Monday, February 25, 2013

'A Month in Tokyo' Exceeds Expectations

Proving once again that study abroad is a must-do for all undergraduate students, PC student Brenda Fabig spent spring block 2013 in Japan under the auspices of a carefully planned Independent Study. Brenda, who hails from Seattle, has had a life-long interest in Japanese language and culture. With just two years left in her Education program, she knew she wanted to do an immersion experience in Japan before she got side-tracked with other goals. In her first semester, fall 2012, she created an IS focused on improving her Japanese reading, writing, and speaking skills. With support from the Learning Commons, Brenda spelled out a rigorous study plan, arranged to meet weekly with a native Japanese speaker in Prescott, and applied for a scholarship to Education First for a one-month stay in Tokyo. 

That first IS served Brenda very well. From concentrated self-study and conversing with her language partner she found herself "capable of producing, in both speech and writing, many kinds of sentences."

"I feel confident in my ability to express myself in Japanese," she wrote by the end of that course.

Then came Tokyo in January this year. On her first day in Japan she wrote,
My host parents are in their late sixties and speak no English. Their house is large and has a beautifully cared for garden, blooming with winter flowers. It’s very traditional, and I mean super traditional. Tatami mats, shoji windows, pagoda roof. My heart almost burst with thankfulness. In coming to Japan, I was hoping I could stay in Kyoto to experience traditional culture. When it became apparent that Tokyo would be the only workable avenue for study, I was disappointed. But with my host parents I have a little slice of traditional Japan. 
For four glorious weeks Brenda attended a Japanese language school, took trips with her host family and friends, and explored the dense riches of Tokyo via its efficient (but expensive) public transit system.

She chronicled her adventures in her blog so those of us left behind could follow her at a distance. Her long fascination with the kimono did not go unsatisfied.

"I have tried on kimono three times in Japan. 日本で、着物を三回着ました


"We found a Kimono shop ($20,000+ a pop!) where I was allowed to try one on for free." 

Brenda earned 4 upper division credits on a PC Independent Study contract for her spring block immersion experience.

"My time in Japan proved to be the greatest educational and cultural experience of my life," Brenda wrote in her self-evaluation.

"I put Japanese into practice because I had to rely on it daily in everything I did....Though I struggled, and there will always be more to learn, I am satisfied with my intermediate language skills."

Brenda hopes to enter the JET program once she completes her double competence in Education and Literature.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Writing the M.A. Course Plan by Bev Santo

Aren’t adult learners busy enough without being asked to design the curriculum for each one of their graduate courses? The simple answer is “yes” they are busy enough. But if educators from John Dewey to bell hooks offer us any insight it is that when learners take responsibility for their education the outcome is learning that is meaningful, relevant, durable and transformative. We can aspire to this ideal form of education, or we can use the read-and- regurgitate model that asks students to sit passively, pass a test, and get over each course the way one might get over the measles. 

That doesn't resemble the Master of Arts program at Prescott College, which believes in the transformative power of education. We advocate that students do the heavy lifting of designing their courses with guidance and support from the faculty, mentors, and instructors. The PC mission stresses the power of experiential education and self-direction in interdisciplinary, liberal arts learning. 

Experiential education traditionally has been connected to outdoor education or learning an industrial art. The College defines experiential education more broadly. Just as one might learn to shoot free throws by practicing and practicing so too might a learner come to master the skill of generative thinking or creative problem-solving by repeated practice. We learn to think, to write, to make insightful connections though repeated experiences of thinking, writing, and making connections. Experiential education happens when I sit down with a scholarly article and engage in conversation with the author, all the while making connections to prior knowledge gained from life experiences, other courses or scholarly journals, and perhaps films, television shows. YouTube videos, iPad applications, travel experiences, novels, or even conversations with Aunt Hattie. 

Self-direction takes focused effort to master. Initially, adult learners enter the M.A. program with a general sense of being self-directed. They know how to manage their homes, their finances, their jobs. When stepping back into an academic setting the old habits of expecting to be told what to do by those “in the know” resurface. Instead, PC faculty and mentors provide the tools necessary to master the skills necessary to become confident, self-directed, self-motivated in an academic discipline. “Just tell me what to do” is a statement I’ve heard countless times over the past 30 years, and to my dismay, there are times when I cave-in and simply oblige the student’s request. 

What does the student learn when I give in to their request? The graduate scholar might continue to believe that faculty and mentors make learning happen. In reality, the learner has all of the power to learn. This might suggest that the only type of genuine, authentic learning is self-directed. All of the other “stuff” called learning may be suspect. Think back to the last powerful learning experience you had. How did the learning occur? Who MADE you learn? Did you at any point refuse to learn? Decide to learn? 

