Fall 2013 Fieldwork at CSUF Student Access Center

Title: Fieldwork at California State University Fullerton's Student Access Center
Term: Fall, 2013 

Description: California State University Fullerton (CSUF) is a public, four-year, Hispanic Serving institution located centrally in the Orange County which allows it to be an easy access for students living in the surrounding cities.  This is a positive aspect to the commuter school which is serving roughly 37,000 students for fall 2013. CSUF is known as the biggest CSU campus and the most affordable college in California.  It won national rankings for “Top Public Universities”, “baccalaureate degrees awarded to minority students”, “awarding bachelor’s degrees to Hispanics”, and “Exemplary Programs” in student leadership (As cited in Fullerton website).  Being a diverse campus, it serves a wide range of students rarely found in homogeneous schools such as: commuter, non-traditional, low-income and/or transfer students.  Also, CSUF is known for having a high transfer rate.  With this, there are many majors and minors to explore and pursue as CSUF offers 55 bachelor’s degrees and 52 graduate degree programs (As cited in Fullerton website).  Additionally, CSUF has a 25:1 faculty-student ratio which provides individualized attention for student success.  Located in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is the Student Access Center where students have a safe space to study, conduct student organizational meetings, form academic bonds, and build relationships with the student assistants.  The center aims to support student success by providing resources, hosting scholarship meetings, and offering academic and Career Center workshops.  Students of all majors are welcomed to use the center from the hours of operation on Mondays through Thursdays between 9:00am to 7:00pm.

Learning Outcomes: 

• SWiBAT Demonstrate her knowledge of transfer students
• SWiBAT Compare and contrast techniques used for advising
• SWiBAT Gain a better understanding of organizational leadership and the university's organizational chart.  
• SWiBAT Design and present a series of student success workshops.

Assessment Rubric:

1. For the first learning outcome, articles will be given by site supervisor regarding the student population.

-           Student will report back to the supervisor regarding student characteristics, challenges, and ways transfer students persist in school. 

2. This will be done by meeting with at least three academic advisors to gain knowledge about the requirements and process.

-           An exam will be administered about the general educational and university graduation requirements.

3. This will be accomplished through discussions with the site supervisor

-           Student will reflect on how organizational leadership affects the institution and how it will affect her future career in Student Affairs. 

4.   The project I will be working on is assessment of study skills workshops designed to inform students about the skills needed to maintain a good academic standing.  This will be accomplished through assisting in the planning and delivery of four interrelated workshops for students.  A special focus is to target first year students and transfer students.  Changes in the students’ study behaviors and knowledge of campus support systems will be used to measure the project at the end of the semester.  

Evidence: I have provided photos of my Fieldwork site and the workshop powerpoint.  All learning outcomes were met except for number two which was partially accomplished due to lack of time academic advisors had to meet with me.  Each learning outcome received a "4-advanced" for fulfilling the requirements except for learning outcome number 2.  Learning outcome 2 was given a "1-basic" for meeting 1/3 academic advisors.

Reflection:  Research stated transfer students were mostly first year students and/or students of color.  Many of these students come from low income families and may have familial obligations which prevent them from attending a four year institution due to cost and distance.  I learned many transfer students are at risk for academic probation because of campus cultural differences, not being academically prepared, and not having the knowledge of academic requirements at the four year institution.  I reported back to my supervisor and discussed the student characteristics, challenges, and ways transfer students persist in school.  As student affairs professionals, we should assist students transition with the guidance of Schlossberg’s Transition theory (1981).  By being a support system and providing strategies for coping, students will have a higher chance in transitioning to the campus and persisting in their studies.  Although I cannot relate to transfer students, there are similarities they face that first year students encounter such as transition, time management, and social and academic integration.  For future application, I hope to be able to relate to transfer students and share experiences to develop strategies for academic success.  

