Coming home: writing about connections.

Abstract

The alternative library exercise described here is an interactive, librarian-directed activity that introduces first semester freshmen to the university library and its electronic databases. This exercise, which facilitates the integration of technology into the course, demonstrates linkages among traditional research projects, personalized writing, and digital video. The activity involves two on-site sessions with library staff, requiring approximately two hours of hands-on assistance from librarians.

The Freshman Learning Programs at the University of New Mexico serve multiple purposes. These freshman courses are designed not only to introduce first year students to the university community but also to bolster basic university skills in critical thinking, public speaking, writing, and research. Library assignments figure significantly in this developmental instruction. The following article describes an interactive library exercise that provides important content, course framing, and technological skill for a freshman service learning course.

The Course: "Making a Difference"

The library exercise described in this article is a regular component of a service learning course called "Making a Difference." The class, which is linked with an elementary course in English composition, is offered on an optional basis to first semester freshmen. The course features strong elements of experiential learning, community service, and communication skills training. Each year, students work on several service learning projects based in Albuquerque. Depending on student interest, these projects may include programs at local cultural centers, hospitals, after-school childcare facilities, animal shelters, retirement homes, and conservation agencies. Students also participate in local Habitat for Humanity efforts to construct safe and affordable housing for low-income families. The students who enroll in "Making a Difference" are typically characterized by interests in leadership and altruism, as well as by deep ties to their communities. Most are also first generation college students.

The concept of "home" is central to both the general organization and individual activities of the course. Course readings and class discussions focus on homelessness, cultural identity, family relationships, community building, landscape, and a sense of place. Students are encouraged to think carefully about issues of attachment, safety, and community ties, especially in terms of the different "homes" they encounter in their community service work, including retirement homes, animal shelters, child care facilities, and the physical environment.

The Library Activity: "Meanings of Home"

The first project of the semester is an exercise designed to introduce class members to the library's electronic databases and to help students link their research, writing, and hands-on community activities. Students are asked to consider a broad question-"What does home mean to you?" The chart shown below (see Figure One) helps students begin to organize their research regarding home ownership and affordable housing in the United States. Working in a library computer lab, students are introduced to a range of electronic databases available both in the library and online. They are then asked to research each topic, working with the four databases listed in the chart, and to select from three to five sources appropriate for each category. Concept-driven questions are also provided as a means of guiding their choice of topic for the essay. For example, students are asked to research and analyze the demographics of home owners in the United States, an endeavor that consistently reveals ownership disparities.

Not only does this exercise assist students in preliminary research for a major writing assignment, but it also orients them to central framing concepts for the course. Class members are encouraged to use library resources about social justice issues in order to develop a more nuanced, critical, and analytical understanding of the broader social context of their various communities (global, family, neighborhood, city/town, school district, and social network). Importantly, this librarian-led activity introduces first-year students to the on-site services of the university's main library, as well as to electronic databases they can access online from other campus computer labs and their own homes and dorm rooms. See issue website http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/ sum2006.htm

Linkage With Video Scavenger Hunt 

An underpinning assumption of this freshman seminar is that strong communication skills aid in our ability to participate usefully in the community. To this end, our objectives include increasing self-awareness, personal voice, and oral and written eloquence. The course also features a technology component focusing on video production. Students are introduced to the basics of digital shooting, editing, and studio production, and they gain an understanding of how video production can enhance the expression of important human experiences.

Just as the library exercise described here provides important context for the writing and group discussion components of the course, the activity also lays the groundwork for preliminary instruction in video production. Following the on-site library instruction, students work together to develop a "shot sheet" for collecting video materials. This list, which is limited to 20 items, is comprised of words, images, and concepts generated by the library activity. These key terms typically range from the concrete (adobe, fences, cardboard houses) to the more abstract (family, homelessness, social contract); and they provide the basis for a video scavenger hunt that sends teams of students into the community to capture footage of the items on the shot sheet. The final step in this library-based video assignment about "home" involves shot selection and sequencing, as students edit the footage and add a music track.

Course Purposes

Comfort in Using the Library--The library exercise described in this article serves as effective outreach for the university library, introducing students not only to library facilities and materials, but also to individual librarians. In-class discussions and an instructor-led focus group session conducted near the end of the end have revealed positive results. Students report increased confidence in using library resources on site, accessing materials online, and asking questions of library staff. They also report spending more time in the library, exploring the stacks, reading, and working on research projects. Too often, first year students experience "library anxiety," finding the university library system to be confusing and intimidating. The size and complexity of university library collections often seem overwhelming to freshmen and may be a reason some tend to procrastinate in finishing research projects. The library exercise described here is designed to alleviate student alienation in regard to the university library system and to produce feelings of connection and familiarity. For first generation college students particularly, whose families may have a limited knowledge of university life and campus facilities, this level of comfort in library use seems important.