In the Prescott College M.A. program, mentors and faculty working with self-directed students act as coaches, provide perspective and resources, serve as sounding boards, cheerlead,and get out of the way. Enter the course plan. The value of a course plan is that it becomes the road map or blue print for your learning. It prevents you from wandering into a bog and catching shining-object syndrome. By returning to your course plan throughout the course you will be at peace with the progress you are making and can sleep well at night knowing you are meeting the objectives you set for yourself. The mentor's job in developing course plans with you is not to tell the truths about any given topic, but rather to provide a map, a guide, to probe open-ended questions that help you discover the beginning edges of what you want to learn. The work of the mentor is to challenge assumptions, open doors, raise doubts, foster curiosity, and encourage research. 

Specifically, how do you design an effective course plan

First, you need to create cogent course descriptions. As a guideline, students should look at at least three course descriptions of similar courses at other institutions to become aware of industry standards. Using a sturdy template, the mentor and student can craft an original course description that suits the student's goals and needs. To find these sample or template course descriptions, mentors should recommend multiple resources to the student: 1) Google or browse course catalogs of other institutions by course title for exemplary course descriptions that can be adapted for the M.A. course plan; 2) Search the Prescott College Course Schedules for past and current Moodle course descriptions; 3) search the thousands of course offerings from institutions that offer free, high-quality online courses (known as MOOCs) for sample course descriptions and syllabi (see the PC Learning Commons Weekly post on MIT Online for example); 4) see the three-part article for PC undergraduates on writing study or learning contracts for additional suggestions and tips. 

Second, course objectives in each course plan should be clear, precise, and have a measurable outcome. For example, if I write an objective that says, “I will understand the theory of relativity,” the big question is how an outside observer will verify that I do understand that theory. On the other hand, if I write the objective “I will develop a Power Point presentation that accurately describes the theory of relativity,” by the end of the course an outside observer can see if I have produced that presentation or not. It can help to begin the series of objectives with the statement “As a result of this course I will (be able to)…” and then list the outcomes for the course. Begin objectives with active verbs rather than stative verbs such as know, understand, learn, or comprehend which promise a result that is difficult to measure. A good list of actions verbs for use in writing learning objectives is available here

Third, create fun and challenging course activities that are relevant to the course objectives. For each of the objectives listed in the course plan you will have one or more activities to help you reach the objective. What experiences, in addition to reading scholarly books and articles, will anchor your new learning, allow you to practice what you are learning, and foster connections among the theoretical concepts you are studying and the world beyond the textbook? A course like Learning Theories, for example, bridges the disciplines of psychology and education. It asks questions such as, "How do people learn?" How do people learn different types of skills, knowledge and dispositions? What are some generally accepted theories of learning? Some activities you might consider for this course include:

• Ask up to five people for directions to the local corner market. Notice the types of directions they provide. Do they use landmarks, give you street names, describe turning left and right, or north and south? What might this tell you about how they learn? 
• Create a YouTube video of someone completing a task such as cooking a meal, repairing an engine. Then describe what learning theory might inform this learned skill.
• Try to learn a new skill such as new dance step, basketball shot, or computer program. Reflect on each step you took in order to master the skill. Write the steps down. Do this with up to 10 different new learning activities. Keep a journal. Notice what common threads run through the journal. 
• Look up some international schools on the internet and view the videos. In what way might culture impact how one learns? 
• Offer to teach a cooking class, Sunday school class, swimming, skating etc. to a small group of children in the neighborhood. Design a plan to teach based on what you’ve learned about how learning happens. Write an evaluation of the course you taught reflecting on your ideas before and after the teaching event. 

Finally, apply equal creativity to the resources and evaluation pieces of each course plan. Mentors can contribute widely and wisely in the resources section. Ask your mentor and the resource librarian for recommendations for books, articles, and videos to provide you with the theoretical component of your course plan. The evaluation section must describe what you will provide as the evidence that you have reached your learning objectives. For instance, in most graduate course learners, are asked to write a 15-page research paper. Often these papers become a key component of the Literature Review in the master’s thesis. Other ways to document your learning are through the production of videos, journal notes and reflections, a Prezi presentation, or a portfolio of art, poems, and/or short stories. The essential requirement in the evaluative piece is that you describe how you will demonstrate your learning for others for the purpose of evaluation, discussion, and further reflection.

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Monday, February 11, 2013

Quoting Sources in an Academic Paper: Part 2

Well chosen quotes can enliven your papers but only if they are properly executed. Poorly executed quotations send up red flags that distract readers from the points you are trying to make. To keep your readers' attention and build their trust in you as an analyst, you have to do more than choose the right quotes and frame them properly. You have to avoid common mistakes that tempt your readers to think you might be misusing or abusing your sources. When we intentionally obscure the authorship of a source that's plagiarism; we misuse sources when we fudge the citation or introduce errors of logic or form that are not in the original. 

