Integrating ServiceLearning, Civil Rights, and Social Justice into UCFs Firstyear Writing Program

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Integrating Service-Learning, Civil Rights, and
Social Justice into UCFs First-year Writing
Program

• Pat Angley
• Mary Ellen Gomrad
• Lynn Hepner
• Martha Marinara

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Learning objectives related to service

• ENC 1101 Composition 1
• Students will develop a public voice
• Students will learn to write for specific
  audiences
• Students will develop critical thinking skills
• Students will gain confidence and control as
  writers and citizens
• Students will be introduced to the concept of
  service-learning

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Learning Objectives related to service

• ENC 1102 Composition 2
• Students will learn to shape their voices in a
  public forum by engaging social issues
• Students will further develop research skills by
  working with non-profit agencies connected with
  issues of social justice
• Students will strengthen analytical skills by
  identifying and evaluating a variety of sources

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What will students gain from the service-learning
experience?

• Understand what it means to think and write as
  engaged citizens
• Understand what their responsibilities are as
  members of a participatory democracy
• Understand the value of social agency through
  experiential learning

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What service activities are appropriate for
First-year Writing?

• Collecting oral histories from those involved in
  the Civil Rights Movement
• Conducting an essay contest on civic
  responsibility in local public schools
• Engaging in literacy activities such as tutoring
  adults and school children, book buddies and
  e-mail buddies, and teaching survival literacy
  skills to recent immigrants
• Helping non-profit agencies create appropriate
  publications

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How to prepare students for service-learning
project

• Write narratives of their own processes of
  citizenship
• Explore the context of an issue appropriate to
  selected service sites and write a commentary
• Research the agencies and interview directors,
  clients, and volunteers
• Read appropriate source material on Civil Rights
  and civic responsibility discuss in class and in
  small groups
• Listen to and converse with guest speakers
• Attend UCFs Common Theme activities

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Reflection Activities to Ensure Successful
Learning

• Journal assignments
• Written assignments
• Poster sessions for Service-Learning Day
• Group presentations
• Spoken word performances
• Web page projects

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How will students be recognized?

• Poster sessions
• Certificates
• Service-learning day
• Thank you letters from agencies

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How will learning be assessed?

• Reflective writings
• Agency feedback
• Pre and post surveys of students understanding
  of how rhetoric shapes democracy, citizenship,
  and social justice
• Complexity of written responses to assignments