IS - Internship & Service Learning Syllabi

International Studies | INTERNSHIP & SERVICE LEARNING SYLLABUS SPRING 2008

College Park Scholars International Studies 239N & 249N
Internship & Service Learning Practicum Spring 2008

Dr. James M. Glass

1140C Tydings, 405-4119

jglass@gvpt.umd.edu

Teaching Assistants

Javiera Alarcon

1104 Centreville, 405-9304
jalarcon@gvpt.umd.edu

Tony Marcum

1104 Centreville, 405-9304

amarcum@gvpt.umd.edu

Shana Marshall

1135D Tydings

marshall@gvpt.umd.edu

Mike McDonald

1104 Centreville, 405-9304

mmcdonald@gvpt.umd.edu

Office Hours
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If these times are not convenient for you, we will gladly make an appointment

Introduction

The purpose of this course is to integrate "hands on" experience with an academic understanding of international studies in general. It is therefore important for you to record, analyze, interpret, and discuss your experiences during the internship or service-learning project. You will be responsible to two sets of supervisors and should understand your responsibilities as outlined below.

General Policies

We will try to meet any extraordinary needs of any student. Such needs arise out of either preexisting or new conditions. Such conditions may include persona, social, physical, emotional or other impairments. To be properly considered students must present an Accommodation Form. A copy of the Accommodation Form should be on file in the disability support service (DSS) Office, 0126 Shoemaker Bldg. (301) 314-7282, dss@umail.umd.edu

The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student, you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. All assignments must have this sentence on the front page: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this examination." It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For information on the code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor council, please visit: http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html

Decorum

Please be mindful of the proper decorum in all scholar classes: no cell phones, beepers, ipods, etc. Please come to class appropriately dressed. You are in the University now, and the scene here is very different from high school. I assume that students will internalize decorum expectations and rules; your teaching assistants and I are teachers not disciplinarians.

Attendance & Late Policies

Absence from any class must have a verifiable medical excuse; no exceptions. If you miss a class for reasons that are not dire emergencies or out of medical necessity, your grade will suffer. All due dates for assignments for listed in the course schedule, no late papers will be accepted, unless there is a medical or compelling reason. With the diversity of religious backgrounds at the university, we will not penalize students for religious holiday observances. Please notify us during the first two weeks of class if there is a scheduling conflict that way we can decide appropriate dates for make-up assignments.

E-mail

The teaching assistants and I will routinely use email to send messages about class assignments, and relevant events related to your class participation. If you change your email, please inform your teaching assistant and myself immediately. Additionally, please update this information with the university by visiting: Student Change of Address/Email.

Internship & Service Hours

Internship and service hours include time on site, time working on the project off site, and time spent in training. In the case where the service project requires a time requirement beyond the minimum course requirement, you should meet the site’s requirement rather than leaving in the middle of your service project.

Students must negotiate the actual number of hours for an internship or service learning project with their supervisors. The total time commitment for the internship/service learning project should approximate 8-10 hours a week for about 13 weeks.

It is important that students make the most of the capstone projects, to ensure a rewarding experience. In this regard, we expect students to be aware of their surroundings, observing the people and activities with which you are not directly involved. It is important that students learn about the organization they choose, both prior to their involvement and during their practicum.

The internship/service learning capstone offers students the chance to engage in activities they believe with assist them in defining their future goals and careers. These types of experiences can serve to open doors to new opportunities and interests.

In the case of some internships/service learning practicum, students may observe material and/or information considered confidential. We expect all students to honor the confidentiality of the organization that employs them as an intern or volunteer. Students must demonstrate mature judgment and discretion at all times and in all places. Every student participating in either project has made a professional commitment to an organization; each student has a clear responsibility to take this experience seriously and fulfill his or her duties to the best of one’s ability. As part of the grade, we will require a final evaluation from the work supervisor.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The internship/ service learning practicum have five graded components for each student. Students will work with their teaching assistants throughout the semester on many of the assignments. We strongly encourage that students contact their TAs with any questions throughout the semester.

Meetings: Each student will meet periodically with his or her teaching assistant throughout the semester. Students and their teaching assistants will arrange for times that accommodate both of their schedules. We expect students to attend these meetings. If students must cancel a meeting, we would appreciate prior notification as well as suggestions for rescheduling the meeting.

Supervisor Evaluation: Each student must identify a supervisor at his or her organization to write a letter of evaluation towards the semester. The letter should identify the relevant positive and/or negative aspects of a student’s performance, which may include any number of factors. For example, supervisors may discuss a student’s communications on project updates, ability to work independently, or a student’s willingness to take the initiative on assignments. Supervisors may also discuss a student’s development throughout the semester, in particular his or her learning new materials or acquiring new skills, such as negotiating. We list these as examples only: the evaluation should focus on relevant aspects of a student’s experience for an internship/ volunteer work.

We expect that students will discuss this require with their supervisors early on to provide them sufficient notification. Supervisors will email the letters to the student’s teaching assistant. Each student should provide both the supervisor and teaching assistant with the relevant contact information. Please let supervisors know that they may contact the teaching assistants at any time during the semester should they have questions.

Weekly journals: The weekly journal should detail a student’s activities at the internship as well as their thoughts and opinions about their work. We expect journal entries to discuss the work that a student performed for the week, including both regular duties and new assignments. The journal must also demonstrate the student’s thoughts about their work, including their opinion of various activities, or frustrations in accomplishing assignments. The entries may also discuss how a student has to develop new skills for an organization, whether learning a computer program or simply devising better time management to finish weekly assignments.

The journal entries should be 1 to 2 pages in length. We stress that students focus on recording their work and thoughts each week. The teaching assistants will assign the due dates for these entries, which will most likely be on a weekly schedule.

Reflection Paper: The reflection paper is the student’s assessment of their experience with the internship or volunteer work. In many ways, the paper serves as the culmination of the practicum in terms of the student placing the lessons learned into a broader understanding of his or her goals, expectations, and education. Simply put, the reflection paper allows each student to ask the question: what knowledge have you gained from this experience during the past semester?

The reflection paper is not a compiling of journal entries or a summary of the work completed. We expect a deeper reflection on the underlying lessons learned throughout the semester. The goal of the reflection essay is to situate the practicum within a student’s education, to draw out the important insights from his or her entire time as an intern or volunteer; the work, the projects, the interactions, and the observations. Students must assess the entire learning experience, both the positive and the negative aspects.

Essentially, the reflection paper should be an exploration of the broader educational goals of the internship/ service learning practicum from the student’s perspective. We do not expect students to address all the questions presented above; we intend these questions as prompts to assist a student in analyzing their practicum and thinking about the larger issues involved with their education.

We expect students to write a coherent argument on what they learned as important lessons from their experiences once that the semester is over. The reflection paper will be 10 to 12 pages in length, double spaced and one (1) inch margins with a font size twelve (12) Times New Roman (or equivalent). The reflection paper will be due at the end of the semester.

Grading

Meetings w/ Teaching Assistant                                    10 %
Supervisor Evaluation                                                   20 %
Weekly Journals                                                           30 %
Reflection Paper                                                          40 %

Last Updated: 20 February 2008