COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Experiential learning component. Participate in an "Advocacy Project" or in a "Service Learning" experience, either directly or indirectly contributing to children's needs or well-being, which should consist of at least 13 hours of work.

2. Experiential learning report. Submit a report about your "experiential learning" experience. This should be 1-2 pages, double-spaced, and should (a) document WHAT you did, (b) REFLECT on what you did / what you learned, and (c) give an ACCOUNT OF THE TIME you spent. All three of these elements are expected to be in the report. If you did something every week for the same length of time each week (such as Paint Branch tutoring or Children's Developmental Clinic) you can just mention the hours (or the times you began and ended) and list the first and last dates and the dates you missed. If what you did was irregular and varied, you should list dates and hours spent on each of those dates. This will be due 12/16/98. Turn in or e-mail to Elizabeth Brenden (elizb@wam.umd.edu).

3. Short reading and writing assignments, and one or two reading assignments of medium length. You do not have to buy a textbook. Turn in or e-mail writing assignments to Steve Wright (sw125@umail.umd.edu).

4. Participate in discussions and special in-class activities, as well as listening to speakers. The "work" of learning something from our speakers is considered to be the most important feature of the colloquium. [See "Absence Policy."]

5. Participate in two field trips of your choice. At least three will be offered, and more likely five (including at least two "half" field trips).

6. You will be assigned to a small group, or "cell" of 3-4 students, which will comprise one-third of your discussion group. Your discussion group will meet three times during the semester (roughly once a month), and each time one of the "cells" will be responsible as facilitators. Each student in the cell will be responsible for finding a book or academic journal article (or web site of equivalent quality) which has material closely related to the topic of one of that month's colloquium speakers (or to the overall topic of the month), which can be used as a bibliographical reference. The cell members will work together to summarize this information in two ways:

   (1) Each cell will create a coherent, written summary of their research, 1-2 pages, with bibliographical references at the bottom of the page (after each reference, indicate the name of the student who found that reference), to be distributed to each student in your discussion group on the day that your cell is facilitating. This summary can be in essay format, bullet points, charts, graphs, or in whatever form your cell concludes would be most effective in communicating your information. Please make enough copies for everyone in your discussion group as well as two extras, one to be given to Steve Wright AND one to be given to Elizabeth Brenden.

   (2) Each cell will prepare a presentation to your discussion group of 5-10 minutes that will begin the discussion session that day. Each cell should also prepare 3 discussion questions which can be used if needed (if the discussion seems to need more structure, if the conversation is slow to get started, stalls, or drags, etc.).

Within a week of the discussion that your cell leads, EACH member of the cell should e-mail the instructor affiliated with their team, Steve Wright (sw125@umail.umd.edu) or Elizabeth Brenden (elizb@wam.umd.edu), a brief report describing what EACH member of the cell did in contributing to that cell's work. For example, if there are 3 students in your cell, explain briefly what you did and what each of the other two students did in terms of researching, compiling findings, and facilitating. Each member of the cell should feel an obligation to their cell partners and to their discussion group to contribute adequately.

Click here for a table of the discussion groups and cells, or for an alphabetized list with group and cell assignments.

SCHEDULE:

UNIT 1: RISK FACTORS IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE (Sept. 2 - Oct. 7)

Sep. 2 - Stephen Wright, Dept. of Human Development, UMCP

"Risk and Protective Factors in Adolescence"

Sep. 9 - Stephen Wright, Dept. of Human Development, UMCP

"AIDS, other STD's, & Sex Education: Risk factors for teenagers and infants"

Sep. 16 - Cathy Trost, Director, Casey Journalism Center for Children & Families

"Media Response to Child Abuse"

Sep. 23 - Planning Session: Meet by Cells

Sep. 30 - Discussions of "Risk" Topics, First-week groups (B1, W1, B2 & W2)

Oct. 7 - Discussions of "Risk" Topics, Second-week groups (B3, W3, B4 & W4)

Oct. 14 - Panel: "Choices and Alternatives for K-12 Students"

Denise Ross, Pupil Personnel Worker, Prince George's County Public Schools

Lauren Rhim, Dept. of Education Policy, Planning, & Administration, UMCP

Joy Morrow, Principal, New Hope Academy (private, parent-founded, interreligious school)

Oct. 21 - ***,

"Consumer Education: Children's Issues"

Oct. 28 - Discussions of "Education" Topics, First-week groups (B1, W1, B2 & W2)

Nov. 4 - Discussions of "Education" Topics, First-week groups (B3, W3, B4 & W4)

Nov. 11 - ***, Holocaust survivor, Holocaust Memorial Museum

"Children of the Holocaust"

Nov. 18 - Speaker TBA

Dec. 2 - Discussions of "International" Topics, First-week groups (B1, W1, B2 & W2)

Dec. 9 - Discussions of "International" Topics, First-week groups (B3, W3, B4 & W4)

1125 Cumberland Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-9331