OLIT: 493:002
UNM Service Corps - 1

Aug 27 – Dec 10, 2008

Wednesday 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Excellence and diversity: Through people, ideas, and innovation
--The Vision Statement of the UNM College of Education

Course Syllabus

Co-instructors:

Office Hours: By appointment only

UNM Service Corps

A campus-based collective of university students engaged in long term civic engagement. Students learn from some of the strongest community leaders as they serve along side them in community-based projects in some of Albuquerque’s most diverse low income neighborhoods.

Course Objectives

In line with the vision and mission of the UNM Service Corps, this class will build on participant’s community experience and passion for service. The class requires that studentsengage in dialogue and discussion about critical issues, be active listeners to community identified social change agenda, build a supportive community through a profound reflective process and apply their education through practical experience in the community.

This course is the academic component ofthe UNMSC experience. With this in mind, the course objectives include:

  • Co-construct knowledge and class experience with participants
  • Explore knowledge construction in and with community
  • Deepen community experience and practice
  • Allow participants to explore their passion and interests in hopes of interconnecting academic and life goals in the process
  • Balance theory and practice through experiential education
  • Explore the themes of leadership and mentoring throughout the course as core principles of the UNMSC experience

Texts

Course reader will be provided in class.

Course experiences

The class participants will be asked to get into teams of three or four and choose an issue area such as:

  • Progressive education
  • Sustainability
  • Health and wellness
  • Civic engagement

These are just examples, you may choose something that a group of you want to explore. You will then have a series of experiences connected to your issue area that include community members as guest lecturers, asset mapping, interviewing community members, community cafes, leading your own reflection, and helping to design service projects for the UNMSC. There are final outcomes, outlined below. However, the real gift of the experience is meeting on an on-going basis with your peers as a community of learners helping each other deepen the Service Corps experience.

Course Schedule

Wednesday Aug 26
  • Introductions and Course Overview
  • Co-construct syllabus and assignments

Assignments due next week:

Wednesday Sept 2
  • Personal history timeline – share two events in your life that shape your life passions and goals
  • Why is it important to know yourself and know others in this way?
  • Interview each other to get a sense of what you are interested in exploring
  • Choose issue in pairs or threes. Long-term plan with benchmarks.

Assignments due next week: Read Dewey, hidden curriculum reading and Freire

Wednesday Sept 9
  • PRAXIS – cycle of knowledge, action, and reflection (Freire).
  • Purpose of education (Dewey).
  • The hidden curriculum.
  • What does any of this have to do with your chosen topic area?

Assignments due next week: CBR reading

Wednesday Sept 16
  • CBR – Why practice community based research?
  • Examples from CLPS

Assignments due next week:

Wednesday Sept 23
  • What is social media?
  • Social media tools

Assignments due next week:

Wednesday September 30
  • Civic engagement – change agenda and policy implications

Assignments due next week:

Wednesday Oct 7
  • Why is your issue important to you, the larger community and society?
  • Community guest speaker

Assignments due next week:Prepare your story board

Wednesday Oct 14
  • Outline of your project (use story board for social media project)

Assignments due next week:Bilingual education and parental involvement reading

Wednesday Oct 21
  • Bilingual education, parental involvement and policy implications
  • Policyoptions.org

Assignments due next week:prepare policy brief outline

Wednesday Oct 28 –
  • Outline of policy brief

Assignments due next week:Critical media literacy reading

Wednesday Nov 4
  • KUNM speaker
  • Critical media literacy activity

Assignments due next week: Civic engagement reading

Wednesday Nov 11
  • Speaker on civic journalism
  • Civic engagement in CLPS and in an international perspective (WIMPS)
Assignments due next week:draft of Policy brief
Wednesday Nov 18

Share policy brief

Assignments due next week:draft of social media project

Wednesday Nov 25-

  • Draft of social media project

Assignments due next week:

Wednesday Dec 2

Community guest speaker

Wednesday Dec 9

  • Presentation of project through social media (incorporate policy brief)
  • Final reflections

Wednesday Dec 16

  • Presentation of project through social media (incorporate policy brief)
  • Final reflections and input on next semester’s course

Course Assignments

Assignments / Final Grade Percent
Participation and Attendance / 20
Policy Brief / 40
Presentation to community / 40

Research Brief

Reference at least 3 readings/course materials

Reflect on session discussions, in-class activities, your personal out of class experiences, and readings

Respond as honestly and openly as possible. It is our hope that through these papers, you will begin to think more deeply and seriously about your agency and position as a UNMSC member

4 pages in length, with references.

Final Presentation and Outline

  • One page handout
  • Clearly outline the issue you are addressing
  • Unpack the underlying socio-political reasons behind the issue, long-term implications, and at least three key ideas/lessons you hope to share to address the issue
  • Make sure the presentation is useful for UNMSC members

Final Presentation

Present at the final UNMSC workshop December 5, 2008

REMINDER about Late Submissions: You will be marked down a letter grade for any assignment not completed by the deadline.

Course Evaluation

Students will be asked to complete a final course evaluation for this course. These anonymous evaluations provide important information to improve this course for next semester's students. Additionally, students will engage in formative evaluations at the end of each week, to assist in the on-going improvement of the course during this semester.

Course Policies

Incompletes, Withdrawals, and Drops:Please see the UNM academic calendar for the last day to drop courses without penalty: In order to withdraw Passing, a student must have earned at least 70% of points possible for assignments due as of the time Withdrawal was requested.

Academic Integrity: Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional manners. The University reserves the right to take disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, against any student who is found guilty of academic dishonesty or otherwise fails to meet these standards. All work including the term paperare expected to be your own individual work. UNM Code of Conduct:

Access to Education:Qualified students with disabilities needing appropriate academic adjustments should contact the instructor as soon as possible to ensure your needs are met in a timely manner.

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