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Welcome! Please take a moment to introduce yourselves to your neighbors, then consider the following: • What is civic engagement? • Why should civic engagement be part of the college curriculum?.

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  1. Welcome! Please take a moment to introduce yourselves to your neighbors, then consider the following: • What is civic engagement? • Why should civic engagement be part of the college curriculum? Promoting Civic Engagement in Lower Level General EducationAryn Bartley, Brenta Blevins, Michele Ren, Haley Russell5th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy - 2013

  2. What is Civic Engagement?Why should civic engagement be part of the college curriculum?

  3. Emphasis on education for: • A fuller realization of democracy • International understanding and cooperation. • The application of creative imagination and trained intelligence to the solution of social problems and to the administration of public affairs. Truman Commission on Higher Education (1947)

  4. “[D]eep engagement with the values of liberty, equality, individual worth, open mindedness, and the willingness to collaborate with people of differing views and backgrounds toward common solutions for the public good” The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (2012)

  5. “The university should use the processes of education and research to respond to, serve and strengthen its communities for local and global citizenship.” Talloires Network (2005)

  6. The university as a “socially embedded institution” with a “[firm commitment] to social transformation and the pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of the community” (26). Munck, McQuillan and Ozarowski (2012)

  7. “A mutually beneficial knowledge-based collaboration between the higher-education institution, its staff and students, [and] the wider community, through community-campus partnerships.” • Can Include: • Service Learning/Community-Based Learning • Community-engaged Research • Volunteering • Community/Economic regeneration • Capacity-Building and Access Lyons (2012)

  8. Education for “democracy,”“common good,” social benefit • Emphasis on cooperation/collaboration/ partnering • University as located within community - global, local, “glocal” Common Themes/Terms

  9. Encourage active civic participation/engagement and reinvigorate democratic practices like voting, civil public discourse, etc. (National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement ) • Strengthen relationship between university and community (Munck et. al., Lyons) • “improved graduation rates and narrowed achievement gaps between racial–ethnic groups” (Kinzie, 2012, 13). Rationale

  10. “Real” Rhetorical Situations • Rather than writing to complete an assignment, “writing as social action” – (Heilker, 1997, 71-72) • no need "to imagine an entire rhetorical world, to conjure up an appropriate audience, subject matter, and ethos out of thin air“ (Heilker, 1997, 71) • Motive/Exigence • "students are conscious of the responsibility they have to readers, civic communities, and even themselves to produce accurate, reflective, and moral writing” (Sidler, 2005, 49-50). Rationale

  11. Construct a wiki page about“an important, interesting and/or helpful aspect of RU, Radford, or the New River Valley.” • Three sections (60 students) participated. Group WikisRadford University - CORE 101 - Fall 2012 - Aryn Bartley

  12. “Civic Engagement”Component • Writing for a specific audience of their peers (student body as “community”) • Writing to help their peers access local resources • Engaging with local/university community (places and people) • Collaborative project with peers

  13. Sample topics (on and off campus) • Clubs and Activities • Sororities/fraternities • Food/hangout spots • Local small businesses • Outdoor Recreational Locales

  14. Sample Wiki: “RU Leisure Activities”

  15. Reflections: Pros • Asked students to consider the positive impact of their writing/research on others within their community (student body) • Students learned about community resources • Engaged students with each other, RU, and Radford

  16. Reflections: Cons • Varying levels of student engagement often depended on their interest in the topic • Community as commodity?

  17. A formal, taped, interview with an “expert” on the topic the student is addressing in their final essay • Asks students to become familiar with not only the issue, but with a community member who has experience, knowledge, expertise in the area • Gives practice in working with others who are concerned about the issue, and, often, allows students to encounter different viewpoints. Finding and Interviewing “Experts”Radford University - CORE 101 - Fall 2012 - Michele Ren

  18. Write an argument essay about an issue on or affecting our campus • Students choose and research topic, audience, and potential publication on campus • Topics • Reducing athlete concussions, more dining hall choices, the importance of University 100, on campus smoking, the perennial parking issue, campus technology, the role of alcohol on campus, dealing with substance abuse deaths Argument EssayRadford University - CORE 101 - Fall 2010, Fall 2011 – Brenta BlevinsUNCG - English 101 – Fall 2012 - Brenta Blevins

  19. Identifying an issue that can and should be written about • Researching the issue, describing it, and writing persuasively about that issue for the community (college campus) Argument Essay: Civic EngagementRadford University - CORE 101 - Fall 2010, Fall 2011 – Brenta BlevinsUNCG - English 101 – Fall 2012 - Brenta Blevins

  20. At Radford, scaffolded on a formal interview assignment with an “expert” • Helps students research who has expertise and how to ask the expert questions to build an argument • At UNCG, scaffolded on a rhetorical analysis of argument building • Helps students understand context, audience in terms of needs and language Argument EssayRadford University - CORE 101 - Fall 2010, Fall 2011 – Brenta BlevinsUNCG - English 101 – Fall 2012 - Brenta Blevins

  21. Pros: • Provides students with a choice about the issue they wanted to engage • Specific assignment focus limits paper mill/plagiarism issues Cons: • Not every topic is publication ready Argument Essay: ReflectionRadford University - CORE 101 - Fall 2010, Fall 2011 – Brenta BlevinsUNCG - English 101 – Fall 2012 - Brenta Blevins

  22. Research Portfolio • Annotated Bibliography (5 Articles) • Weekly Posts to a Research Blog • Poster Design • Oral Poster Presentation • Multiple Peer Review Workshops • Final Argumentative Essay Informative Poster PresentationRadford University – CORE 102 – Spring 2013 - Haley Russell

  23. Modeling Civic Engagement in the Classroom: • models an academic community • emphasizes the process of peer review • requires that students question college culture • requires reflection on personal engagement in their community • looks at the cultural and moral issues of college life Informative Poster PresentationRadford University – CORE 102 – Spring 2013 - Haley Russell

  24. Questions about our assignments?

  25. Take a few minutes discusswith those around you and/or to make notes on:How might you incorporate a civic engagement component in your future general education courses?

  26. Thank You!Handouts on specific assignments are available on the CHEP website.

  27. Department of Education, The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (2012). A crucible moment: College learning and democracy’s future. (ED-OPE-10-C-078).Retrieved from Association of American Colleges and Universities website: http://www.aacu.org/civic_learning/crucible/documents/crucible_508F.pdf Kinzie, J. (2012). High-impact practices: Promoting participation for all students. Diversity & Democracy, 15(3), 13-14. Retrieved from http://www.diversityweb.org/DiversityDemocracy/vol15no3/about_issue.cfm Lyons, A. (2012.)  Civic engagement practices in higher education in Ireland. In McIlrath, L, A. Lyons & R. Munck, Eds. Higher education and civic engagement: Comparative perspectives. New York:  Palgrave MacMillan. References, p. 1

  28. Munck, R., McQuillan, H., & Ozarowsk, J. Civic engagement in a cold climate: A glocal perspective. In McIlrath, L, A. Lyons & R.  Munck, Eds. Higher education and civic engagement: Comparative perspectives.  New York:  Palgrave MacMillan. Talloires Network. (2005).  Talloires declaration on the civic roles and  social responsibilities of higher education. Retrieved from http://talloiresnetwork.tufts.edu/what-is-the-talloires-network/   talloires-declaration/ Truman Commission on Higher Education. (1947).  Retrieved from http://courses.education.illinois.edu/eol474/sp98/truman.html References, p. 2

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