Teaching Peacemaking in Criminal Justice: Experiential Applications

As educators, we recognize that students often come to the classroom with preconceived notions about the criminal justice system that shape their subsequent learning. One such notion revolves around the effectiveness of the “war on crime” model of the criminal justice system. Many students feel that this model is the best way to achieve “justice.” Teaching peacemaking represents an opportunity to introduce the students to a new way of thinking about the criminal justice system. This paper explores how experiential learning strategies can facilitate students’ learning of peacemaking. Suggestions also are made about how peacemaking can be implemented into the pedagogy of criminal justice professors.     

Service-Learning and Experiential Learning in Criminal Justice Education: An Exploratory Examination of Faculty Perspectives

Scholarship on service-learning and experiential learning consistently demonstrates benefits for students, but little evidence has emerged examining the perspectives of faculty. The current study examines the conflicting perspectives from faculty affiliated with a university undergraduate criminology major that utilizes both experiential learning and service-learning. Focus groups of departmental faculty revealed fears over curriculum rigor, concerns over forming partnerships and investing resources into service-learning and experiential learning activities without university incentives, and recognition of student and department benefits derived from service-learning and experiential learning activities.     

Engaging Criminal Justice Students through Service Learning

The increasing popularity of service learning has led to the implementation of the pedagogy across educational levels and disciplines. Evidence of its utilization in criminal justice education spans two decades, most of which include case studies of service-learning courses or projects. These examples of service-learning implementation seem to serve as a best practices guide for other faculty and researchers interested in adopting the pedagogy. By examining responses to offender populations and policy areas by students (n = 37) involved in a service-learning course, the current research adds to this “best practices” approach and is intended to instigate further examination of the benefits of service learning for criminal justice students and the discipline.     

Learning by Giving: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Student Philanthropy in Criminal Justice Education

Student philanthropy is a teaching strategy that “provides students with the opportunity to study social problems and nonprofit organizations, and then make decisions about investing funds in them.” This represents the first study of student philanthropy in the criminal justice education literature and the first quasi-experimental study of student philanthropy in the higher-education literature. Specifically, it examines the impact of student philanthropy on students' beliefs, interest, learning, and intended behavior by analyzing pretest and posttest data for students who participated in a philanthropy experience (experimental group), relative to students who did not participate (comparison group). Key findings include: those who participated in the student philanthropy project were significantly more likely to be aware of organizations in their community, and change scores support the differences between the experimental and comparison groups regarding social problem awareness.     

The Experiential Learning Cycle in Undergraduate Diversity and Social Justice Education

Teaching for diversity and social justice is the teaching of complex abstract ideas about privilege and oppression, such as the social construction of social groups and identity. An effective way to teach this material is with experiential learning, but this approach requires much more than exercises and activities. Courses must be consciously structured to emphasize both the elements and cycle of experiential learning, as well as attending to critical thinking and the potential for cognitive dissonance. An example of this process from an undergraduate course is presented to demonstrate course construction, experiential learning strategies, and initial outcomes.     

体验学习圈:体验与学习发生的过程机制

大卫·库伯教授在20世纪80年代提出的体验学习圈模型将体验学习过程分为四个连续循环的阶段,即具体体验、反思观察、抽象概括和行动应用.剖析体验学习圈,发现体验学习具有经验获得及意义转换的内在机制.体验学习圈可以启发教学者去"追踪"学习者的学习历程,为基础教育课程改革中体验学习的有效实施提供参考.     

Learning by Doing

We argue that a simple research project based on the model of apprenticeship research characteristics of natural science education can supply some of the qualities valued in social science and humanities education. This paper describes the execution of one such project with second year students in political science in enough detail to allow others to use it as a model of departure. The discussion is informed by the relevant literature. Care is taken to identify generic problems that may be expected. Our experience was that the project was a success for both students and staff.     

Doing Social Justice: Turning Talk into Action in a Mathematics Service Learning Course

Abstract

Many students experience mathematics as a neutral entity, without understanding its impact on social justice and equity. Students must understand that mathematics and statistics are powerful tools for creating social change, and that students themselves are capable to enact positive social change through their mathematical abilities. In this paper, we discuss how we have integrated both service learning and mathematical consulting into a single course to promote civic engagement by mathematics majors through professional applications. We outline methods to engage with community partners to create consulting projects for students while integrating discussions of professionalism, practice, ethics, and social justice into the classroom. We provide qualitative evidence that the integration of service learning and consulting empowers mathematics students to make a difference by doing social justice with mathematics.     

"学中做"和"做中学"的教学分析

＂做中学,学中做＂就是要自己动手,在实践中观察和思考,以悟得新知;同时将习得的知识与具体的生活实践相联系,学以致用,活学活用。实施＂学中做＂与＂做中学＂是行动导向教学设计的重要手段之一。     

The Efficacy of Student Learning in Large-sized Criminal Justice Preparatory Classes

This study compared the performance of students in large-sized criminal justice preparatory classes of up to 300 students to students in small classes of up to 40 students to assess the efficacy of student learning in large classes. Incorporating a pre-post test design, ANOVA, independent, and paired sample t-tests, student scholar characteristics were assessed to determine which students were more likely to benefit from the large class structure. Results indicated that large classes are as efficacious as small classes and that student performance is quite nuanced. More specifically, students’ gender, age, race, ethnicity, status, and major, significantly relate to success in larger classes.     

