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Sales Man Assignment

Introductory

This document is addressed to Michigan State University Office of Admissions and the Office of Minority Student Affairs and its TRIO centered units. This document seeks to explore 7 of Root-Berstiens 13 cognitive tools as a means to bridging the academic disparity gap that exist between College Achievement Admission Program (CAAP) students, that is, students provisionally admitted and traditionally admitted students. Specifically, CAAP is an alternative admission process for incoming freshman students who have academic potential, but because of economic, cultural, or educational backgrounds or environments would be unable to realize that potential without special supportive services.

Rationale

Recent data reveals that in the last decade Michigan State University is among the worst institutions within the state and worst, in one national study in regards to the persistence and graduation of its African American student population. Analysis reveals that only 40% of blacks graduate in six years versus 61% of whites in the state of Michigan. The graduation disparity between black males and white males is even greater. A 2008 U.S. Department of Education Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Report reveals that Michigan State University has the largest black/white graduation gap in the nation. These alarming statistics alone are reason enough to suggests that the traditional instructional methods presently incorporated are not sufficient to meet the academic demands of provisionally admitted students and that some alternative means are needed to support this unique population of students.

Table 1 shows MSU compared to the 15 universities that are most similar in terms of size, mission, funding, student academic preparation, and a range of other factors that impact graduation rates. MSU rates the lowest among the 15 universities when comparing black students’ graduation rates to white students. The median gap is 15 percentage points—larger than the national median—and the largest gap, at Michigan State, is 24 percentage points.

Opportunity

The following section provides the aforementioned Michigan State Minority units specifics as to how the writer believes Root-Berstien’s 7 creative tools should be incorporated in the future curriculum of both the UGS 101 Success Strategies for Higher Education course and The Advantage Program, a weekly student-led retention initiative for the CAAP population as a catalyst for change.

UGS 101 & Advantage Professional Development Summer Sessions

During the final two weeks of this course, the writer was able to engage in some much needed reflection. Subsequently, it is the writer’s belief that change efforts must begin with faculty first. In order to effectively impact change regarding the population of students that the Office of Supportive Students serve, the instructors of UGS 101 must attend a professional development series that introduced and undergirded their instruction with 2 of Root-Berstien’s tools: empathy and thinking differently.

Empathy

Empathy is a much needed tool for all teachers; however, the skill is in greater demand for teachers teaching in environments where they are unaware of the life experiences of their students. This is very much the case regarding UGS 101. The OSS application clearly states, “CAAP is an alternative admission process for incoming freshman students who have academic potential, but because of economic, cultural, or educational backgrounds or environments would be unable to realize that potential without special supportive services.” A large number of the students enrolled into the UGS 101 course identify with one or more of the criteria’s previously mentioned. Therefore, those responsible for teaching the course must be equipped with tools that place them in the position to provide the “special supportive” skills needed to assist these student transitions into the university. However, in most cases the university has not paired CAAP students with professionals who understand and or value their unique experiences.

The writer believes teacher ignorance and or misconceptions regarding this population, not student intelligence or aptitude, are the primary causes of negative school outcomes. Empathy can empower UGS 101 instructors with the ability to be better informed and knowledgeable about CAAP students; ultimately, revolutionizing their instruction methods. Further, empathy affords one the opportunity to sense what it is like to be in the predicament of the “other.” This leverage allows the individual to communicate more intimately, allowing the person to feel understood. Subsequently, potential or previous barriers and subtle negative transactions are dissolved. (Bewegtheit) defines empathy eloquently, “to glide with one's feeling into the dynamic structure of an object, a pillar or a crystal or the branch of a tree, or even of an animal or a man, and as it were to trace it from within, understanding the formation and motoriality of the object with perceptions of one's own muscles: it means to 'transpose' oneself over there and in there."

Thinking Differently

Research reveals a sense of belonging and teacher/peer relationships are great predictors to the academic success of students of color. Stated in the previous section, empathy is a critical tool because it has the ability to create the type of environment that fosters a sense of belonging and healthy teacher and peer-to-peer relationships. In addition empathy broadens the instructors lens and provides great insight as to what instructional adjustments are needed to support each individual student according to their uniqueness which is a perfect segue for “Thinking Differently.” Empathy empowers one to feel like others feel, but thinking differently allows one to incorporate feelings into the curriculum - the pedagogy. Root-Berstien put it best, “To think creatively is first to feel. The desire to understand must be whipped together with sensual and emotional feelings and blended with intellect to yield imaginative insight. [5-6].” Based on the special circumstance of which CAAP students hail, they have to believe that the instructors are personal stakeholders in their academic journey and have the skill set needed to help them navigate throughout the institution. Further, John Maxwell, insist, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

Student Focus

Patterns

A number of CAAP students are first generation students, that is to say, they are the first in their family to attend college. There are major challenges associated with first generation students. For the sake of this assignment the writer will highlight two false expectations about college life: not being academically prepared and in general, being oblivious to the overall college process.

