SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA
COMMUNICATION 190-09
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Fall 2013 SYLLABUS
Time: TBD
Room: TBD
Dr. Aaron Sachs
Assistant Professor, Communication
Office Location: Sichel Hall 105G
Office Telephone: x8197
Email:
Administrative Assistance: Libby Bernard (x4048)
OFFICE HOURS
Mon: 2:00-5:00 PM Drop-In
Wed:2:00-5:00 PM By Appointment Only
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is a quarter credit companion or “lab” course to be taken in conjunction with any section of Argument and Advocacy (Comm 10) as a way of applying what is learning in that class by engaging with the community outside the classroom. Students achieve this via a semester-long civic engagement project that requires students to identify and address a problem in a community of which they are part. Each student then selects and defines a problem, researches the issue to establish its causes, impacts, and implications, studies other communities facing similar challenges, and finally proposes a way to and actively engages the community in addressing the issue. By intensively focusing on community engagement as a site for applying the tools learned inArgument and Advocacy, this course teaches students aboutcollaborative and deliberative inquiry, engaged research, critical thinking, problem solving, and applied communication.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Community Engagement provides a site for students to deepen what they are learning in Argument and Advocacy by leaving the classroom and engaging with the broader world; students apply concepts from Argument and Advocacy to communities beyond the academy to which students have a personal connection. Students will actively and critically reflect upon their experiences of engaged advocacy and integrate them in their academic understanding of the world and the concepts they learn in Argument and Advocacy.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course students, will be expected to be able to:
- Apply methods, theories, and concepts of argumentation, communication, and advocacy simultaneously being learned in Comm 10, Argument and Advocacy,to promote collaboration and mutual benefit in a community of personal significance.
- Demonstrate critical reflection throughout their experience advocating in their community.
- Express their understanding of the interconnected roles they play as contributors, and not simply observers, of community conversations around issues, and the opportunities and responsibilities that come with these roles.
PRIMARY ASSESMENT
All assignments must be completed and turned in to pass this course. No late work will be accepted for submittal, save for documented medical emergencies or unless PRIOR approval from instructor is granted.
Attendance/Participation/GaelLearn...... 20%
Civic Engagement Project...... 60%
Initial Idea...... 5%
Issue Research...... 15%
Action Proposal...... 15%
Advocacy...... 10%
Project Summary...... 15%
Reflections...... 20%
Attendance/Participation/GaelLearn
Your attendance at all class meetings and arrival on time is required for full participation in this class. If you need to miss a class, you must notify me ahead of time and provide appropriate documentation, however you are still fully responsible for all of the material, assignments, and information given out during that class meeting (contact others in class to get this information, look on GaelLearn, and if you still need help, ask me). Your full preparation for each class meeting, including reading and studying the texts assigned, taking careful notes on them, and bringing both the materials and those notes to class with you is key to full participation in the course. I expect your active participation in class discussions. Since the class depends on conversation and interaction, I assume each student will take part in our discussions. I understand that some people like to talk in public more than others, and I will try not to make anyone uncomfortable by calling on them. However, I do expect each of you to be an ongoing participant in the class. All kinds of questions are encouraged, from the most complex or subtle speculations, to basic requests for clarification, translation, etc. about a text. For those people that talk less in class, I suggest taking full advantage of the GaelLearn discussion boards.
Civic Engagement Project
This is the major assignment for the course and should represent the culmination of all your work and learning. For this assignment, you will be creating a semester-long civic engagement project that identifies and address a problem in a community of personal significance to you and of which you are part. There are five pieces to the project.
- Select and define a problem in your chosen community. Turn-in an Initial Idea that identifies the problem and the community.
- Research the issue to establish its causes, impacts, and implications as well as study other communities facing similar challenges and what they have done to address them. Turn-in Issue Research that presents your research and findings on the issue.
- Propose a project that makes an informed intervention into the issue. Turn-in an Action Proposal that advocates for your proposed course of action to address the issue.
- Advocate for your Action Proposal to the appropriate audience in your chosen community. Turn-in appropriate information for professor to confirm that you delivered your Advocacy speech to the community.
- Actively pursue your course of action, integrating any feedback from the community, to address the issue in your community. Turn-in Project Summary that details your efforts in the community and the lessons you’ve learned about engaged advocacy along the way.
Class time will be spent throughout the semester helping students prepare and complete each step, as well as providing an opportunity for students to share experiences, collaborate on interventions, and provide peer support around the project.
Reflection Journal
You will be responsible for an ongoing reflection journal. The journal will be a venue for you to reflect on food justice, community, course readings and discussions, and your experience with the service-learning component of the course. There will be 4-6 regular entries over the course of the semester, each connected to a prompt or question posted on GaelLearn and due within one week of posting. Unless otherwise noted, journal reflections are between individual students and the professor and are not meant for public consumptions. Journals will be graded based on the ABC rubric, where A is affect, B is behavior, and C is cognition/concepts (see below for a more detailed explanation of ABC rubric).
