Wrap Up & Final Exam

Thanks for the your insights today. Discussion was very good and covered a lot of important topics.

Reminders for wrapping up the semester:

• Please check the Campus Portal to confirm that I have given you credit for all of your work and attendance. If you find an error, please let me know immediately.
• If you failed to submit your research paper through TurnItIn.com, you won't get credit for it until you do. (The class id is 16104258 and the enrollment key is fys17.)
• Likewise, if you did not include your Annotated Bibliography with your research paper as instructed, please submit it on TurnItIn.com to get credit for it. 
• You have been sent a link to a course survey for the class. Please complete the mandatory survey so that I can submit a final grade for you.

The final exam will be a two-part take-home exam, due on TurnItIn.com by the end of the scheduled final exam period, Thursday, 12/14, 10:30 a.m. You may complete it any time beforehand.

PART A
Describe in detail a current American public education controversy of your choice, and explain how it relates to the agendas and intentions of those providing or advocating public education in this country now and in the past. You can review the video we watched in class. You are welcome to inject your own opinions.

PART B
Reflect on mission, values and engagement experiences you have had in your first semester. You must download the prompt from the campus portal.You will need to log into your Campus Portal account for the link to work. This is an assignment shared by all of the First Year Seminar sections.

Welcome to American Public School

This week we are exploring the history of American public schools and current controversies around public education in  this country. You can check out today's video here. I asked you to focus on the agendas and intentions of those providing or advocating public education as we have for the other education systems we have looked at this semester. Consider the importance of education for a democratic citizenry for example. 

Your assignment, due before class on Thursday, is to find a strong on-line article on a current controversy of public education from the list below, or one you come up with, and write a précis (short summary) of the article. Please bring a hard copy of the article and your summary to class on Thursday.

• Common Core
• Standardization Conspiracies
• Bussing/Segregation
• Charter Schools (which ones work?)
• Bilingual Education
• Home Schooling
• Vouchers
• Religion/Prayer in Schools/Creation-Evolution, etc.
• Discipline/Violence/Security

Research II: Report Due Wednesday

Interesting discussion today in class--our research is coming together. If I wrote "not yet" on your bibliography, please revise it and bring the revised version to class on Tuesday. We still need to hear from Ciara and Sasha (my fault!) and Giovanni, Arynn, Cheyenne, Nola, Nancy, and Victor on their strategies for reducing stereotype threat.

Now that you have some solid sources and a good understanding of your topic, it's time to write it up in a short report (approximately 1000 words or 4 double-spaced pages). The assignment handout can be found on the Campus Portal page for our class (you'll need to log in). Your report is due on TurnItIn.com by 11:59 pm on Wednesday (details on the handout).

Running into difficulties? Do not wait to contact me at mfitzgerald@ndnu.edu!

In Tuesday's class, we will start to get our research conference strategy together. Remember that the Freshman Research Conference on Thursday from 3:30 to 5 pm is mandatory.

On Tuesday, we will also look at the Nazi education system. Please have a look at excerpts from the novel, All the Light We Cannot See, handout available on the campus portal.

Research: Annotated Bibliography Due Tuesday

Movie Tonight!

Stand and Deliver will be shown in the SJ Lounge at 6 pm.

Food and Drinks will be provided.

Extra Credit Opportunity

We are now moving into serious research mode. Our topic will be Stereotype Threat and How to Reduce It. The first thing to do is gain mastery of the scientific literature available on the subject.

To that end, everyone (including students not in class today) has been assigned to

• find and carefully read the sources listed for one of the 12 "Empirically Validated Strategies to Reduce Stereotype Threat"  (the full reference citations are on the back of the page that lists the strategies)
• if the list has fewer than three sources for your strategy, find additional, related sources, and 
• create an annotated bibliography according to the assignment distributed in class and available on the campus portal.