It is the writer’s belief that equipping CAAP students with the ability to recognize patterns is perhaps the most pivotal tool in unlocking their academic prowess. Historically, CAAP students have experienced challenges in courses that required high levels of critical thinking (math and science courses). Alarmingly, this phenomenon has not only affected graduation rates but their career options as well because it has inhibited them from acceptance into specific colleges and programs (Medical, Business, Law, and Education to name a few).

UGS Course

The writer has incorporated the following activities throughout the curriculum. Team teaching with upperclassmen from the CAAAP program and MSU graduates to speak to the students about their personal experience of how they use observation to draw from analogies to grasp the understanding of complex system in math and science. Additionally, the curriculum drew from Youtube videos, sports and other current events to help the student make sense of their new environment. Peer-to peer activities

Perceiving

The cognitive tool of perception is critical for all students but especially CAAP students. CAAP students’ traditional challenge in math, the sciences and other courses that require high levels of critical thinking suggests they need tools that deepen their analysis. The success in homework assignments and quizzes but struggles with test-taking is a sign CAAP students need to be better equipped with regards to observation and imaging skills, which are at the core of perceiving. As a result, strong elements of perceiving are incorporated into the writer’s UGS 101 course. The following activity provides a glimpse of how perceiving is incorporated.

Activity Values & Expectations:

Root-Berstien put it best, “All knowledge begins in observation. We must be able to perceive our world accurately to be able to discern patterns of action, abstract their principles, make analogies between properties of things, create models of behaviors, and innovate fruitfully.” Therefore, my UGS 101 course is designed to create a learning environment that challenges students to shift from passive learners to active learners. The writer has restructured the course in such a manner that demands engagement. In short, the responsibilities of the course are shared between the teacher and students. The responsibilities are divided as follows: lesson plans, instructional activities and the assignment feedback. Students are organized in 8 groups and are given the theme for 2 separate weeks with suggestions and a portion of the grade is determined by how effective their group is in executing the course responsibilities. Below is an example of an assignment to strengthen perceiving skills.

Student and Institution Values and Expectation activity:

·Students will focus on commonalities of current and former learning environments and ways to make school experience more positive.

· Students will develop ways of looking at and appreciating institutional differences of their peers. · Students will learn the institution goals and expectations

· Students will make a list of their individual values.

· Students will learn to synthesize personal and school values in order to identify and prioritize for personal and academic survival

· Students will understand the relationship of the institutional values to their personal values

Modeling/Playing

If you can see it you can achieve it. The problem facing first generation students is that there has not been much in the way of academic modeling on a collegiate level. Root-Berstein defines modeling as “creating a model to represent something in real or theoretical terms in order to study its nature, composition or purpose.” The absence of this tool in the CAAP students’ arsenal is potentially the single greatest factor in their academic struggles. Without a means of studying the composition of college, knowing its ins and outs and how it’s function operates; it is challenging to say the least.

Proposed activity:

The Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions (OCAT) hosts a summer bridge program called Maximizing Academic Growth In College (M.A.G.I.C.). As currently constructed, the program is geared toward incoming minority freshmen who have been identified as students who may be at high risk of not completing their degree program. The program then provides mentors for these students who, like their mentee, are from similar racial and socio-economic status backgrounds.

At first glance, the program seems to have several affective components. However, one glaring weakness is the nature of the structure. For instance, having African American students mentor other African American students leads to the creation of a homogenous environment and in turn causes a severe lack of growth in areas of diversity. The lack of diversity training can then lead to several problems when the student then enrolls in the fall and discovers their summer M.A.G.I.C. program experience is not the true college experience. That is, the program is not an authentic model of the upcoming experience. The dilemma is heightened by the fact that the majority of students in the program come from predominately African American communities and schools. Imagine the look of apprehension when these students enter a lecture hall of 500 students and may only see 4 other students of color in the entire hall. Critical skills needed to succeed in college such as the formation of study groups goes from a non-threatening task, to one that can seem stressful and overwhelming.

