Looking Back To Get More Knowledge Monica Cheng (Smith, 2009, with consent) In COMS 407: Experiential Learning in Communication, a directed study course, each of its three students were asked to write progress reports, indicating what they had done for the website project, how many hours they had put in, as well as reflect about their learning. The short reflection allowed the students to look over what they had done and see what they had learned. Monica Cheng, a student in both COMS 451 and COMS 407, especially at the beginning of her CSL journey, was challenged. The excerpt below is from one of Monica’s COMS 407 Progress Reports and is an example of the student perspective on community service-learning. It describes how she is assisted by the community partner, the instructional team, and her fellow classmates to develop a strong understanding of her current project. When reading Monica’s self evaluation and reflection, we can see that she experiences some challenges, but with a support system of fellow students, professors, and community partners, she is able to overcome them. Monica’s self evaluation and reflection provides depth about the CSL experience and the ways in which it is a learning process. The teamwork element of CSL is very important, because everyone involved relies on each other for the success of the project. Self Evaluation and Reflection -- An excerpt from Monica Cheng's Progress Report
The feedback received from Dr. Smith concerning the proposal was initially disheartening. After reviewing the weaknesses of the proposal, it was evident that we lacked the steps necessary to achieve our goals for this class. I realized that even though I may have a vision for the website – I cannot negate the small details and steps required to achieve this vision. The week after receiving feedback on our proposal, we clarified who our target audience is, how we are going to conduct research and how it is going to be used for the website. This is the first proposal that I have written and I learned a lot from this experience – including technical writing. I am not disappointed with our proposal because it was indicative of our shallow understanding of concepts such as sustainability education and liberal arts. In addition, the proposal also made me address the steps required to complete this website instead of only visualizing the end product.
Although I am learning a lot in COMS 407, I am struggling and unsatisfied with my performance. I had some ideas about what a directed study course might entail, but I underestimated the extent of the independent learning aspect. Dr. Smith and Jo Wright are providing a significant amount of direction, but I have never been in a class that required me to create my own deadlines, assignments and research ideas. Our meetings on Thursday are very enriching and infused with a great deal of information and I think it is unfortunate that we only meet once a week. After our weekly meeting, it is my responsibility to stay motivated and individually plan and learn for the rest of the week. The amount of productivity is entirely dependent on my level of motivation and discipline, which can be challenging sometimes. The greatest concern I have about this course is that I will not create a high quality website. I am not worried about website completion – but because I know this website has direct impacts; I want to do a great job. To me, this holds much more meaning than completing an essay, which is why I have put more pressure on myself. I have decided not to focus on quantity which could potentially prevent the completion of the website – but on quality. Focusing on quality will ensure that any material provided on the website will be beneficial and relevant to our audience. Attached Progress Report 1 -- Original work by Monica Cheng Recommended Reading: an interview with Monica Cheng one year after writing this progress report CSL is Practical Pseudo-Work Experience“One thing I
love about CSL-based courses is their practicality. The experience and
skills you receive from CSL transfer into so many other fields." |
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Looking Back |