Student learning outcome two was partially accomplished through meeting an academic advisor to gain knowledge about general education requirements.  I learned about the importance of general education because it helps students see multiple perspectives, learn about themselves, and be exposed to diversity and various cultures.  Students gain skills such as comparing and contrasting, communication, critical thinking, and writing which can be used for job related skills.  General education prepares students for the complexity and changes in the world.  Although I did not meet with three academic advisors, the quality of information gained made the experience provided a foundation for my knowledge in advising.  

The last learning outcome was completed through discussions with the site supervisor.  I learned about the various positions which make up the organization in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and how the chain of command is in effect.  For instance, if a student has a complaint about a department, the student must contact the department chair and if the conflict cannot be resolved, the issue is presented to the Dean.  Students cannot contact the Vice President unless the previous steps are completed.  My learning outcome was assessed through reflection of how organizational leadership affects the institution and how it will affect my future career in Student Affairs.  I learned the organization of a higher institution would affect my job because based on the shifts in the institution, the roles of certain Student Affairs positions may change too.  In addition, it is important to have a high degree, gain experience, and have networks in order to move up in the field. 

            Student Success Workshops was a great learning experience of public speaking, contacting Student Affairs staff, improvising, and advertising.  My first Student Success Workshop was conducted on October 2, 2013 with three students attending the presentation.  Although the number of students was very low, the quality of engagement made the experience worthwhile.  One student wrote on the feedback form, “To tell you the truth, offering the workshop was good enough for me, and I thank you for that!  I liked the slides and how you and Mr. McKenzie had us participating and gave us positive feedback on our responses. Although we had a limited time, I bet it would of been great if we had 20 more minutes to wrap the presentation up and to finish the slides.  Overall it was very informative and I am really trying to use my 8 day calendar :) Thank you once again.”  The responses helped me learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the presentation such as participation and positive feedback in addition to being able to present all the intended information within an hour.  

The second workshop ended up being a casual conversation about academic probation and time management.  The two students were very engaged in the conversation and being able to share experiences helped the students become more at ease with their concerns while I realized I had more to offer than I thought.  Surprisingly, the students enjoyed my advice about learning by teaching others and balancing their time with academics and leisure.  The conversations gave students the opportunity to learn about the material, about themselves, and be more confident in their studies.  For the third and fourth workshops, my supervisor and I agreed to have a faculty guest speaker to discuss time management and utilizing faculty.  Unfortunately, for the third workshop, students did not attend possibly due to poor outreach.  With this, flyers were posted, students received a mass email a week in advance and the day before the event, posted a reminder on Facebook, and an announcement was made in the center the day of the event.  The fourth workshop was successful and students gave positive feedback on what they learned and wished for more workshops.  They stated time is a commodity so they should not multitask or procrastinate.  Procrastination was an important reminder for students to not waste their time worrying because that time spent could have been used for productivity.  It is also essential to take breaks in between studies and to manage time wisely.

Fall 2013 NACA West Regional Conference

Title: NACA West Regional Conference - Ontario, CA - November,2013

Term: Fall, 2013

Description:  NACA held a regional conference for the west region at the Ontario Convention Center from Thursday November 14-Sunday November 17, 2013.  NACA is short for National Association for Campus Activities and describes itself as a recognized leader in higher education for providing members with innovative practices and access to programs that support campus engagement.  The conference's theme was "Lets Make Waves," focusing on how students affairs professionals an make an impact on students' lives.  My primary purpose for attending the conference were professional development to obtain skills in advertising, surveying, and programming in addition to learning how to balance personal and professional life.  

Learning Outcomes: Prior to attending the conference, I developed the following learning outcomes for the conference:

• SWiBAT Discuss methods of outreaching to diverse student populations and program diversity events with minimal issues.  
• SWiBAT Identify ways to advertise events and various methods for feedback through surveys.
• SWiBAT Explain effective strategies for balancing life as a Student Affairs professional.

Assessment:  I graded myself based on the number of ways I can advertise and survey events, various ways to address diversity, and learning about different methods to balance life.  The scale ranges from 0-3, with 3 being the highest, thus, giving myself a score of "4-advanced", and so forth.  For instance, a score of competent would be discussing three methods of outreaching while a score of "3-competent" would be discussing two methods.  In addition, reflections were made on each student learning outcome.  