The M.A.G.I.C. program could make one minor but key adjustment when it comes to selecting both mentors and mentees for this program. It can choose students from a variety of different backgrounds so that their summer “internship” experience more closely resembles what their “job” will look like when they begin classes in the fall. Making this minor adjustment will assist these students in making the transition from high school to college by allowing them to experience spending time and developing relationships with students from different social and academic backgrounds. This summer experience could ultimately prove to be the deciding factor in whether the student is able to get off to a fast start and persist towards graduation, or whether the stress of a new environment will ultimately lead to the student leaving the university without the one thing they enrolled to obtain,-a degree. Finally, the program can incorporate mock math and sciences course into its curriculum. Providing students with the opportunity to “play” around with the subjects this population has traditionally struggled to grasp.

Abstraction

According to Root-Berstien, abstraction is to concentrate on one feature of a thing or process, in order to boil it down to basics and grasp its essence. One of the greatest challenges to students of color is their inability to concentrate, their inability to block out distractions and give their undivided attention to one task. A great number of these students come from underserved experiences, such that have placed them in a number of vulnerable situations that compete with their academic demands. Most CAAP students are employed and work at least 20 or more hours a week and some are forced to travel back and forth from home to support their family. In short, their social and personal demands leave less time for studies. Subsequently, the tool of abstraction could assist the students in maximizing their study time. For these students, abstraction could empower to block out the distracting thoughts and use the limited studying time available to increase their time on task.

Twitter Assignment

Do you work in a challenging environment with students experiencing academic and personal challenges and want to see some real, substantial academic improvements? Does the current state of urban education “make you want to give up -throw in the towel? As you read this, the disparity gap between urban schools and its suburban counterparts continues to widen in both the secondary and post secondary level. The gap is prevalent in standardized test scores, school resources and graduation rates to identify a few. But what if I told you there is hope? There is a real solution! Would you be interested? Would you abandon some of your ineffective instructional methods for ones that are proven to work? I present to you 7 of the most effective, creative instructional strategies in the profession. Root-Berstien’s creative tools are guaranteed to boost your schools achievement.

How I Love Thee

Eric Thomas UGS101 Course Transformational Outline

The Office of Supportive Services Freshman Seminar - UGS 101 - is a one credit University orientation course for program students. You will enroll in this seminar during your first year at MSU. This course is offered during the fall and spring semester. The seminar is entitled: Success Strategies in Higher Education. This interactive seminar is designed to build a foundation of knowledge for your college career as a learner and future leader. We'll explore academic, social, personal, and career decisions that students face in college, with a focus on the first year.

10:20 a.m. Motivational Minute

10:25 a.m. Week in Review

10:35 a.m. Overview and Expectation of Class

10:40 a.m. Jeopardy Computer Technology Lesson (I will divide the subject matter into 4 categories and slip the students in 4 teams)

11:00 a.m. Collaborative Group Presentation (Sections 4b. -5l will be divided amongst the collaborative groups to reinforce the lesson). Students will be encouraged to make their sections engaging.

11:20 a.m. Comments, Questions and/or Concerns

11:30 a.m. Final Reflections and Homework Assignment

11:40 a.m. Dismiss Class

Rationale: I have designed my course to address and meet the unique needs of the Office of Supportive Services student population. A number of our students experience continuous personal challenges which produce high levels of anxiety. In keeping with these factors, the course will begin by providing student with a short, motivational anecdote to arouse their interest and get them excited about the class. In addition, I will dedicate a few minutes in the beginning of class to any student who would like to share an experience with the class in order to build sense of community.

The expectations of the class will be introduced in the beginning of the course so each student is clear as to what is expected of them. Additionally, there will be an overview from the previous course to reinforce the previous lesson and to ensure that the common thread of the course is captured.

Games in general can be effective teaching and learning tools. In this instance, Jeopardy is designed to strength the students’ ability to retain the subject matter and improve their critical thinking and problem solving techniques.

Based on the research that suggests students gain a richer experience when they are engaged in the learning experience, the course is infused with a collaborative component to encourage team building, vertical and horizontal networking and leadership.

Finally, the course will end with a reflective exercise. Student should learn to frame and reframe complex or ambiguous problems, test out various interpretations, and then modify our actions consequently.