ABC RUBRIC
ABC Rubric Explanation:
Affect: The first component of the ABCs of reflection is affect, which involves exploration of feelings and emotions. Students must examine their comfort level with the information and experience they have encountered in the class and service setting. They must identify what they are feeling, as well as why they are feeling the way they do. It is important to note that no judgments are made regarding what students feel (i.e. there are no correct feelings). Instead, this aspect of the reflection process is an acknowledgement of feelings. This could include anger, frustration, confusion, joy, or gratification—the whole spectrum of feelings.
Behavior: The second dimension of reflection is behavior, which is conceptualized as action. In this respect, students are asked to go beyond merely reporting the chronological events of their experience. Instead, they are asked to reflect on how they behaved in the past given the particular circumstances. Likewise, students are asked to speculate how they might behave in the future as a result of their experience. Students must also indicate why they did what they did in the manner that they did it and reflect as to whether or not it was effective.
Cognition/Content: The final component of the ABCs of reflection is cognition or content, which is conceptualized as the information, concepts, skills, or terms examined in the course. Students must provide an indication of their understanding and mastery of the relevant concepts in their reflection responses. In this way, students are making the cognitive connection between their experiences and what is taught in the class. Students are thus learning how to apply what they’ve learned in the class to real life experiences, especially the service-learning experiences.
Scoring:
3pts for Affect
3pts for behavior
4pts for cognition/content
Each is graded qualitatively, where:
3pts = in depth response
2pts = satisfactory response
1pt = marginal response
GRADING SCALE
GRADE%
A93 –100 %
A-90 – 92 %
B+87 – 89 %
B83 – 86 %
B-80 – 82 %
C+77 – 79 %
C73 – 76 %
C-70 – 72 %
D+67 – 69 %
D63 – 66 %
D-60 – 62 %
F59 % and below
Be aware that education is a dynamic process that transcends formula.
Every attempt will be made to objectify the grading process.
However, the instructor reserves the right to adjust a grade up or down
based upon warranted subjective reasons.
GENERAL DEPARTMENTAL GRADING GUIDELINES
Excerpted from the 2001-2002 Communication Department Handbook
The major in communication requires substantial commitment. Therefore, working hard in your communication classes must be a standard practice. Although the workload for some courses is heavier than others, you are expected to do significant out-of-class preparation for each meeting of every course. You are expected to budget your time so that you can adequately prepare for each class. When you have an assignment such as a paper or exam that requires a heavier than usual time commitment, you should plan ahead so that this does not adversely impact your performance in other classes.
Our intent in the grading process is to provide students with a fair evaluation of their academic progress. We understand the dangers of inflated grades – grades that are poor measures of academic accomplishment.
The final outcome of your effort in each class is a letter grade indicating mastery of material. Precise criteria for achievement are designated by each instructor and can be found in each course syllabus. In addition, the department has general guidelines listed below to assist you in understanding what is required to obtain specific letter grades.
Before describing the guidelines for specific letter grades, let us consider minimum requirements for your work in any communication class. To achieve C or better in any course, students must fulfill the following criteria, and maintain a balance in all of these areas rather than excellence in one or two:
- Students must have a command of substantive material.
- Students must have the ability to diagnose strengths and weaknesses in written and oral communication.
- Students must creatively engage in an exploration of relevant ideas and concepts.
- Students must actively participate to enrich the experience of both students and faculty in the classroom.
Course letter grades are as follows:
“C”is an average grade indicating that you have an adequate command of the substantive material of the course and that you have engaged in the exploration of the ideas and concepts. This is generally demonstrated through class participation and through satisfactory completion of class assignments and examinations.
“B”is a good grade, indicating your involvement with the course and its material has been more than just adequate. “B” work is very good – significantly above average.
“A”work is more than simple mastery of course material. It represents a very active and sophisticated engagement with every aspect of the course, demonstrated through sophisticated analysis or creative treatment of the ideas and data covered in the course.
“D”work is less than adequate. For instance, a “D” may indicate that you failed in one or more areas of the course or that you have slipped below a satisfactory level of work in all areas.
“F”indicates a failure to meet the requirements described above.
Students with Disabilities
Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, that take into account the context of the course and its essential elements, for individuals with qualifying disabilities, are extended through the office of Student Disability Services. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Services Coordinator at (925) 631-4164 to set up a confidential appointment to discuss accommodation guidelines and available services. Additional information regarding the services available may be found at the following address on the Saint Mary’s website:
Academic Integrity
Saint Mary’s College expects the highest standards of academic excellence and ethical performance from students. It is particularly important that you are aware of and avoid plagiarism, cheating on exams, submitting a paper to more than one instructor, or submitting a paper authored by anyone other than yourself. Violations of this policy will result in a failing grade and be reported to the Office of Advising. If you have any doubts or questions about these policies, consult the student handbook and/or confer with the professor.
DAY/DATE
/THEME / ACTIVITIES
/READING
/ASSIGNMENT
WEEK 1 / General Introductions;Review of Course;
Personal Introductions;
Group Agreements;
WEEK 2 / Preflection
WEEK 3 / Initial Idea Due
WEEK 4
WEEK 5
WEEK 6 / Issue Research Due
WEEK 7
WEEK 8 / Project Proposal Due
WEEK 10
WEEK 11
WEEK 12 / Advocacy Confirmation Received
WEEK 13
WEEK 14
WEEK 15
WEEK 16
Finals Week / Final Project Summary Due