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Atlanta-Based Learning:

Atlanta-Based Learning:. Engaged Learning in the Community. Presented at the 25 th Annual Conference on the First Year Experience Atlanta, Georgia Jean So, M.Ed. Program Development Officer for Atlanta-Based Learning Office of Undergraduate Studies Nancy R. Mansfield, J.D.

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Atlanta-Based Learning:

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  1. Atlanta-Based Learning: Engaged Learning in the Community Presented at the 25th Annual Conference on the First Year Experience Atlanta, Georgia Jean So, M.Ed. Program Development Officer for Atlanta-Based Learning Office of Undergraduate Studies Nancy R. Mansfield, J.D. Associate Professor of Legal Studies J. Mack Robinson College of Business

  2. Presentation Overview • Office of Undergraduate Studies • Benefits of Engaged Learning in the Community • Atlanta-Based Learning Meets the Challenges • Atlanta-Based Learning Continuum of Engagement • Resources offered through Atlanta-Based Learning • Assessment Data • Case Study: Law and Society Freshman Learning Community • Challenges of Implementation • Suggestions for Adaptation • Useful Resources • Comments and Q&A

  3. Office of Undergraduate Studies The Mission of the Office of Undergraduate Studies is to facilitate academic success for a diverse range of students through coordination and oversight of the following programs and courses: • Freshman Learning Community (FLC) Program • Atlanta-Based Learning Program • State Scholars Program • Latino-Hispanic Student Recruitment and Retention • GSU 1010: New Student Orientation Courses • Perspectives Courses • Supplemental Instruction • Develop academic programs that lead to student success, enhance student learning, and build community. • Focus on new student enrollment and retention to ensure the quality of the undergraduate experience.

  4. Benefits of Engaged Learning • Increases motivation and understanding. • Connects theory (book work) to practice (real-life experience). • Provides opportunities for students to engage directly in their communities and meet community needs while enhancing their course work. • “Service learning has been shown to be a powerful context and catalyst for acquiring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students need for success.” • Provides varied methods of instruction and evaluation. • Growth of personal and interpersonal development.

  5. Why are we here? "As an urban research university, we're the home for new ideas and the heart of our downtown community. We're in business to educate students, to conduct research and to serve the community. The decisions we make focus on our educational mission, but we can and should contribute to the community. We try to make academic decisions that help the community. "It's not just us serving the city. It's not the city serving us. It's the idea of together building a city and a university that are second to none. Georgia State is a source of limitless potential that can be unleashed through a clear understanding of how we generate lasting value to our city, our state and the nation. Working with our community, we are able to determine our shared future." President Carl V. Patton Georgia State University Information compiled from Office of the President website: http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwpre/issues/index.htm

  6. Atlanta-Based Learning: A Model that Meets the Challenges Atlanta-Based Learning promotes academic and civic engagement with the greater Atlanta community. As an urban research institution in Atlanta, Georgia State offers an opportunity for students to understand the context in which they are developing as learners. Atlanta-Based Learning activities generate connections between the academic curriculum and the urban Atlanta environment.

  7. Atlanta-Based Learning Continuum of Engagement

  8. Learns About Atlanta Settings • Introduction to Atlanta settings (including the downtown environment and its relationship to Georgia State) through walking tours and observation exercises. • New Student Orientation GSU 1010 class participates in guided walking tour of campus. Global Cities class takes a walking tour of Atlanta to compare and contrast past and present landmarks and buildings.

  9. Learns From Atlanta Systems • Exposure to systems (economic, educational, healthcare, legal, political, social) and their structural connections to Atlanta through site visits of urban facilities and discussion with system leaders. • Orientation students attend a tour at the State Capitol to learn further about the HOPE scholarship. International Business class visits Simmons Mattress Factory.

  10. Learns With Atlanta Communities • Engagement with urban communities through activities such as interviews, action research, fieldwork, or short-term community service with non-profit agencies servicing metropolitan Atlanta communities. • Law and Society class interviews an attorney, HR representative, and a faculty member knowledgeable in Affirmative Action. Interview representative from the Underground Railroad Quilt Code Museum to learn further about the cultural meaning behind quilting.

  11. Learn by Atlanta Service-Learning • Engagement through service-learning activities involving Georgia State and the greater Atlanta community. Service-Learning activities are connected to learning objectives of a specific course. Such activities emphasize collaboration with organizations to meet the genuine needs of the community. • Business class works with non-profit agency to design a business plan. Assist with an area after-school program by creating evening activities for children such as a dance class, cooking class, or art class.

