SERVICE-LEARNING IN INTRODUCTION TO INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION:THE SOCIAL NETWORKING PROJECT

SARAH MERRANKOOCTOBER 23 , 2009

Engaged Faculty Institute Retreat

Description of the project

“ You may choose to complete either the Group Service-Learning Portfolio or the Group Research Project Portfolio for this group of points. For either assignment, you will place yourself in a group with 3-4 other individuals who have chosen the same project as you. The groups will receive one group grade for the final portfolio.”

Portfolio continued

“If you are completing the group research project portfolio, your artifacts will come from your research on that topic and a scholarly article and article review which supports your analysis. If you are completing the service-learning portfolio, your artifacts will come from your service experience and your reflections.”

How the project was be related to the academic course content: Portfolio Structure

Table of Contents (outlining the following sections) Introduction: Group Project Summary

The following sections must include an artifact as well as a reflective component Section 1: Communication and Identity: Creating and

Presenting the Self Section 2: Perception: What You See is What You Get Section 3: Language: Barrier and Bridge Section 4: Nonverbal Communication: Messages Beyond

Words Section 5: Listening: More than Meets the Ear

Reflective components

Discussion boards for the project and the final assignment

Individuals were required to reflect on the components of how to compose a “blog” or “Facebook” page as well as how to communicate with one another as a virtual group.

Portfolio : Based on What, So What, Now What

What?

Describe what you have actually seen and done and how it connects back to the artifact you provided.

What did you do?What were your duties/responsibilities?What did you experience for the first time?What were the highlights of your experience?What was the most challenging thing that

happened during your experience?Were you surprised by what happened during the

activity or did it turn out as you expected?What did you achieve, accomplish, produce or

succeed at?

So What?

Reflect upon your reactions to what you saw and did. Interpret the experience. Analyze the outcomes.

What connections do you see between this experience and the concepts/ideas/ theories you have learned in your courses/academic program/education as a whole?

What did you learn from the experience--about yourself, about the world, about a life skill, or about particular subject matter?

What did the activity mean to you?Why was it important?What lessons did you learn?How were you a different person when you left the activity

versus when you entered?

Now What?

Apply a context and set future goals. What does this activity/situation mean in the broader context?

What can you do with what you learned?How will you continue to use the skills and knowledge

gained?How will you continue to be involved in these types of

activities?How has what you have done/observed impacted your

future academic path/courses you plan to take?How has this experience impacted your future career

goals?Reference: Facilitating Reflection: A Manual for Higher

Education http//www.uvm.edu/~dewey/reflection_manual/activities.html

How does the final product benefit the community partner organization

Facebook Pages: Connects the organizations to a larger population that

they normally would not have access to Current, relevent, dynamic information makes people

feel more connected to the site

Blogs: Can be used for a mutitude groups (nonprofits,

managers, students, faculty) Current, relevant, dynamic which allows for people to

be more award on a consistant basis of events, news, photos.

What the final products look like:

Volunteer Southern MarylandFacebookhttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12998814 429&ref=ts

Blog http://volunteersouthernmaryland.blogspot.com/

Volunteer MarylandFacebook http://www.volunteermaryland.org/

Blog

Strengths of using this service-learning project in this course

Allowed for a different way to assess effectiveness of their communication strategies, specifically mediated communication techniques, perceptions, nonverbal communication, and listening strategies.

The groups found it interesting, and some shared that their friends, spouses, etc. were intrigued that they were doing a social media project for school.

Immediate gratification knowing what they were doing was being used by the nonprofits.

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Discuss what you would differently in the future

Create more structured times for groups to interact with the nonprofit site through conference calls.

Have them complete pieces of the portfolio throughout the semester, rather than all at the end.

Provide examples of the portfolio (students struggled understanding the concept of an artifact).

Have them create small group roles: everyone’s responsibilities versus no one’s responsibility versus my responsibility.

Create a lesson plan around social media