COMPACT SCHOLARS Faculty-Led Program in Greece Amanda Fuller, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

COMPACT SCHOLARS Faculty-Led Program in Greece

Amanda Fuller, M.F.A. Chris Kjonaas, M.A.

Leiana Lepule Katie Mercer Carlett Serratos

AGENDA

Welcome

欢迎ﺎﺒﺣﺮﻣ

सॎवागत हे

ようこそ

• 1. Welcome/Introductions
• 2. Barriers to Study Abroad
• 3. Faculty-led Program in Greece
• 4. Student Feedback/Impact
• 5. Activity
• 6. Findings/Future
• 7. Questions

환영

მისასალმებელი

ยินดีตอนรับ

Welkom

Opening Activity

What interested you about our topic? What do you hope to learn?

Compact Scholars helping to repair a stairwell at The Imagine Project.

SDSU’s Compact Scholars Program

1. “Compact for Success” postsecondary component 2. Scholars: majority first-generation, over 90% students of color, majority pell grant eligible, 100% local area, 100% college-ready, over 85% commuters 3. Focus on student success with an emphasis on high impact educational practices, or HIPs (Kuh, 2008):

▪ First-year Experiences ▪ Study Abroad ▪ Service Learning ▪ Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities ▪ Internships & Employment

Study Abroad and Compact Scholars

1. Why study abroad? 2. Barriers to study abroad for Compact Scholars a. Finances b. Time available 3. Challenges a. Affordability b. Sustainability c. Pitfalls of voluntourism with our time constraint 4. Context a.

US/Mexico Borderlands

b.

Greece

Compact in Greece: Learning Objectives

• 1. Learn and apply theories in intercultural

competence for global engagement.

• 2. Develop a broad understanding of a social issue

in its local, national and global contexts, and the practices employed to address the issue.

• 3. Cultivate a realistic sense of their personal role in

addressing issues in their own communities and abroad.

• 4. Define the genre of travel writing and

demonstrate its use to process, complicate and understand complex social issues.

General Studies 200: Embedded Course

• 1. Credit/No Credit format for 2 units
• 2. Pre-Departure (5 meetings @ 2 hr):

a. Cultural Theory b. Introduction to Travel Writing c. What is a Refugee? d. Migration in San Diego/U.S. e. Greece Migration Crisis f. Working with Vulnerable Populations

• 3. Logistics
• 4. In-Country (6 meetings @ 1 hour):

a. Techniques of Travel Writing b. Identity & Culture c. Group Action Plan: Where Now?

5. Assignments

Compact Scholars attending class in Greece.

ITINERARY: An Exercise in Flexibility

1. PROPOSED

a. Athens (4): cultural activities b. Chios Town (10): service project of at least one week with Imagine Project + at least one cultural activity

2. AGREED

a. Athens (9): cultural activities and 4-5 days service project with The Home Project b. Chios Town (5): cultural excursion + 2 lectures/talks by professor and/or local NGOs

3. ACTUAL

a. Athens (9): cultural activities + 2 days each at The Home Project and Caritas Neos Kosmos b. Chios Town (5): 2 days at Imagine Project + cultural excursion

Methodology: Student & NGO Feedback

SURVEYS & ARTIFACTS NGO Partners (Katie)

• 8 open-ended responses
• 2 out of 3 responses

Supplemented by artifacts Students (Leiana & Carlett)

• Likert Scale and
• pen-ended responses →

100% response rate!

• Media: Photos, Video

Interviews, Blogs PLANNING & ANALYSIS

• Research team meetings
• Qualitative coding with

NVivo

Compact Scholars exploring the medieval city of Vessa, Greece on the Island of Chios.

NGO Partners: Surveys

• Athens
• Unaccompanied

minors, typically ages 6 to 18

• Athens (Neos Kosmos)
• Families w/ children

ten years & younger

• Chios Town
• Adults ages 18-75

(average age: 27-37) “...we have not worked with students before, our general policy requires screening and a minimum of one month of working with us” “Big groups of volunteers give us the opportunity to plan big scale activities e.g. soccer games, etc…” “...days filled with joy and excitement...the message that through beautiful actions and communication, people regardless of their origin, age and color come closer!”

Student Assessment: Impact of Service

Majority: ‘High Impact:’

Home Project - 10 Caritas - 14 Imagine Project - 14

Majority: ‘No / Low Impact:’

Home Project - 15 Caritas - 14 *Imagine Project - 8

IMPACT ON STUDENTS IMPACT ON NGO

“[Working with] all of these organizations emphasized the commonalities that all human beings share, regardless of what language we speak, what religion we practice, the color of our skin, or where we are from.”

Student Assessment: Impact on Future Plans

IMPACT ON MAJOR, MINOR & CAREER PATH →Change Major: 3 →Change Minor: 7 →Change Career Plans: 10 →Confirm Current Path: 10 →Majority: increase in wanting to be of service to others

“Working with Caritas has confirmed that I want to work with children in my future career, however I may want to focus on children in crisis situations…” “I’d like to become a speech pathologist to help children with

• disabilities. This is one of the

many reasons why refugees seek asylum, to look for treatment.”

Student Assessment: Self-Perception & Assumptions

Self-Perception → Gratitude → “Better person” → Social action → Awareness of privilege → Self-confidence Assumptions → Communication → Pace of life → Transportation → Similar to US & Mexico “Yes it has made me be more aware of my actions and [to] be grateful for every opportunity I’ve been given” “I thought the language barrier would be a bigger issue.” “I need to stop being so selfish with my things and help the problems that I can. I realized that I am also stronger mentally and emotionally from being away from my family.”

• Journaling >> public

student blog posts

• Group photo and video

sharing on WhatsApp

• Video Interviews
• Compact in Greece

Video Production

• Effects of media usage
• n overall experience

Media Project: Greece 2019

The Compact Scholars Abroad Blog.

→ Increased Relationship Building → Connection to Home / Shared Experience

Closing Activity: Pair & Share

• 1. What barriers or challenges

have you experienced when incorporating service or complex social issues into your work (with students or…)?

• 2. What ideas can you generate to

address some of the barriers and challenges you have identified?

Athena / Owl Sculpture, Acropolis Museum.

Takeaways / Conclusions / Future

• What parts of the program/course worked

and/or should be kept?

• How can this program/course be

improved in the future?

• 2019 Greece Video Clip

Amanda Fuller, M.F.A. afuller@sdsu.edu Student Researchers

(from L to R: Leiana Lepule, Katie Mercer and Carlett Serratos)

Chris Kjonaas, M.A. ckjonaas@sdsu.edu

E F C H A R I S T O

T H A N K Y O U QUESTIONS?