The following quote has numerous flaws in it. It does not clearly show the source of the quote; there are spelling and punctuation errors in the quote itself; it is not clear how the content of the quote relates to the writer's point; the syntax of the quote does not fit into the frame to form a complete sentence. 
Some professors resent the fact that the students take up their precious time. Dan Smith writes in an article about how some of his colleagues go out of their way to avoid their students. They go as far as making strange office hours to avoid contact. (p. 9) “There is no decent, adequate, respectable education, in the proper sense of that much-abused word, the personal involvment by a teacher with the needs of and concerns of students is at odds with the everyday reality confronting universtiy professors in the United States.“ (p. 10).
Misuse of sources spills into downright plagiarism when a direct quote from a source lacks any formal indication that it is a direct quote. Quotation marks must appear at the start and end of all direct quotes; a citation at the end of a paragraph is not sufficient credit for phrases and sentences that come from another source. Careful readers can often detect that a writer is using someone else’s words without credit because of a significant change in writing style in a single paragraph or section. The highlighted sentence in the following example is suspicious because it lacks the errors of grammar, diction, spelling, and punctuation found in the neighboring sentences.
Students that do sports really like there schools and enjoy playing even if they've got tests the next day. Their very competative people. These athletes identify more closely with their college and tend to be more competitive than other students.This competitive nature is not only seen on the sports field, but in other social circumstances that require teamwork and patience. It is also recognized that for many of the athletes their success on the sporting fields will also increase their attractiveness for the opposite sex including cheerleaders and none sporting males and females, which we must remember may put a strain on their academic studies. (MacDonald 128)
Writing handbooks and websites frequently advise students to “avoid plagiarism” in academic writing. We recommend instead that you make an effort in your writing to demonstrate that you understand that properly quoting and citing material in your paper adds excitement and authenticity, makes you a more credible source by association with respected authorities, and showcases your grasp of the issues you are addressing. Proper quoting of relevant sources does more than avoid plagiarism: it makes your paper original and classy, like you. 

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Monday, February 4, 2013

Quoting Sources in an Academic Paper: Part 1

Quotes, used correctly, add drama and authority to your paper. They give the reader a glimpse of the scholarly or disciplinary literature that bears on your topic. Your ability to select and skillfully use quotes makes you a more credible witness to the scholarly conversation on the topic of your paper, even if you are not yet an authority on the topic.

When to use a quote
Paraphrase an author in your own words when you want to convey and summarize a complex point, show a consensus among several sources, or give necessary background before you lead the reader to your conclusions. Use a quote only when the author’s words are so concise or appropriate to your argument that you cannot improve on them or because the author’s credentials add special import to his/her statement. Excessive quoting weakens your argument. Remember, readers expect to hear from you in your paper, not just a string of quotes by other writers.

How to use a quote
There are two aspects of quoting a source that need attention.

First, the function of a quote must be carefully considered. A quote is but one method of achieving your goal for the paper and is not a substitute for the idea development, argumentation, and language you must create as the writer of your paper. The function of a quote is to provide background for your argument, support your argument, or initiate a debate that relates to your argument. Using a quote shows that not only have you read the sources but that you understand them and have integrated their ideas into your thinking about the topic. Avoid thinking that quotations state the right answers and that you only have to choose between agreeing or disagreeing with them.

The other key aspect to quoting sources is the form quotes should take. Professional style guidelines (e.g. APA, MLA, CMS) will vary slightly in this area, but the following practices are common in all styles:

Frame your quote 

Clearly identify who you are quoting, preferably in the same sentence as the quote. Follow the quote with a sentence or two that reveals the significance of the quote, in a specific context. This example in APA style shows proper framing (the frame is highlighted in blue):
In “Are Multi-hospital Systems More Efficient?” economists Dranz and Thanley (1987) write that although “the conventional wisdom is that horizontal mergers will generate efficiencies in the production of services, surprisingly little systematic evidence exists to support this view” (p. 13). The three researchers show that horizontal integration improves efficiency in marketing systems more than it improves production services. This finding has consequences for hospitals whose primary concern is to improve production services. 
Size your quote

Quotes should not exceed several lines or 40+ words in your text. Longer quotes should be offset in single-spaced, indented paragraphs known as block quotes. They still require framing, as above, but are typically punctuated differently from in-text quotes. See your style manual for specifics about block quotations.

Punctuate your quote

As you add a quote to your paper, check with the style guide you are using for all of the punctuation rules—quotation marks, commas, periods, dashes, capitalization, italics, brackets, etc.—around and within each quote. Letters and punctuation within the quote should be identical to the original unless you must omit or change them for fluency. The punctuation of quotes in indented, block quotes will differ from that used with quotes in the running text.

Next week…why misusing your sources is a form of plagiarism.

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