Project work in the graduate classroom: Teachers as students apply skills beyond the classroom

Abstract

Through the use of a long‐term project in a graduate teacher education course on the importance of play, students learned skills beyond those usually required in a graduate classroom. Students used their understanding and knowledge of play, constructive practice, and project work to develop a family play day at the university lab school. As part of the project, students helped to develop a play‐style instrument that served as a self‐study for their own classrooms as they observed the play among their own students. The project culminated with the students hosting the families of the lab school at a fun day and preparing a brochure that gave families information about the importance of play.     

“I was giving someone who didn’t have a voice a voice”: exploring qualitative mini-research projects as a tool to teach students about aging

ABSTRACT

In the study of gerontology, fieldwork with older adults is often used to enhance students’ understanding of the aging process. While assignments based on interactions with older adults are a common practice in teaching students enrolled in gerontology studies, we know less about the impact of such activities on students from other disciplines. This paper summarizes students’ experiences with an assignment offered to a diverse cohort of undergraduate students who took a course in social gerontology. To complete this assignment, students had to interview an older adult, summarize the life story of the participant, apply a theoretical perspective to the older adult’s life story, and reflect on the process. Analyzing data derived from 72 assignments and 10 semi-structured interviews with students who were enrolled in the course, this paper examines students’ experiences with this assignment. Specifically, we identify what aspects of the assignment students found beneficial, what aspects they found challenging, and in what ways this assignment helped students to enhance their understanding of aging. Our findings suggest that students found it challenging to recruit an older adult for an interview and struggled with the semi-structured nature of the interview process. All students found the actual interview process to be extremely rewarding and beneficial for their learning. In discussion, we provide some recommendations on how to offer this type of assignment to a diverse group of students enrolling in the courses on social gerontology.     

SERVICE-LEARNING AT THE EDGE OF CHAOS

This paper discusses the implementation of an intergenerational service-learning (IS-L) project by Western Michigan University's Gerontology Program. Two classes of students, one graduate and one undergraduate, taking introductory gerontology courses were brought together to complete IS-L projects of their own designs. Students were placed in teams. Key project components included: negotiation with community partners to construct a viable one-semester project, collaboration on a team, and analysis of the team development process. A Critical Incident Questionnaire was used to collect data on student perceptions of project and class progress. While challenging, most students found the intergenerational service-learning projects and team format valuable and rewarding.     

From Genes to Proteins to Behavior: A Laboratory Project That Enhances Student Understanding in Cell and Molecular Biology

In the laboratory, students can actively explore concepts and experience the nature of scientific research. We have devised a 5-wk laboratory project in our introductory college biology course whose aim was to improve understanding in five major concepts that are central to basic cellular, molecular biology, and genetics while teaching molecular biology techniques. The project was focused on the production of adenine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and investigated the nature of mutant red colonies of this yeast. Students created red mutants from a wild-type strain, amplified the two genes capable of giving rise to the red phenotype, and then analyzed the nucleotide sequences. A quiz assessing student understanding in the five areas was given at the start and the end of the course. Analysis of the quiz showed significant improvement in each of the areas. These areas were taught in the laboratory and the classroom; therefore, students were surveyed to determine whether the laboratory played a role in their improved understanding of the five areas. Student survey data demonstrated that the laboratory did have an important role in their learning of the concepts. This project simulated steps in a research project and could be adapted for an advanced course in genetics.     

Human services students’ experiential learning on conducting a life story research of Chinese American family caregivers

Community college students were involved in conducting a research project entitled “Life Stories of Chinese American Family Caregivers.” They recruited Chinese American family caregivers and collected their life stories of providing care to family members of old age. Students were asked to provide reflections on their experience with the research project. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze students’ perception of the impact of the life story project on their attitude change toward family caregiving as well as their relationship with family members of old age and career choice. The results revealed students’ gratitude for their family members of old age, desire to develop a plan for caregiving issues in their own families, deeper empathic understanding on family caregivers, and improved self-efficacy for better service provision in their future practice. The results encourage further exploration on the impact of research on undergraduate students’ aging competency.     

Experiential learning of management principles via online student-manager discussions

This teaching brief describes an experiential project used in a graduate Principles of Management course for nonbusiness undergraduate students. Groups of four to six first-year MBA students interviewed a seasoned manager online twice over the 8-week course and discussed the applications of course material. Project subtopics included an introduction to management, strategic management, ethics and social responsibility, innovation and change management, international business, organizational structure, authority and job design, human resource management, leadership, and communication, operations management, and business analytics. Students completed a group report and an individual reflection on their experience. Over 92% of graduate students in the class indicated that the project was a positive learning activity.     

