University of Michigan - Flint

FOR 305 - Dr. Jamile Lawand
Doyle Ryder Spanish Program:
The Doyle Ryder Spanish Program is a course that was established through a partnership between the University of Michigan - Flint and Doyle Ryder Elementary School.  Through this course, students have the opportunity to teach Spanish language to second graders at Doyle Ryder.  Students are provided with instruction and materials for teaching Spanish at the elementary level, but are encouraged to design their own methods of presenting Spanish creatively to a classroom of young students.

 

LIN 313 - Dr. Jan Bernsten
Linguistics - Second Language Acquisition
The goal of this course is to study how people acquire a second language, including its phonology, morphology, lexicon, syntax and pragmatics.  Topics include the characteristics of the learner, the role of instruction, the effect of a person's mother tongue and theories of the language learning process.  Along with a discussion of the research findings of others, students have a tutorial experience with a Flint student who is learning English as a second language.  This enables the student to test the theories as they relate to an actual learner.

 

COM 428 - Dr. Anthony (Tony) McGill
This senior capstone course is designed to assess the broad range of skill and knowledge the students have acquired in the Communication Major.  Through a series of individual and group projects the students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in communication.  Generally, those skills are to communicate verbally in spoken and written forms, to conduct research, to understand and apply theories and to work with others.  This course extends the students understanding of current trends, topics and cases of communication in organizational setting.

 

Academic Service Learning or Community-based Learning -
Students participate in organized, sustained activities related to course objectives that meet community needs.  Students then reflect on their experience through discussions, journal writings, etc.

Experiential Education -
Direct, hands-on activities that connect theory with practice and could include site visits, internships, actions research, etc.

Problem-based Learning -
Student can work individually or in groups to use higher-level thinking skills to solve complex real-world problems.  Faculty serve as guides and facilitators in this process.

Collaborative Learning -
Students work together in teams to investigate, research and understand complex issues and develop products based on their findings.

Civic Skills -
Activities that allow students to practice skills such as personal communication skills, knowledge of political systems and the ability to critically think about civic and political life.

Orientation/Training -
Ongoing support is provided to faculty, staff, students and community members in civic engagement.  These include some of the Center's signature events as Alternative Breaks, Community Exchange, Issue Awareness and more. 

Support is provided to faculty members who include civic engagement and community-based learning projects in their courses.  That support involves researching best practices, aligning student projects with community needs to ensure mutual benefit, providing assessment tools and assisting with funding opportunities.  In addition, CCE provides pedagogical workshops and seminars individual consultation and assistance with project/course development, offers a Service Learning/Civic Engagement Resource Library and provides conference scholarships and course development funds that incorporate civic engagement components.  CCE staff are available for classroom and community presentations to promote awareness and offer support in civic engagement efforts.

Please contact Melissa Stephens-Farrell, Interim Manger at the Center for Civic Engagement for more information on Service Learning. 

Melissa Stephens-Farrell
Interim Manger
810-767-9662