Evidence: Here are photos of the conference including pictures of my notes.  Also, the link to the NACA West Regional Conference schedule provided through their website.

For all three student learning outcomes, I gave myself a "4-competent" for fulfilling the student learning outcomes.

Reflection: The NACA West Regional Conference was a beneficial conference for someone new to the field such as myself.  I learned various strategies to get students involved in events while discovering different assessment methods for improvements.  Additionally, I learned about diversity and how programming diversity events may have issues if Student Affairs professional do not research and educate themselves about various student populations.  

I attended two workshops on diversity, "How to address a diverse student population without being offensive" and "Advising students in diversity programming".  The first workshop focused on colorblindness. For  instance, many people state, "love doesn't see race or color" which may come off offensively to some people because race is a part of their identity.  "Treating everyone the same" indicates the person not seeing individuals for who they are.  This workshop focused on celebrating diversity.  The three ways to do this are: talking about experiences, celebrating on a usual basis, and being more visible.  Having students discuss their experience would help break stereotypes and have meaningful conversations.  Dominate groups will have an opportunity to hear various voices and come to an understanding of their struggles.  This may help them become allies with the minority student population.  Celebrating diversity often is beneficial to the minority groups who may feel more welcomed by the institution and bring awareness.  Celebration of diversity does not have to be a specific week or month such as Black history month in February.  It should be an ongoing effort.  With this, being more visible is essential.  Promoting diversity through social media, guest speakers, student volunteers at events, would be helpful in promoting diversity and continuing students' learning about all student populations.  Therefore, this workshop connects to the diversity programming workshop because some events may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes or exclude certain students.  For example, an event may be located in an area where students with disabilities may have a difficult time accessing or activities may prevent them from participating.  I learned that if I cannot take away from the event I am hosting, I can improvise and improve it.  For instance, if the event I hosted was a Korean awareness event but we had Chinese and Japanese food available, I could have students discuss what is wrong with the food.  I learned various ways of addressing issues of an event after the event takes place: suggestion box stating likes and dislikes and improvements or suggestions, surveys of what students learned, a reflection question "how would someone of a certain identity feel at this event?"  These methods help the event coordinators learn from their mistakes and identify strengths and weaknesses of the event, in addition to challenging students to understand how someone else may have felt for attending the event.  

Different techniques to advertise events were shared at the "Cut through the noise" workshop.  Out of the list, I liked the Easter egg idea, t-shirt design, social media competitions, and decorating windows.  The Easter egg idea is to put notes of the event and/or prizes and have them scattered around the campus.  T-shirt designing is a way for students to participate in decorating a shirt while promoting the event by wearing the shirt around campus.   Social media competitions is a fun way to get students to participate while informing them about information regarding the event.  Lastly, decorating windows is unique and stands out compared to posters and banners around the campus which blends in with other clubs' events.  With an increase in students attending events through applying knowledge learned from this workshop, the survey workshop was beneficial to get feedback from students.  It is important to recognize the challenges of surveying such as students dislike taking them because they are time consuming, getting a diverse audience, knowing which questions to ask, and effectively translating results into action steps.  The presenter advised the audience to answer four questions: What do I want to know? From whom do I want to know? How can I get them to tell me? How can I interpret what they told me?  It is important to know what the purpose of the survey is, who the audience is, collaborate with other organizations who are looking for the same information, and use excel or survey monkey to help assess the information gathered.  Surveys available through technology include: Google forums, top hat, on campus text, guidebook, survey monkey, and groupme.

With a busy life working as a Student Affairs professional, it is essential to learn how to balance life and not get burned out.  Strategies for balancing life include: leaving work at work, if doing work at home then having a relaxing setting, saying "no" to employers, writing in a planner, and being surrounded by people who will motivate you.  People, purpose, passion, and perseverance are key to juggling personal and professional life. People include but are not limited to family and colleagues.  Having people who can hold you accountable, provide constructive criticism, and work as a team to complement strengths and weaknesses, help balance personal life with work.  Having a purpose and discovering what gives you energy is an important aspect for working in Student Affairs.  Passion for the job leads to perseverance when individuals have a sense of meaning to their work.