TEACHING ABOUT OLDER PEOPLE WITH MENTAL RETARDATION: AN EDUCATIONAL MODEL

Extended lifespans and an increase in community‐based services have created an environment in which it is imperative that educational and service systems focus attention on older people with developmental disabilities. Although the cumulative effects of growing older with a lifelong disability create a unique set of issues and service needs, gerontology courses seldom include content on these elders. An insufficient educational focus translates into a service system inadequately prepared to meet critical individual needs. In this paper we describe an educational model used to prepare students to work with older people who have mental retardation. Students in the course described, part of the Interdisciplinary Leadership Training Program in Aging and Developmental Disabilities at the University of Georgia, are exposed to the ecological perspective as a way to examine various issues related to the aging population with mental retardation. Students explore issues relevant to older individuals with mental retardation and the various contexts in which these individuals function. The six units of the course are: overview of the older population with mental retardation, physiological issues, mental health issues, social support systems, service delivery networks, and legal and ethical concerns. Content from the course model can easily be infused into foundation gerontology courses to expose a greater number of students to the group of older people who have mental retardation.     

Preparing a Data Scientist: A Pedagogic Experience in Designing a Big Data Analytics Course

In this article, we present an experiential perspective on how a big data analytics course was designed and delivered to students at a major Midwestern university. In reference to the MSIS 2006 Model Curriculum, we designed this course as a level 2 course, with prerequisites in databases, computer programming, statistics, and data mining. Students in the class were mostly seniors or at the graduate level, and had a strong technical and quantitative background. We include details of concepts covered in the course, as well as summaries of four major sample course assignments used. Some of the concepts covered include large‐scale data collection and management using the Hadoop ecosystem, stream mining, visual analytics, and social network analytics. Besides Hadoop, the course also introduced various IBM and Teradata big data tools. We show how the course modules align with the intended learning goals and course objectives. A post‐course survey indicated that the structure and organization of the course helped students clearly and concisely assimilate the course content.     

Visualizing knowledge in new educational environments: a course on learning objects

This article describes the learning objectives, the course activities, experiences and outcomes of a graduate level course on learning object design. The course was developed and taught at The Ohio State University by the author during the Spring Quarter of 2003. Students from the visual design and education disciplines partnered to work on a client‐initiated, authentic, grant‐funded project. The students, working in teams and serving as expert consultants to each other, were tasked with designing prototypes for learning objects to be used by freshman high school students, particularly those with disabilities. The course provided an opportunity to observe how developers actually built learning objects and to apply that knowledge to better understanding the issues facing faculty when challenged with the same tasks.     

高等师范中国画毕业创作课教学谈

高等师范美术教育专业的中国画毕业创作课教学,应根据高师美术教育特点,明确课程的主旨,培养＂专＂＂博＂兼优的人才。学生在毕业创作中要多元感受生活,寻找创作源泉,在创作中重在体悟和感受,表达自己的真情实感。     

Outcome Assessment of Mentorship Program

This paper reports results of a survey that studied the outcomes of a mentorship program. Students enrolled in a core course for the MA and certificate in gerontology programs were required to select either a long-term care service, a program in aging, or an agency providing services for senior adults, where they could spend a day interacting with a mentor. A wide range of sites were available and students could select one site for 8 hours or two sites for 4 hours each. The researchers were interested in assessing both the opinions of the students who participated and of the mentors themselves about this educational experience. A survey that had a series of open-ended and close-ended questions was administered to all graduate students who participated as well as to the mentors at their various sites. This paper discusses the implications of this program as a model for other gerontology programs. It delineates mentor and student suggestions about the strengths and weaknesses of the current set-up of the mentorship program. Suggestions are made for further study of this pedagogical tool.     

A Multipart Project Planning and Tracking Exercise

Project Management is an important skill for business students to develop. Although project‐oriented activity is very common, the success rate for projects is poor. Many projects fail due to poor planning. This article describes a multipart class exercise used to teach elements of a project management methodology to undergraduate and graduate business students. Over the course of the eight‐part exercise, student teams iteratively develop a project plan and Gantt chart, an initial and detailed project charter, a variance analysis model, and a status report. Students are taught an iterative top‐down planning process using a technique we term the ODW (Objectives–Deliverables–Workplan) model. Students are introduced to Microsoft Project and use the tool to develop a project plan that becomes part of a more detailed Project Charter. In the final stages of the exercise, students collect results, update their plan, and produce a project status report.     

Post-secondary Science Students’ Explanations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Randomness</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Variation</Emphasis> and Implications for Science Learning

The concepts of randomness and variation are pervasive in science. The purpose of this study was to document how post-secondary life science students explain randomness and variation, infer relationships between their explanations, and ability to describe and identify appropriate and inappropriate variation, and determine if students can identify sources of variation. An instrument designed to test statistical concepts was administered to 282 college students from three universities, ranging from introductory non-science majors to science graduate students. Students readily distinguished between causes of variation. A naïve no-pattern concept of randomness persisted from first-year non-science majors to senior-level science majors, contributing to incorrect responses on the variation instrument. Students’ expressions of randomness were better predictors of performance on the variation instrument than their expressions of variation. It is argued that inclusion of everyday language uses of randomness in instruction can bridge the gap between vernacular and scientific uses of this term.     

