to provide students with both theoretical and hands-on approaches to the concept of community empowerment and growth through the use of collaborative art activities. This semester students will develop the necessary skills for working in community settings: problem solving, research, cross-cultural communication techniques, media analysis, ethical reflection techniques and methods of evaluating accountability as well as project planning, revision and presentation. Students can choose to spend the semester in placements with community partner organizations of the Reciprocal University of the Arts Project (RUAP) of The Visual and Public Art and The Music and Performing Arts Institutes or they find their own placements. The innovative approach to integrating community and university resources that is central to RUAP will provide a unique opportunity for students to develop and facilitate arts and recreational programs with local agencies. In addition to on-site placement work, class activities planned for this semester include community research exercises, research projects, presentations, guest lecturers and field trips to local organizations.
Course Format
VPA 317 will consist of both regular in-class meetings and online meetings. We will use the online course environment for group assignment virtual meetings, check-ins and class discussions. All students will be expected to participate in class discussions, collaborative projects, and individual meetings as well participating in online discussions and “meetings”. Both in-class and online learning experiences will use a combination of collaborative and individual learning methodologies. Students are responsible for reading all the materials in the VPA 317 Reader and providing quotes from them as assigned.
Visual and Public Art Major Learning Outcomes
Assessment is built into this learning experience, which can be used to demonstrate fulfillment of MLO #2 – Community and Audience. The class activities, assignments, placement trainings and placement journal entries will demonstrate fulfillment of this MLO.
WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE COMMUNITY RESEARCH SERVICE LEARNING COURSE?
- To review the VPA Major Learning Outcomes and use them in community projects.
- To explore and clarify the goals of the VPA service learning placements from both the program and students’ points of view.
- To facilitate an atmosphere of collaboration and collegiality among the members of this class.
- To train students in techniques for effective cross-cultural communication.
- To facilitate a process of self-reflection and ethical engagement related to working in diverse communities.
- To facilitate an examination of the role of community work in students’ current and future endeavors.
- To examine media imagery and analyze the relationship between representation, perception and prejudice.
- To research, present and discuss the histories of regional cities.
- To prepare students for placements with community agencies.
- To assist students with planning and working in their community placements.
WHAT WILL I LEARN BY TAKING THIS COURSE?
Based upon full participation in this course:
- You will have the knowledge and skills to articulate and apply the VPA program’s Major Learning Outcomes to your work with communities.
- You will have the ability to articulate and discuss the overall goals and concepts of Service Learning.
- You will have the ability to develop and articulate your own goals for this VPA service learning placement.
- You will develop the ability to work harmoniously with the other people involved in this learning experience.
- You will explore and develop effective, ethical and constructive ways to work in diverse communities.
- You will have the ability to examine and articulate the role of your own cultural heritages, personal histories, social and gender positioning in the work you are doing in diverse communities.
- You will have the ability to examine and envision a role for community engagement in your current and future endeavors.
- You will have an ability to research, identify and analyze the role of the media in countering or perpetuating stereotypes based on ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and socio/economic social status.
- You will develop the ability to locate and interpret material using local resources to present inclusive histories of regional cities.
- You will have the ability to plan and work with community agencies on projects that will be mutually beneficial.
- During your placement period, you will develop the ability to evaluate your working methodologies, communication skills and beliefs regarding diverse local populations, revising these things as needed for a fulfilling and successful placement experience.
WHAT ARE THE ASSIGNMENTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR THIS COURSE?
Personal Narratives Assignment (written and presented in class)
This is your opportunity to introduce yourself to the class. In your narrative, you will share with the class your personal history including ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds, family stories, and neighborhood remembrances. You will also explore your perceptions of “other”, ways that you and your family fit and/or were different from your social environment and any cultural affinities you feel with diverse cultures.
This assignment is the first in a series of activities that will help you to develop your skills of self-reflection, public presentation and discussion.
Discussion Questions (online)
During your placement period we will not be meeting regularly as a class. There will be two discussion questions posted in the online environment for VPA 317. These questions will be used as a way to keep in touch, share your placement experiences, and formulate creative strategies as a learning community.