  12. Atlanta-Based Learning Continuum of Atlanta Engagement

  13. Atlanta-Based Learning Offers the Following Resources: • Conduct classroom and departmental presentations. • Meet with faculty and academic departments to discuss integration of Atlanta-Based Learning into appropriate classes. • Provide Resource Guide with specific examples and sites easily accessible to students (via MARTA or in walking distance. • Host Faculty Development opportunities for utilizing Atlanta-Based Learning as engaged learning pedagogy. • Research community organizations and Atlanta sites appropriate for a particular discipline and/or academic course. • Meet with students to assist with community site selections.

  14. Assessment: Freshmen Learning Communities 2005

  15. ATLANTA-BASED LEARNINGFRESHMEN LEARNING COMMUNITIESFACULTY SURVEY FINDINGSN = 18Response rate = 40.0 percent Table 1Mean range: 1=strongly disagree to 4=strongly agree Assessment

  16. ATLANTA-BASED LEARNINGFRESHMEN LEARNING COMMUNITIESFACULTY SURVEY FINDINGSN = 18Response rate = 40.0 percent Table 1Mean range: 1=strongly disagree to 4=strongly agree Assessment

  17. A Case Study: Law and Society Freshman Learning Community “…Drawing courses from different departments, this learning community is designed to provide a structure to students’ freshman year, while closing off no options when it comes to choosing a major. This learning community will be a good choice for students who have a particular interest in history, political science, journalism, sociology, philosophy, law and society, legal studies, economics, criminal justice or urban policy studies.”

  18. Law and Society FLC:Linked Themes and Courses • Linked Themes: Brown v. Board of Education and Affirmative Action in Higher Education & Workplace • Linked ethics/political theory, rhetoric, writing and community activities and research around the 50th anniversary; AA followed in Fall 2005 • Critical examination of the ethics of segregation and integration and Affirmative Action • Moot court group activities • Linked Courses: • GSU 1010: New Student Orientation • Engl 1101: English Composition • Phil 2010: Great Questions of Philosophy • PolS 1101: Political Science – American Government • Math 1101: Math Modeling

  19. Atlanta-Based Learning Continuum of Engagement

  20. Engaged Learning: Assessment and Outcomes Group Projects consisted of: • Video footage which integrated dialogue from the interviews and student impressions of diversity • Comparative analysis of newspaper articles • Powerpoint presentation with photos • Photographic gallery

  21. Student Comments… “Along with all the other components of Atlanta-Based Learning, this project allowed us to see this issue (Brown v. Board) from a different perspective.” “No GSU student should graduate without completing an Atlanta-Based Learning program. It’s fun, informative, and it makes me proud to be a part of the Greater Atlanta community.” “I now know how much of an impact the Brown v. Board of Education case had on our society – even today.”

  22. Student Comments… “This project gave us a better understanding of the media coverage of this historic event both in 1954 as well as 2004. Media coverage is an effective way to see views held in society. Along with all other components of Atlanta-Based learning, this project allowed us to see this issue from another perspective.”

  23. Challenges of Implementation • Failure of academy to recognize and reward faculty efforts to include this type of work. • Takes too much time and resources. • Involving faculty • Resist expectation to incorporate into their courses. • See little benefit. • View activities as irrelevant.

  24. A Few Suggestions for Adapting an ABL Model • Recognize and share the benefits of engaged learning. • Collaboration with other departments and divisions. • Approach faculty with emphasis on engaged learning. • Provide institutional support with summer grants and support staff. • Create and maintain relationships with community organizations. • Assessment: both qualitative and quantitative. • Recognize best practices and nominate faculty for awards (e.g. President’s Award for Community Service).

  25. Useful Resources Professional Associations • Campus Compact • American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) • Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Publications • Canada, M. & Speck, B.W., Developing and Implementing Service-Learning Programs, 2001 • Eyler, J. & Giles, D.E. Jr., Where’s the Service in Service-Learning?, 1999. • Gelmon, S.B., Holland, B.A., Driscoll, A., Spring, A., & Kerrigan, S., Assessing Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, 2001. • Gottlieb, K., Robinson, G., A Practical Guide for Integrating Civic Responsibility into the Curriculum, 2002.

  26. Atlanta-Based Learning Engaged Learning in the Community For more information, please contact: Jean So, M.Ed. Atlanta-Based Learning Office of Undergraduate Studies Tel: 404-651-0385 Email: jeanso@gsu.edu Nancy R. Mansfield, J.D. J. Mack Robinson College of Business Tel: 404-651-2717 Email: nmansfield@gsu.edu

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