Office of Residence Life Residential Curriculum

July 2010

Educational Priority/Goal:

To enable residents to become citizen leaders; students as engaged scholars within their community.

Becoming citizen leaders requires that students achieve the four goals outlined below over the course of their college experience. Each goal has prescribed learning outcomes.

Moving In – Early; First-Year / Moving Through – Intermediate; Second Year / Moving On - Advanced; Upperclass
Goal: Academic Success / §  Identify available academic planning resources and how to use them.
§  Explore various styles of learning and choose effective study strategies for self.
§  Demonstrate academic integrity.
§  Get to know one’s faculty both inside and outside the classroom.
§  Acknowledge that multiple perspectives exist on any given topic. / §  Utilize residential community to support one’s scholarly endeavors.
§  Explore career and post-graduation experiences and opportunities.
§  Assess and refine goals for one’s educational experience.
§  Examine multiple perspectives on any given topic. / §  Apply lessons learned/knowledge gained to post-graduation plans.
§  Continuously pursue one’s personal and intellectual growth.
Goal: Cultural Competency / §  Engage in positive interactions with people different from one’s self.
§  Recognize one has a culture and a position within society.
§  Participate in various cultural events and activities.
§  Explore other cultures.
§  Reflect on the meaning of diversity and how it influences communities. / §  Recognize structures of power and privilege.
§  Actively contribute to creating inclusive communities.
§  Articulate one’s own culture and position within society.
§  Acquire an awareness of local, regional, national and global cultural issues. / §  Recognize the unique contributions of cultures in society.
§  Develop skills to engage in civil discourse.
§  Recognize how one is and how one can be an advocate and ally for self and others.
§  Analyze the relationship between one’s cultural position and structures of power and privilege.
Goal: Effective Community Engagement / §  Constructively give and receive feedback.
§  Develop a sense of belonging in one’s residential community and at Miami University.
§  Explain how one’s actions and decisions affect the community.
§  Assist in creating and follow community agreements. / §  Take responsibility for one’s residential and university community.
§  Uphold community standards and hold peers accountable for meeting standards.
§  Actively engage with a variety of people in one’s community.
§  Work with your community to solve a problem, create a project, address a question, or resolve interpersonal conflicts that arise. / §  Connect in-class and out of class learning experiences.
§  Seek out teaching and learning experiences with different people
§  Participate in local and global communities.
Goal: Intrapersonal Development / §  Make socially responsible and safe decisions.
§  Explore personal values and identity.
§  Identify how one’s own beliefs and values influence one’s perspective
§  Identify personal strengths and areas for improvement. / §  Refine personal values.
§  Critically reflect on life experiences.
§  Compare multiple aspects of one’s identity.
§  Articulate a plan of action to overcome adversity. / §  Demonstrate the ability to negotiate healthy relationships in different contexts.
§  Incorporate multiple perspectives into one’s worldview.
§  Recognize which part of one’s identity is dominant.

Developmental Foundation[1] for the Office of Residence Life Residential Curriculum

Moving in Moving Through Moving Out

Tier 1: External Formulas / Tier 2: Crossroads / Tier 3: Self-Authorship
Student Traits / Knowledge viewed as certain; reliance on authorities (e.g., authorities, books/manuals, the media) as source of knowledge; externally defined value system and identity; naïve about cultural difference; act in relationships to acquire approval / Evolving awareness of multiple perspectives and uncertainty; evolving awareness of own values and identity; recognizes legitimacy of other cultures but immersed in own culture; evolving awareness of limitations of dependent relationships / Awareness of knowledge as contextual; able to use multiple cultural frames; development of internal belief system and sense of self including social identities; capacity to engage in authentic, interdependent relationships with diverse others
Developmental Goals / ·  Help students question how authorities create knowledge and see the need to create their own knowledge. (cognitive)
·  Help students realize the drawbacks of defining themselves based on others’ perceptions and focusing on approval from others. (intra and interpersonal)
·  Help students begin to understand the concept of culture, their own culture and other cultures. (all three dimensions) / ·  Help students choose their own beliefs and understand how they themselves decide what is true/valid within the context of multiple perspectives. (cognitive)
·  Help students define and act on their own values as well as mutually negotiate with others. (intra and interpersonal)
·  Help students explore their own racial and social identities. (intrapersonal)
·  Help students deconstruct white culture and other dominant cultures to recognize the legitimacy of multiple cultures. (all three dimensions) / ·  Help students consistently base their decisions and constructions of knowledge upon their internal belief system. (cognitive)
·  Help students integrate aspects of their identity and recognize the multifaceted identities of others. (intra and interpersonal)
·  Help students develop a multicultural outlook from which they can appreciate human differences and work for social systems that promote equal rights. (all three dimensions)
Educational Approach: LPM / Staff—created and guided experiences using active learning approaches with ongoing reflection as well as constructive feedback from peers and staff. Active learning approaches might include: case studies, role-playing, collaborative learning, staff-guided inquiries, service learning. / Some student-led, student-initiated components of experience (e.g., choice in activities, plans, processes; student-led experiences; greater student input on inquiries or goals). Experiences are more complex with emphasis on creating opportunities for prolonged engagement, intensive reflection, and greater student responsibility. / Emphasis on collegial exchange of ideas; student-initiated experiences, plans, processes. Staff member becomes more of a coach or guide and much less of an authority.

[1] Adapted from C. Haynes & K. Taylor, (2008) University Honors & Scholars Program Tiered Research Curriculum, and Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2001). Making their own way: Narratives for transforming higher education to promote self-development. Sterling, VA: Stylus.