Journal Entries (written)
You will be asked to keep a journal documenting your experiences in the class and at your placement. The main purpose of the journal is for you to chronicle your own journey and growth. I will collect the journals five times during the semester, providing you with feedback, advice and encouragement.
Individual Meetings (in person)
There will be two meetings scheduled for you to meet with me to discuss your progress. The first meeting will be a check-in prior to placement. The second meeting will be at the end of the semester to assess your overall experience in the course and placement.
Service Learning Expectations (written)
At the beginning of the semester, you will be asked to write a brief narrative about your expectations for a service learning placement as a way to explore, identify and match your skills, experiences and ideas with the appropriate community agency prior to your site placement.
Media Research (written and presented in class)
For this research paper, you will find and analyze an article from a local newspaper in your assigned cities. In class discussions, we will explore the effect of visual images, headlines and text on our perceptions regarding age, ethnicity and gender.
Community Mapping (written and presented in class)
Working in teams and using cameras, you will go out into the local communities and gather information about the youth in your assigned cities. This is a fun exercise where you can interact with youth as well as examining your own perceptions about age and culture.
Regional and Organizational History (written and presented in class)
You will work in groups to gather historical and archival materials about your assigned cities. The function of this activity is to get a sense of the histories that provide a context for the communities in which you are working. Part of the assignment involves interviewing community members, collecting oral histories from the young and the old.
Placement reports (online)
During your placement, you will need to check-in three times using the online course environment.
Final Paper (written)
The final paper for this class will include sections from some of the other written assignments so if you have kept up with your work, this will not be too difficult. You will bring together organizational information from your placement, an assessment of your involvement with the agency and a section on personal reflection about your work this semester.
Final Meeting (in person)
At the end of the semester, I will be interviewing each student to prepare case studies (anonymous) that will be used as teaching tools for the next class. These case studies will focus on successes, challenges, and new ways to work with communities that we have all encountered as participants in this course.
HOW WILL I BE GRADED?
You will be given full points for each task if you follow directions carefully and re-write or edit your assignments as requested. You will be given the opportunity to improve your skills through rewriting and resubmitting yourwork. If you choose to revise the work as requested, your grade will be elevated accordingly and you will be given full points. A rubric detailing the standards for evaluating the content of your written assignments will be posted in the online course environment. It is advisable for you to review this rubric prior to writing your papers.
Point Scale (points per task)
100 points – Personal Narratives Assignment (Written)
50 points - Personal Narratives Assignment (In-class presentation / discussion)
40 points - Discussion Questions (Online – Two questions - 20 points each)
100 points – Journal Entries (Journals will be collected 5 times - 20 points each)
100 points – Individual Meetings (Two required meetings - 50 points each)
100 points – Service Learning Expectations paper (Written)
100 points – Media Research Paper (Written)
50 points – Media Research Paper presentation (In-class presentation)
100 points – Community Mapping paper (Written - collaboration)
50 points – Community Mapping presentation (In class -collaboration)
100 points – Regional and Organizational History paper (Written - collaboration)
50 points – Regional and Organizational History (In-class presentation-collaboration)
60 points – Placement Reports (Online - Three reports - 20 points each)
150 points – Final Paper (Written)
50 points – Final Individual Meeting (Required)
1200 Points Total
Extra Credit 10 – 25 points (Points and projects variable).
Point Scale (points to letter grade)
Over 1200 points = A+
1200 –1150 = A
1149 – 1100 = A-
1099 – 1050 = B+
1049 – 1000 = B
999 - 950 = B-
949 – 900 = C+
899- 860 = C
859 – 800 = C-
Below 800 points will result in a meeting with Professor Johnson to determine the status of your grade in regards to passing this course.
VPA 317 Community Research Service Learning
Weekly Schedule
SECTION I - TRAINING
Week 1:
January 25 Introduction to the course and students
Reading assignments: From the Service Learning Institute
1. Experience and Learning Cone
2. The Philosophy of Service Learning
3. What Is Service Learning
4. P.E.A.R. chart
5. VPA Major Learning Outcomes
January 27 What Is Service Learning?
