Instructionally Related Activities Funds Request Summary

Project SponsorRachael Jordan
Activity TitleSanta Rosa Island Service Learning, Composition
Activity/Event DateOctober 3-5, 2014
Date Funding Needed BySeptember 1, 2014
Previously Funded?No
Semester/Year
Proposal #
Report submitted for previously Funded Activity?
Report submitted for previously Funded Activity
Academic Program or Center NameEnglish Program
Estimated total Course Fee revenue0
Amount Requested from IRA3,034.00
Estimated Number of Students Participating20
Conditions and ConsiderationsField Trip
Brief Activity DescriptionAs part of this first-year Composition course, students will participate in a large Service Learning Project on Santa Rosa Island. The students are from across various disciplines and will come together to work on various projects from invasive species removal, to facility improvement, to painting and coloring our research site, to conducting beach clean ups. The students will be asked to research and reflect on their service learning experience and how it has aided their educational experience at this university. The project requires students to stay on Santa Rosa Island for three days to complete their service learning projects and then turn in a portfolio in which their assess and reflect on their critical learning during the project. The goal is to give students "real world" experience engaging with their community in a project that services the local community and their university. The educational objectives of the course are to teach students transferable writing skills -- evidence discovery, claim support, argument response, and situation-specific reading and writing -- and their applications to academic debate, public decision making, and written argument. This course specifically targets these skills through a massive service learning component. Because these students are from different disciplines, focusing the service learning on Santa Rosa Island will give each student the opportunity to pick a project relevant to their major and future leadership plans.
Learning Outcomes and Relation to IRA to Course OfferingsEnglish 106 - Composition & Rhetoric II - Service Learning
The whole course is based on the service learning project on Santa Rosa Island. For the first half of the semester, students will be researching and doing writing and group work about Santa Rosa Island. They will participate in smaller service learning opportunities on campus to get them ready for their large service project. They will also fill out pre-project reflections on how they believe the service learning project will go and what they will learn. During Week 8 of the semester, October 3-5, the students and I will go out to Santa Rosa Island to complete the service learning project. During the project, they will be filling out reflections and documenting their experiences in both written and audio visual formats. For the second half of the semester, the students will be working on synthesizing their reflection and research about the service learning project and developing academic arguments around the benefits of service learning, the benefits of the research station on Santa Rosa Island, and their experiences in a higher education service learning course. These papers will then be assessed in a portfolio reading by other Composition faculty. The activity that I'm requesting funding for is the foundation of this course, the students' research, and their reflections.
Description of Assessment ProcessWe have various assessment for this course and project. Students will fill out an "entering" survey about what they expect from the project/course and then an "exit" survey where they assess their actual educational experience during the project. They will then be assessing the project itself in their research/reflection essays for the course. Lastly, these essays will be assessed by a committee of Composition instructors during our portfolio reading at the end of the semester. For this portfolio assessment, we use a 6-point rubric developed by the Composition faculty. The students will also work on presentations to give to the Center for Community Engagement about the value of their experience. Assessment is naturally built into this course, with students working on discussion boards via blackboard with one another, keeping a field journal during their project, and being asked to compose essays detailing their experiences.
Activity Budgetsanta-rosa-island-service-learning-composition-travelbudget-ira.xlsx (MS Excel, 202.9KB)
CIA Budget
CIA Proposal
Course Syllabus
CIA Certification
Other Sources of FundingThe Center for Community Engagement offers up to $500 for service learning courses, but those applications are not accepted until the current semester of the service learning course. I will be applying for this funding in the fall, but it is not guaranteed.
Target Audience/Student MarketingMy intended audience is first-year students entering the university. The English 106 course is a first-year writing course for all disciplines. I intend to market this to my students at the various Orientations over the summer. Our Composition faculty have a set amount of time to talk with students at each Orientation about our Composition Program and the Directed Self Placement that we implement. During this session, I will discuss the English 106- Service Learning option to recruit students who are passionate about integrating service learning into their higher education experience.
Bring Benefit to CampusMy students, through their written work, will be able to give Cause Hanna, the Santa Rosa Research Station Manager, assessment of and a student perspective of the research station and its possible uses in the future. Because our presence on Santa Rosa is so new, getting students' perspectives on their experiences there and what they envision for that station in the future is invaluable information. Also, the students having a good experience out on the island will help promote even further a culture of service learning that our campus is trying to cultivate by preparing our students to be socially aware, community engaged citizens with outstanding critical thinking skills. We will also be able to present our experience at the Center for Community Engagement annual Celebration of Service.
Sustainability
Program Chair/Directorbrad.monsma
Academic Affairs AVPkaren.carey
AcknowledgementI acknowledge that I have reviewed and accepted the Conditions and Considerations herein. Please check off boxes as appropriate.

Program Chair/Director Approval

ApprovalI approve the IRA Funds Request described on this page
NameBradley Monsma
Date/Time2/10/2014 2:45:32 PM

Academic Affairs AVP Approval

ApprovalI approve the IRA Funds Request described on this page
NameKaren Carey
Date/Time2/27/2014 8:17:57 AM
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