This conference has been helpful to my professional development as a new professional.  It has also given me insight of the type of work I may be going into in addition to what I need to focus on in order to strengthen skills.

Fall 2013 Maywood Educational Fair

Title: Maywood Educational Fair
Term: Fall, 2013 

Description:  The Maywood Educational Fair first took place in 2009 to inform the community about higher education.  Cohort 5 held the 5th Annual Educational Fair on Saturday October 12, 2013 to inform the city of Maywood about higher education.  Maywood is an underrepresented population in the East Los Angeles area where majority of the residents do not have a college education.  The importance of the fair is to educate residents about the importance of pursuing higher education, the financial aid process, and admission requirements, in addition to providing resources for individuals of all ages.  As a part of the Historical Research Committee, the group examined the history, demographics, and issues of the city to better understand the people being helped.  In addition, interventions were created to remind volunteers and the community about community cultural wealth and provide examples of their counterstories. 

Learning Outcomes: 

• SWiBAT Create an intervention to demonstrate the importance of counterstorytelling and community cultural wealth. 
• SWiBAT Understand the history of Maywood through research and make connections to theories.
• SWiBAT Effectively communicate with Historical Research Committee members in preparation of the Maywood Educational Fair. 

Assessment Rubric: You may access the Maywood Educational Fair rubric and Maywood intervention data.  In addition, here are photos on the day of the Educational Fair.

Evidence: The intervention received a score of "2-basic."  The second learning outcome was given "3-competent".  For the last learning outcome, I gave myself a score of "4-advanced." 

Reflection: The Fifth Annual Maywood Educational Fair was my first experience participating in a fair and informing others about valuable information.  It was difficult to get participants to volunteer in my intervention because of the location.  Due to being in the middle of the fair, people did not want to take time during passing periods to stop and participate in the intervention.  They were focused on getting to workshops and asking me about the location of them.  In addition, getting individuals to participate was difficult without a Spanish translator.  This is a recommendation for the future committee in order to have a higher participation rate. With this, the intervention was given a score of "2-basic" because not many people participated and participants gave one example of a personal experience.  Nonetheless, the fair was not only educational and informative to the Maywood community, but it was a learning moment for me.  I saw class readings turn into reality.  Reading about the Hispanic community in Yosso’s Critical Race Counterstories and learning about community cultural wealth was different when seeing the text in action.  For instance, the Maywood Historical Timeline intervention exemplified how much adults care about their children’s future and how students want to strive for higher education.  One parent wrote, “es muy importante para motivar mas a los ninos en sus estudios,” which translates to “it is really important to motivate the children more in their studies.”  This reveals how the deficit model is inaccurate and how communities such as Maywood desire higher education but need the resources to inform and better assist their loved ones.  Community cultural wealth was exposed when students expressed aspiration comments such as “It shows that no matter what’s in your way, you can pass that.  It has affected my experience by showing me I can have a good future.”  This comment really touched me because the student seemed motivated to obtain a higher education despite challenges during the educational journey.  It made me feel grateful to read responses such as this because it was a friendly reminder of the rewarding experience student affairs professional experience when helping their students.  At the same time, I felt upset for the inequality of the social and educational system which has minorities as oppressed groups, struggling to achieve their dreams because of their identity.  Even though I was not able to reach my goal of at least "3-competent", the intervention was a rewarding experience and I was grateful to see the outcomes.  

                     Maywood is an underrepresented community with many obstacles the people must overcome, but in light of the challenges the city and the families face, they have hope.  There was hope parents had for their kids to have a better future.  There was hope for the children to get an education and give back to the community, “I am proud to come from Maywood, go to Maywood Academy, and graduate with high honors.”  It helped me recognize the privilege I have to pursue a college education with the encouragement of my family.  I became proud of graduating from Canoga Park High School (CPHS) which is known for being a low quality school, its dropout rates, and its poor student performance.  When comparing CPHS or my middle school to other schools around the San Fernando Valley, they had limited Advanced Placement courses, electives, and resources which made me ashamed for being a part of their alumni.  I recognized the community cultural capitals which enriched my experiences attending the schools and the Maywood students helped me appreciate my role as a future student affairs professional.  Thus the two theories I connected to the community are Rendon's Validation theory and Schlossberg's Marginality vs Mattering theory.  The intervention helped validate the residents' experiences but it also helped me validate my work.  In addition, the responses participants gave about community, displayed the importance of mattering and support given from the community which positively affected the respondents.  