Effective Multicultural Communication
Reading assignments:
1. Introduction
2. Personal Interpersonal Cross Cultural Training Model
3. Guidelines For Improving Communication Within A Diverse Group
Assignment #1 Personal narrative - (Written assignment due February 3)
Week 2:
February 1
Personal narrative presentations
Reading assignments:
1. Personal and Interpersonal Development
Assignment #1 due: Personal Narratives (written form)
Assignment #2 - Service Research Expectations (Due February 10)
February 3
Personal narrative presentations continued
Assignment #3 - MediaResearch (due February 15)
Reading assignments:
1. RUAP organization’s materials
2. Eighth Letter: Cultural Identity and Education
3. Culture, Art and Learning
Week 3:
February 8
Personal narrative presentations continued as needed
Assignment #4 - Community Mapping (due February 24)
Reading assignment:
1. Releasing Individual Capacities
2. Mapping Community Capacity
3. A Quick Primer On Community Organizing
February 10 Cultural Caucuses work
Class exercise: Using the two readings as a reference, we will examine the role of our own cultural, social and ethnic backgrounds in our understanding of social justice issues. We will explore effective ways to discuss the idea of “race” from a position of ethical and compassionate engagement.
Reading assignments:
1. White People Need To Acknowledge Benefits of Unearned Privilege
2. On Being White
Assignment #2 due: Service Learning Expectations paper
Week 4:
February 15
Media Research presentations
Journal collection #1
Assignment#3 due: Written media research reports.
February 17
In class work - to be announced
Note: Please use the next two weeks to contact your organizations and begin your service learning placements.
Week 5:
February 22
Class Exercise: Trading Places. With the case studies as scripts, we will explore ways to deal with challenging placements using theatre performance techniques.
February 24
Community Mapping Presentations
Assignment #4 due: Written group community mapping reports due with presentations.
SECTION II – PLACEMENTS AND FIELDWORK
Week 6:
March 1 and March 3
Individual meetings as scheduled. In order to provide additional time for your placements, we will not meet as a class this week.
Journal collection #2 - Tuesday (March 3) - Please place your journals in the box on the door of my office in building 72. They will be returned on Thursday, left in the same box.
Week 7:
March 8 and 10
Fieldwork
Assignment #5: Regional & Organizational History (due April 12)
Final Assignment (due April 26)
Week 8:
March 15 - March 17
Fieldwork
Assignment due: Journal collection #3
Online question #1 posted
Week 9:
March 22 - 24 Spring Break
Week 10:
March 29 – March 31
Fieldwork
March 31 Cesar Chavez Day No Classes
Please use this day “off” to contemplate Cesar Chavez’s contributions to our region, state and country. If you do not know about this amazing man and the people with whom he worked, take the time to research him online. This is also a good opportunity to reflect upon all the people who bring the food to our tables. From the farmers, pickers, packers, truck drivers and factory workers to the family members who prepare our meals, we should all be very thankful.
Assignment due: Online placement report #1
Week 11:
April 5 -7
Individual meetings as scheduled
Week 12:
April 12
Regional and Organizational History Presentations
Assignment due: Written regional and organizational history reports due with presentations.
Assignment due: Journal collection #4
April 14
Fieldwork
Assignment due: Online placement report #2
Online question #2 posted
Week 13:
April 21 - 23
Fieldwork
Week 14:
April 26 - April 28
Fieldwork
Assignments due: Final papers and journals (collection #5) – Please leave them in VPA building 72 in the box on my office door.
Week 15:
May 3 - 5
Fieldwork
Assignment due: Online placement report #3
SECTION III – EVALUATION AND DISCUSSION
Week 16:
May 10
Class meeting, and discussion of placements.
Course evaluations will be filled out at then end of this session.
May 12
Individual meetings and exit interviews as scheduled.
Assessment week: May 17 and May 19
Individual meetings and exit interviews as scheduled.
Please pick up your journals and final papers in VPA building 71.