Enhancing Student Learning By Using Mock Trials in Criminal Justice Courses

Lecture-oriented teaching is the principal pedagogical technique in college and university classrooms but instructors will sometimes turn to non-lecture techniques in an attempt to provide a more active learning experience. This article describes a mock trial exercise that has been used over several semesters to provide criminal justice students with an active learning experience and increase their understanding of the inquisitorial process in comparison with adversarial proceedings. We provide sufficient detail to allow interested instructors to conduct a similar exercise in their own course. Results of a multi-semester evaluation to assess student perceptions of the exercise show that students expected and found the exercise to be an enjoyable and informative classroom experience that advanced their learning.     

The Great Books in Criminal Justice: As Ranked by Elite Members of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

Attempts to define the core body of knowledge in criminal justice have provided diverse and disparate explanations of what could be considered as central to the discipline. Previous efforts have focused on frequently cited authors and works, required learning for students and the personal beliefs of individual scholars. The present work adds to this body by examining the works considered by an elite sample of criminal justice educators as classics in the field. Based on a survey of Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Presidents, Fellows and Bruce Smith Award winners the classic books in criminal justice are identified. Results show that a wide range of works and authors is identified, with relatively little consensus either across the sample or with previously identified works and authors. Comparison of presently identified works with those frequently cited and commonly required for doctoral students shows that only a minority of works identified by others are also considered classics by our elite sample.     

Learning by Seeing by Doing: Arithmetic Word Problems

"Learning by doing" in pursuit of real-world goals has received much attention from education researchers but has been unevenly supported by mathematics education software at the elementary level, particularly as it involves arithmetic word problems. In this article, we give examples of doing-oriented tools that might promote children's ability to "see" significant abstract structures in mathematical situations. The reflection necessary for such seeing is motivated by activities and contexts that emphasize affective and social aspects. Natural language, as a representation already familiar to children, is key in these activities, both as a means of mathematical expression and as a link between situations and various abstract representations. These tools support children's ownership of a mathematical problem and its expression; remote sharing of problems and data; software interpretation of children's own word problems; play with dynamically linked representations with attention to children's prior connections; and systematic problem variation based on empirically determined level of difficulty.     

论体验式学习

体验式学习的内涵因应学习的时代要求而变化,但直接经验与反思是其不变特征;从心理学角度看,体验式学习的优势在于它更多地涉及情节记忆、情绪记忆、默会知识、实用智力以及学习过程中的自我决定性;根据学习目标、内容、过程的差异,可把体验式学习分为认知体验式学习、情感体验式学习、行为体验式学习三类;在学校教育情境中运用体验式学习,教师应重点把握经验构筑和学习反思两个核心环节。     

论体验学习

体验学习是一种以学习者为中心的、从体验和反思中获得进步的学习方式。他萌芽于20世纪初期实用主义教育思想,产生于20世纪70年代关注生活体验的人文科学研究的转型时期。他是一种主要以设定目标、体验情境、观察反思、抽象概括、行动应用等环节为过程,并具有情境性、行动性、反思性、感悟性和主体性特征,使学习者无论学习预定主题内容还是针对解决问题都能获得更好发展的学习。他还有着与传统学习不同的理念和要求。     

An Assessment of the Relative Importance of Criminal Justice Learning Objectives

This study examines the relative importance of the different learning objectives for criminal justice education as identified by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). Three different populations (students, faculty, and professionals) completed a survey exercise in which they were required to rank order hypothetical job applicants who varied in competency on each of the ACJS learning objectives. In addition, students completed the same exercise pre- and post-completion of their required internship to determine if experience in the field affected their responses. Conjoint analysis was used to identify the relative importance of different learning objectives. While results indicate some similarities in responses across all three populations, several interesting differences were observed, and these may have important curricular implications for criminal justice programs.     

Using GIS to Apply Learning across the Undergraduate Criminal Justice Curriculum

Geographical information systems (GIS) utilization has exploded in criminal justice over the last decade, but there is scant mention of pedagogical models published in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, with a content analysis revealing just one GIS-based article published since 2001. This work proposes a GIS-based pedagogical model to move the discussion beyond crime mapping to applying, integrating, and enhancing learning across the criminal justice curriculum. Four pertinent data sources from New York City are integrated to provide an example framework for studying NYPD stop and frisk policy in upper level undergraduate-level criminal justice courses. Using ArcGIS specifically, the model incorporates sociology, criminological theory, corrections, diversity/multiculturalism, research methods, statistics, policing, and policy knowledge to coalesce prior student learning, while enhancing spatial thinking and analytical skills relative to an important social policy. Example maps, assignments, and approaches are included, as are the limitations of such a pedagogical model.     

Learning Research Methods by Doing Research

Abstract

Multiculturalism on the March Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus By Dinesh D 'Souza. Reviewed by Catherine T. C. Spaeth.

Traditionalism Well Spoken Begin Here: The Forgotten Conditions of Teaching and Learning Jacques Barzun Chicago. Reviewed by William Casement.

Big Brains and Balancing Acts Open to Question: The Art of Teaching and Learning by Inquiry Walter L. Bateman. Reviewed by Roy Starling.

The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom By Steuhen D. Brookfield. Reviewed by Roy Starling.