                     Lastly, I appreciated Kristina and Rob checking up on me.  Having supportive members helped make the planning and implementing processes smoother and more enjoyable.  We kept in touch through text, email, and face-to-face meetings.  Deadlines were never missed and there was never confusion with our roles because the committee leader was very supportive and answered questions.  Through the group's kindness and positive feedback, I experienced Rendon’s validation theory.  With this, I plan to pay it forward by validating those I come in contact with because everyone is a valuable person but sometimes external influences or feedback is helpful to remind people of their importance.  In addition, I want to practice positive self-talk and self-validation to have internal locus of control.  The Maywood Educational Fair gave me a better sense of my identity, changes I need for personal growth, and gave me hope to persevere. 

Summer 2013 EDAD 523

Title: EDAD 523- Student Learning and Development
Term: Summer, 2013

Description: The description in the syllabus of the course is as follows: Examination of student development theory in college, considering traditional and non-traditional students and learning outcomes. Theoretical assumptions and the practical application of theory to diverse student learners and the role of theory in student affairs practice. In addition to learning about formal and informal theories, my goals in the course are to better myself as a student and professional by reflecting on group work, creating my own informal theory, and having basic knowledge about theories.  

Learning Outcomes: For this class, I have developed the following student learning outcomes to accomplish my goals: 

• SWiBAT Create an informal theory through the undergraduate experience assignment.
• SWiBAT Recognize at least two theories in each theory cluster and describe at least a theory from each cluster in depth before the final examination.  In addition, describe how the theory can be applied to a subpopulation.
• SWiBAT Identify strengths and weaknesses in group work. 

Assessment Rubric: You can view that rubric by clicking here.

Evidence: The first student learning outcome was given an "advanced-4" because the formal theory used in the Undergraduate Experience Interview Paper and the interview, helped establish an informal theory.  

The second learning outcome was given a "basic-2".  

Through the Group evaluation assignment, I was able to reflect on my contributions to the group.  Here is the link to my portion of the group evaluation, self-evaluation.  I scored myself a "competent-3".  In addition, I have attached my PTP lesson plan from the group PTP project about First-year first-generation minority students.  

Reflection:  My informal theory based on Rigzin's experience and my experience is Asian students experience a desire for belonging within their own ethnic communities but instead find a comfort zone within the larger Asian community based on their level of Americanization.  For instance, when Rigzin explained not being able to find Tibetan students, she became friends with a Korean student.  In addition, her friend wanted to find other Koreans through clubs and organizations but soon discovered she did not fit into these groups because she was Americanized.  This reminded me of my experience of feeling marginalized withing my ethnic group and feeling more comfortable with Asian students who were also second generation.  

Due to the limited time, I was not able to memorize much for the final.  I had a weekend to gather information, create a study guide, and study for the exam because of other assignments due on the last week of summer school.  I was able to confidently memorize a theory in each cluster (psychosocial, cognitive-structural, integrative, typological, person-environment, and college-impact) and know the specifics of the theory.  Although I did not go in depth of how the theories applied to student subpopulations, I had an idea of how they were applicable.  