Big Idea

Play

Sparks continues to enlighten me; every chapter provides a thinking tool that if embraced, will revolutionize one's pedagogy. Play, simply put, is engaging in an activity simply for the fun of it, without any real responsibility. According to the text, "There is no success or failure in play, no holding to account, no mandatory achievement. Play breaks the rules of serious activity and establishes its own.”

Professional Play

While reading the definition I got goose bumps. Immediately, my mind wondered back 5 years to 2005 when I created and implemented a volunteer student-driven retention program. A major aspect of the program was researched based. That is, a group of students were given the freedom to mix entertainment and education, a theatric team, a small budget and unlimited creativity to close the achievement gap between majority and minority students.

Practice Play

Every Thursday a group of 10 or more students and I meet in an open office space with apple computers, audio equipment, white boards for two hours to mentally walk through an entire program. Each student closed their eyes and imagined they were in character to determine what aspects of the program worked theoretically but needed more development, and what aspects were ready for immediate implementation.

Symbolic Play

When I think about symbolic play, Dr. Ben Carson, John Hopkins Medical Center. In his book, Gifted Hands, he recalls a time as a medical student where he dreamed the night before a major exam. In his dream he said he had a vision of the professor writing both the equations and answers to the test on a 3 dimensional white board. More amazing than the dream was Dr. Carson’s test experience. In his book he explains that the test was exactly as it was in his dream.

As an educator and a student, I believe we can use symbolic play in the way Dr. Carson did for his medical examine. Through visualization, we have the power to explore and test our environment without risk, without failure. As educators we can teach an entire class through visualization and access the students’ reactions to test if our initial methodologies are best or if they need to be altered. Students have the same opportunity. They have the power visually to test their environment and all the actors in it to gauge their academic skills and make the necessary adjustments at the appropriate times.

Transformation

I recently witnessed transformation in action while serving as a motivational speaker for a charter school on the east coast. Specifically, the institution used a number of transformational techniques to assist their students in their walk toward academic success. Among their transformational thinking strategies was a focus on pupil preparedness versus instruction. Case and point, I observed that the first period of class was not dedicated to academic instruction. Instead, the entire students body and the school’s faculty and staff met in the gymnasium for daily fitness and affirmation. The director of the program believes physical fitness activities enhance brain activity and overall brain development. He also believes the affirmation segment sets both a positive tone for the students and staff as well as alerts the staff of students who may have some emotional challenges that need to be addressed prior to them attending class. Students who fall in the aforementioned group generally meet with a counselor or are placed in support based classrooms.

I currently use similar transformational techniques. My freshmen seminar course begins with a motivational minute, followed by a “your personal time” segment and ends with a “Big Idea” segment which gives students the opportunity to make connection regarding their learning, instead of regurgitating information.

Both thinking tools are extremely helpful in assuring the instructor and the student use creativity as a means of academic development as well as a way to foster “personal ownership.” Play and transformation allow the students and professor to become active participates, stakeholders in their personal education and ultimately, innovators.

Zoom In

The following “play” exercise consist of pictures taken of a Michigan State University classroom used to teach multiple course. 13 random pictures of the classroom were taken and after accessing the pictures, broken down into 4 categories. The first category consist of 3 pictures of varies Mac computers; the second category consist of four angels of the classroom’s white easer board and LCD projector; the third category consist of physical environment (desk, walls, chairs and floor) and the final category is of the storage space. In addition, I have added 2 pictures of an additional classroom space to compare the two spaces.

My Discovery

The first thing I observed while “playing” is that on one hand, the classroom is designed to be meet the demands of a 21^st century education, but on the other hand the physical environment is not conducive to meet the demands.

The colors of the walls are bland, the desk appeared to be comfortable, and in one picture, it appears there is not enough space for the multiple chairs that are at the desk.

The project screen and the white board also seem to be out of place. In a more modern academic environment, classrooms are equipped with a smart-board, which serves both as a station for a professor to write on and give the professor the option to display the Internet.

The final challenge appears to be the storage space. The extra computers and the support devises are cluttered and to some extent a distraction to the study environment.

Transformation

In addition to replacing the white board and the out-modeled project with a smart board, adding color to the walls, switching out the classroom furniture to furniture more comfortable and conducive to learning, replacing the carpet and thinking of an alternative for space for storage of the technical equipment. These transformations represent a few of the adjustments to consider initially.