The strategies have been assigned as follows:

1. Remove Cues That Trigger Worries About Stereotypes (Vince & Adam)
2. Convey That Diversity is Valued (Giovanni)
3. Create a Critical Mass (Anthony & Ann)
4. Create Fair Tests, Present Them as Fair and as Serving a Learning Purpose(Ciara & Sacha)
5. Value Students’ Individuality (Kendall)
6. Improve Cross-Group Interactions (Kai Ying & Andrea)
7. Present and Recruit Positive Role Models from Diverse Groups (Ervin & Raul)
8. Help Students Manage Feelings of Stress and Threat (Klane & Annette)
9. Support Students’ Sense of Belonging (Nancy)
10. Convey High Standards and Assure Students of Their Ability to Meet These Standards (Victor)
11. Promote a Growth Mindset About Intelligence (John & Ryan)
12. Value-Affirmations to Reduce Stress and Threat (Arynn & Cheyenne)

If you run into difficulties or are unclear about the assignment, DO NOT WAIT until Tuesday's class to get help. We do not have time for anyone to get behind on this assignment.

Welcome to the Medieval Universities of Europe & Africa

Hope you all enjoyed your whirl-wind tour of medieval universities on two continents!

For next Tuesday, please read the New York Times article, "In Italian Schools, Reading, Writing and Recognizing Fake News" after reviewing the the related teaching activities. Your written answers to the questions in the teaching activities are to be submitted in class on Tuesday.

Have a good look at the Annotated Bibliography assignment sheet I handed out today. If you were not in class, you can find the handout on the campus portal. Make sure that the instructions are clear to you and bring questions to class if they are not.

Give some serious thought to what our research project assignment should be. I suggested that we divide up the twelve Empirically Validated Strategies to Reduce Stereotype Threat and work from there to create research that is also an opportunity to serve others. I am open to other research topics, but we have to move fast.

SAVE THE DATES

• Fall 2017 Social Justice Speaker Series, Wednesday, November 8, at 5 p.m., in the Chapel. mark! Lopez is the Executive Director of the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and is the 2017 North American recipient of the Goldman Environmental prize.
• Freshman Research Conference, Thursday, November 16, 3:30-5, location TBA.

Midterm Exam

On Thursday we will have our midterm exam. To prepare, review the class blog and your notes. You will need to be able to briefly define/summarize the neurosciences concepts we have explored:

1. Growth vs. Fixed Mindset; 
2. The Adolescent Brain; 
3. Stereotype Threat; 
4. Effects of Stress; 
5. Neuro-plasticity; and 
6. Values Affirmation. 

Strong summaries will include an example of an experiment described in the article or talk.

You will also need to be able to identify on a map the locations of the ancient schools we've visited and, in a sentence or two, describe the education system of each place and the purposes they served in their societies:

1. The Eduba of Mesopotamia
2. The Imperial Examination System of China
3. Greece (Athens and Sparta) & Rome
4. The Tēlpochcalli and the Calmecac of the Aztec Empire

Finally, you will write a reflection on the NDNU Hallmark of your choice, explaining why you think it is important and how it relates to your Call to Action Day adventure and your NDNU experience.

1. We proclaim by our lives even more than by our words that God is good.
2. We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person.
3. We educate for and act on behalf of justice and peace in the world.
4. We commit ourselves to community service.
5. We embrace the gift of diversity.
6. We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve.
7. We develop holistic learning communities which educate for life.

Values Affirmation and Reflecting on Call to Action Day

Patti Andrews has requested feedback from our class. Please send her a quick email at pandrews@ndnu.edu, letting her know 1) How are you feeling heading into midterm week, and 2) What would help you feel more confident of succeeding. There is extra credit for anyone who sends her a note by Friday 4pm.

More extra credit can be had if you attend tonight's presentation and peer-led panel on Test Anxiety, at 6pm in the Academic Success Center. We seriously need at least four people from the class to go and report back about the program.

Today we reflected in the Chapel on our Call to Action Day experience. How does what you did at CTA Day relate to what we are exploring in our seminar? I will post some photos from our adventure with the Belle Air School 5th Graders shortly.

We also reviewed the problem of stereotype threat from last week's reading and discussed a dozen practical ways to ameliorate it, including self-affirmation of values.Please have a look at this short article from Stanford, "The Value of "Values Affirmation"."

Next Tuesday, we will review what we have learned so far this semester and create a mid-term exam together, which you will take on Thursday.

Coming Soon:
Volunteer and fun opportunity: Halloween in the Tenderloin, October 31, 4pm-7pm. More info soon.