After evaluating myself through the group evaluation assignment, I was able to recognize my effort, quality of thinking, quality of work, and teamwork.  Two strengths of group contribution were communication and punctuality.  Whenever I had questions about assignments, I never hesitated to ask group members for clarification.  When personal problems were affecting me, I informed my group about what was happening in order to prevent misunderstandings if my quality of work was not up to the group's expectations.  Nonetheless, I never let my personal problems from completing tasks and I was always punctual in turning assignments to my group.  Although personal problems was a helpful to my strengths because I communicated with my group and the problems motivated me to finish on time in order to not disappoint group members, it was also a weakness.  Personal problems was a weakness as mentioned above regarding the quality of work.  Group members worked together to revise my section of the last project because I was not able to revise the work myself.  In addition, it was difficult for me to meet up with my group on weekends because I had family obligations to tend to which resulted in phone conversations.  Another weakness was not voicing opinions to be satisfied in the group process.  I felt it was unfair the group meetings were held in one location and the meeting times were scheduled mostly around one person but never expressed my feelings to the group.  Scared of their reactions, I only mentioned meeting halfway once and when my suggestion was rejected, I felt unimportant to the group which decreased my motivation.  My future suggestions to myself is to speak up when I have an opinion or idea.  After this experience, I believe in order for a group to be strong and maintain positive relationships, everyone must sacrifice something for the group while understanding each members' situation.  In addition, if I feel something is unfair, it is important to express the concerns to avoid negative feelings towards group members.  Lastly, I must learn to focus on school despite personal problems.  I must learn to prioritize and manage my time.  Therefore, I will plan weekly schedules to better myself as a group member in the future.  

Summer 2013 NASPA Regional Conference

Title: NASPA Region VI Southern California Drive-In Conference - Fullerton, CA - July, 2013

Term: Summer, 2013

Description:  NASPA hosted a Drive-In Conference at California State University Fullerton on Thursday, July 18, 2013.  NASPA is one of the major professional associations for the student affairs profession.  The conference's theme was "Knowledge is Power: Student Affairs Professional Development Conference"  "Defining the Nature of Student Success"   My primary purpose for attending the conference were for personal and professional development, and what I can do to promote student success.

Learning Outcomes: Prior to attending the conference, I developed the following learning outcomes for the conference:

• SWiBAT Apply knowledge gained from the conference to better myself as a leader
• SWiBAT Identify ways to support student success by attending at least two workshops 
• SWiBAT Gain knowledge about one's self for personal and professional development.

Assessment Rubric: You can access my assessment rubric at the following link: NASPA Regional Conference   


Evidence: Here are photos of the conference, the conference flyer, and my notes about the conference workshops.  
For all three student learning outcomes, I gave myself a "4-competent" for exceeding my expectations.

Reflection: I was proud of myself for attending and engaging in three workshops regardless of lack of sleep the night prior to the conference.  The three workshops I attended were: Maximizing Performance at the Root Cause, Step Up Bystander Intervention Program: Helping Students and Staff Make a Difference, and The Secret Life of a Student Affairs Introvert.  

Three key points I learned to help students persist and succeed are self-efficacy, understand beliefs, and self-talk.  Self-efficacy is important because the environment is always changing but students may not successfully transition into college.  When students' have high self-efficacy, they are more likely to transition and persist in school.  I believe Student Affairs educators can help students with their self-efficacy by validating them (Rendon, 1994).  Knowing students' beliefs is important because it controls actions and life.  Habits, attitudes, and expectations cannot be changed without understanding beliefs.  For example, if student affairs professional try to change an athlete’s habit of smoking marijuana, it won’t change if the student believes he or she can perform better high.  Lastly, positive self-talk triggers pictures which affects emotions.  Students who practice positive self-talk have an optimistic outlook in life which would lead to a positive outcome in their educational goals.  One method I can think of is asking students to list all the pros and cons of their experience, thoughts, and/or opinions of themselves.  This would branch off to what outcome would occur to each pro and con.  Helping students realize the benefits of positive thinking may help them be more optimistic because time is wasted with negative thoughts and only focusing on the past such as receiving a grade lower than expected.  Just as the Maximizing Performance at the Root Cause workshop mentioned, it takes one negative to overlook 11 positives.  These key points are essential for EOP students who are undeclared. They may be frustrated because they do not know what they want to do since a major is not declared.  This is turn may affect their self-efficacy and self-talk resulting to low academic and social performance.  It is important for me to understand students' diverse backgrounds and situations and remind them exploring majors and interests is okay.