BENEFITS OF INTERGENERATIONAL SERVICE-LEARNING TO HUMAN SERVICES MAJORS

The study discussed in this article examined the benefits of service-learning using both (a) pre- and postcourse questionnaire data and (b) answers to open-ended questions from 214 students across four semesters of an undergraduate adult development and aging class. Of these 214 students, 117 (55%) opted for service-learning. Although service-learning in this course did not seem to have an effect on questionnaire scales assessing personal social values, civic attitudes, or academic achievement, data from the open-ended questions revealed numerous benefits associated with service-learning. Advantages of service-learning included improving understanding of course concepts, dispelling myths about aging, and reinforcing career choices. The main disadvantage mentioned by students was the time commitment involved in participating in service-learning. Students believed they learned more in a course based on service-learning than in a traditional lecture-based course. Thus, when appropriately used this instructional method is an effective means of engaging students in the learning process, reducing myths about aging, and introducing students to careers in gerontology services.     

Developing empathy towards older adults in design

In design disciplines, an affective understanding of users’ everyday lives can increase designer sensitivity and awareness, leading to higher-quality design outcomes. Developing students’ empathic understanding within design education is required to accomplish this goal. This article discusses learning strategies that enhance students’ empathic horizons, and specifically analyzes an assignment conducted in an Interior Architecture and Environmental Design course, “The Grandparent Experience.” Here, exposure through observation and interviewing, and art-based methods are employed to develop students’ empathy towards older adults. We conducted a survey with students who completed the exercise and the course, exploring their perspectives on their learning. The results reveal that students had positive views on the assignment’s effectiveness regarding the learning outcome and learning process. Implications for empathic design education and educational gerontology are discussed.     

MENTORING IN GERONTOLOGY EDUCATION: NEW GRADUATE STUDENT PERSPECTIVES

Involvement in a mentor-student relationship is an invaluable experience for new graduate students. These students frequently have opportunities and experiences provided to them by their mentor that may be otherwise unattainable. Mentoring can help new graduate students develop academically, personally, and professionally. This article describes mentoring in gerontology education from the perspectives and personal experiences of new graduate students in sociology and gerontology. Discussed in this article are types and phases of mentoring, the need for a mentor in gerontology education, selection a mentor, and issues related to mentoring and career advancement.     

EMPLOYED CAREGIVERS: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ISSUE FOR GERONTOLOGICAL EDUCATION

The importance of the employed caregiver in the maintenance of functional independence has only recently begun to be recognized. The demographic changes that will shape the next few decades will require a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding caregiving than is currently available in the curricula of existing gerontology programs. By incorporating course offerings aimed specifically at the caregiver role, gerontological education could extend its influence into the business community and attract students from a wide variety of other disciplines. Providing future corporate executives with a basic gerontological education could broaden the scope of gerontology and, ultimately, improve the quality of the lives of older care receivers.     

Using Biomedically Relevant Multimedia Content in an Introductory Physics Course for Life Science and Pre-health Students

We will describe a one-quarter pilot algebra-based introductory physics course for pre-health and life science majors. The course features videos with biomedical experts and cogent biomedically inspired physics content. The materials were used in a flipped classroom as well as an all-online environment where students interacted with multimedia materials online and prior to engaging in classroom activities. Pre-lecture questions on both the medical content covered in the video media and the physics concepts in the written material were designed to engage students and probe their understanding of physics. The course featured group discussion and peer-lead instruction. Following in-class instruction, students engaged with homework assignments which explore the connections of physics and the medical field in a quantitative manner. Course surveys showed a positive response by the vast majority of students. Students largely indicated that the course helped them to make a connection between physics and the biomedical field. The biomedical focus and different course format were seen as an improvement to previous traditional physics instruction.     

B2C Mass Customization in the Classroom

The purpose of this article is to describe an internet‐based mass customization assignment in Operations Management/Supply Chain Management classes where students utilize the Web site of a company that offers a customized product. Students evaluate the user interface, judge the value proposition of the product they demonstrate, and discuss issues of product design, process design and scheduling, inventory management, Supply Chain Management, marketing, and competitors. The students learn about mass customization from both the producer's perspective and the consumer's perspective. Through their own research and the class presentations students are able to develop a better understanding of the implementation requirements and challenges of mass customization. The assignment is highly interactive and has been successfully used in Operations Management and Supply Chain Management courses at under‐graduate and graduate levels and at multiple universities. In addition, practitioners interested in implementing a mass customization process can use the assignment as a brainstorming or benchmarking exercise.     

Articulating Scientific Reasoning Improves Student Learning in an Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Course

In many life science classrooms, instructors rely upon lecture presentations to efficiently present course content. Students, in this case, act as passive learners with little opportunity to test their knowledge for gaps or misconceptions. The goal of the project described here was to determine whether a collaborative quiz protocol that guided students to discuss their understanding with their peers would improve learning and academic performance. The project took place during a single semester and was composed of two studies: a preliminary study that incorporated short-answer quizzes into the curriculum and a comprehensive study that incorporated short-answer quizzes and justify/explain quizzes in which students were expected to select an answer and then justify or explain it. Students took all quizzes twice, first independently and then collaboratively with classmate(s). Learning was assessed using multiple-choice exam questions based upon quiz topics. Students scored significantly higher on exam questions associated with justify/explain quiz topics than on those associated with short-answer quiz topics.