In addition to the student success ideas (through the key points) in the previous paragraph, student success is increased when Student Affairs educators teach students about stepping up.  Students stepping up to prevent negative experiences for other students will benefit both sides.  The students who took action will feel good about themselves while the potential student victims will avoid a detrimental situation.  Many students in college live through negative experiences such as hazing and sexual assault.  If student affairs professional teach students to notice the event, interpret the situation as a problem, assume personal responsibility, know how to help, and step up, can change lives.  Stepping up brings student success to one's self but also others.  

As an introvert, I learned about stereotypes such as introverts being anti-social or shy.  It was beneficial for me to recognize being an introvert does not necessarily mean I fall under the stereotypes.  For instance, there are shy introverts who cannot approach others and talk to them while there are introverts who can speak to a small group but have difficulty with large group presentations.  Introverts can use strategies to adapt and cope.  I learned introverts like to know a lot about what they experience, prefer breaks from stimuli, draw energy from internal world of ideas, emotions, & impressions, need to balance alone time with outside time or they can be easily overstimulated.  After analyzing  introvert characteristics and personalities, it was beneficial for me to come out of my comfort zone and be able to approach students especially if students are introverts too.  Acknowledging students and displaying their importance to the institution will help them feel they matter (Schlossberg, 1989).  The knowledge I gained about my introvert aspect helped me be aware of how extroverts may see me in addition to learning more about extroverts and understand their actions.  Being more knowledgeable about introverts and extroverts helped me with my personal and professional development because I learned to respect differing work styles and consider pace (ie introverts may take longer with thinking or actions because they assess and/or reflect on the whole experience before speaking their minds while extroverts can spring into action without much thinking).  

Summer 2013 Museum of Tolerance

Title: Museum of Tolerance.  Los Angeles, CA - July 23, 2013

Term: Summer, 2013

Description:  The Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance is a unique experiential Museum dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and to fostering tolerance through educational outreach, community involvement, and social action.  

Learning Outcomes: Prior to attending the event, I developed the following learning outcomes:

• SWiBAT Examine racism and prejudice through the history of the Holocaust
• SWiBAT Investigate history through at least two exhibits and reflect on how history affects diversity issues.
• SWiBAT Connect problems of prejudice learned at MOT to college student experiences.

      

Assessment Rubric: You can access my assessment rubric at the following link: MOT Rubric

Evidence: Throughout the visit, I took notes of the tour and examined the themes of the museum.  For my first learning outcome, I gave myself a score of "4-advanced," second learning outcome a "2-basic," and third learning outcome a score of "3-competent".

Reflection: First time attending the Museum of Tolerance, I did not know what to expect.  We watched many short films, looked at pictures, learned about the life of our Jewish child, and listened to a Holocaust survivor tell her story.  My biases of the Museum are reflected on my learning outcomes because the Museum of Tolerance is more than just about the Holocaust.  I learned about at least three stories of racism and prejudice regarding Jews: Jewish professors and students were expelled from universities, the warsaw ghetto where 4,000 Jews died per month, and the "final solution" plan when six concentration camps were built.  Hitler used the Depression to exploit those who felt hopeless and he used the loss of Germany during WWI to build power on those who felt humiliated.  He blamed Jews for the results of the Germans' situation.  Nazis judged the Jews based on their race.  In addition to racism and prejudice from the Holocaust, there were other experiences such as the Chinese killing Tibetans and stating Buddhism is a disease, Blacks living in the 1960's separate but unequal, and the U.S. forcing sterilization for the purpose of eugenics on Blacks and Asians from 1909-1964.  In my opinion, racism and prejudice took place because people were scared, people wanted answers to their problems, and people wanted power.  That is why, for example, Hitler was able to use Jews as a scapegoat and Nazis did not question his perspectives.  The target groups experienced hatred, beatings, and witnessed murders.  The agent groups on the other hand, used their power to exploit people, raping women, killing the innocent, and separating families.  

My second learning outcome was given a score of "3" because I did not have enough time to explore the museum.  My attendance took place during the tour and the Holocaust survivor story but I was unable to attend exhibits.  During the tour, I did not participate by asking questions but I was actively listening to the tour guides comments.  In addition, during our cohort's discussions, I contributed by giving my point of view and answered the questions asked by the professor.  History and the present day share diversity issues as people stereotype and discriminate against those who are considered different.  The past affects the present because we are reliving history through genocides, terrorism, and racism.  

Lastly, my third learning outcome was given a "basic" because it was difficult for me to distinguish the past's prejudices to today's prejudices.  The experiences in the past are to the extreme with fear, torture, and deaths.  With this, one prejudice I noticed are stereotypes which determines how people respond to others.  Sometimes students segregate themselves because of stereotypes or discrimination even though segregation by law is nonexistent.  A coping method to help students overcome obstacles of racism, discrimination, and/or prejudice is to help students voice their thoughts and feelings.  Students can create workshops to express themselves and create learning experiences for others.  Dialogues between students would help the target and the agent individuals understand one another.  This is important because one theme learned from the museum was personal responsibility.  The things we learn and problems we see can be fixed to better humanity if we think to ourselves, "what can I do to help this from going on and on?"  Helping students help other students is like teaching a man how to fish rather than giving him a fish.  

Spring 2013 EDAD 522

Title: EDAD 522 - College Students' Cultures and Characterisitics
Term: Spring, 2013 

Description: The description in the syllabus of the course is as follows: The purpose of this course is to explore the complexities of student characteristics and cultures in US postsecondary education. The focus of this course is on major demongraphic groups (race, ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender, etc.) in higher education and student experiences with access, equity, retention, and campus culture in both two- and four-year institutions. Topics will be examined in relation to the diverse purposes of higher education in the United States. More specifically, I would like to learn about the experiences of students will disabilities and learn to work as a team in this group qualitative research project.  In addition, I would like to overcome my fears of public speaking in presentations and class discussions.

Learning Outcomes: I have developed the following learning outcomes prior to starting the research project and a couple of weeks after the start of the new semester:

• SWiBAT Be open-minded to learning about a new student population, acquire knowledge about them for personal understanding, and reflect on how the student population affects me as a future Student Affairs Professional.
• SWiBAT Equally contribute to the group qualitative research project by being a part of the team.  Communicate with all members if there are questions and/or concerns.
• SWiBAT Overcome the fear of public speaking by contributing to class discussions and practicing for presentations.

Assessment Rubric:  You can view that rubric by clicking EDAD 522 Rubric

Evidence:  For the first learning outcome, learn about the new student population, I gave myself a score of "4-advanced".  Teamwork and communication also was given a score of "4-advanced" while the last learning outcome, public speaking, was given a score of "3-competent". 

Reflection: When my group wanted to choose students with disabilities for the research project, I was not excited because I could not relate to the student group.  I was interested in researching first generation, low income, and/or minority students because I fall into those categories.  As the research progressed, I was happy we chose this student subpopulation because I broke free from my comfort zone and it helped me be more open minded of wanting to help all students.  I read additional readings just to know more about the group.  In addition, I connect my mother's disabilities and challenges to better understand how I can help college students with disabilities.

Throughout this research project, I was punctual with turning in my portion of assignments on time and kept in touch with members especially during the times when I had family obligations.  I always tried to give suggestions on when we should turn in assignments to best fit everyone's different schedules and gave my point of views on how to go about in our process.  With this, I believe I positively and equally contributed to the group's research.

Lastly, in regard to public speaking, I gave myself a competent score because I volunteered to present first but would blank out or stutter when I presented.  My low self-confidence is reflected in my performance in front of my class.  I practiced my presentations a few days in advance due to time constraints instead of a week prior, but my fear of public speaking prevented me from reaching my highest potential and I was not as prepared as I should have been.  During class discussions, I was more outspoken than my first semester in the program.  Sharing my thoughts and opinions in groups then to the class was a good stepping stone for me to talk more in class.  My hope is to always share my point of views and be more confident in public speaking.