Confidence in Community Engagement--A central purpose of the "Making a Difference" class is aiding students in their growth as community participants. Throughout the semester, students are introduced to policy makers, leaders in the nonprofit sector, and elected officials. They meet with legislators, the state's governor, and agency directors to discuss such issues as housing, education, health, conservation, and elder care. The library exercise addressed in this article is an important component of these roundtable discussions. Students not only learn the value of research in preparing for civic activity, but they also develop the content-based foundation necessary for active engagement. Student voice and participation rarely occur in a vacuum. In the arena of community policy making, particularly, genuine contribution by "Making a Difference" students has been dependent upon adequate preparation through independent reading and organized library research.

Publishing a Book--A third course purpose involves the writing and publication of student essays about "home." Students begin their research for this writing project during the first library session and continue work for several months. Before the writing project is complete, students receive extensive faculty input and revise their papers three times. The result is a collection of essays printed and bound in permanent form (see Figure Two). In 2005, the "chapters" of this 60-page book varied; they ranged from "The Story Behind 1809 Patrick Place" and "Granny's Home Sweet Home"--both poignant stories about family--to "Couch Surfing," an exploration of homelessness among teens. "Different Perspectives of Home" was a young Native American woman's effort to make sense of the differences between dominant U.S. culture and her upbringing on a Navajo reservation.

Each year, the essays are remarkably different; they represent 25 different views of place, attachment, and community ties. Some are framed as personal essays; others have research orientations. All, however, take their beginnings from an intense and interactive library exploration into the literatures surrounding the concept of "home."

Comfort in using the library and confidence when writing and engaging with community leaders are important purposes of the library exercise described here. Students' perceptions of success in these areas have been demonstrated through reflection sessions that directly address the role of library activities in enhancing library affiliation, expressiveness, and self-assurance in community meetings. In one instance, a female student reported, "I was surprised to learn that I have leadership qualities, especially in developing after-school projects for kids. I found that I could lead others in getting something done.... I think my work at Zimmerman Library helped prepare me for this role. I had a chance to read about what others were doing." See issue website http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/sum2006.htm

Conclusion

Service learning is an education method that combines community service with specific learning objectives, preparation, and structured reflection (Honnet & Paulsen, 1989). This approach typically focuses on critical thinking, values clarification, social development, and civic responsibility. It is seen as a way to meet the needs of a community with educational experiences that enable students to draw personal and academic lessons from their service experience.

Oral and written reflection is an important component of service learning. Regular and systematic reflection activities are viewed as basic to the service learning process because they provide students with opportunities to think, write, and talk about their experiences. Scholars suggest that reflection about their service learning experiences allows students to critically analyze their assumptions and to make long-term commitments to social change (Koth 2005; Martin & Wheeler, 2000). Through action and reflection, notes Leonard (2004), service learning "situates students in a reality where they are forced to confront their own attitudes, values, beliefs, or in a word, themselves."

The library exercise described above has been designed to facilitate this kind of informed analysis and reflection. Research-oriented and content-based, the activity provides an academic framework within which students can process and synthesize experiential data gained from working in the community. This guided investigation of library materials provides an effective way for students to situate their personal experiences in the context of a larger community. At the same time, the activity aids students in building a base for engaged class discussion and research writing about such issues as elder care, conservation, and affordable housing--all related in important ways to how a community provides safety and shelter for its inhabitants. Finally, this library exercise lays the foundation for video production components of the course, asking students to illustrate key concepts related to "home." Not only does the project work to structure an introduction to visual aesthetics and digital technology, but it also helps students begin to visually conceptualize and document the community-based problems they encounter during the library activity.

The library exercise discussed here has been a successful component of the "Making a Difference" course because it introduces first semester freshmen to the university library and its electronic databases. This work in the library also facilitates the integration of technology into the class, both with computer-based library searches and video production. Importantly, this early framing activity also serves to emphasize the importance of library research, course content, and academic rigor in the development and execution of hands-on service learning courses.

References

Honnet, E., & Paulson, S. (1989). "Principles of good practice for combining service and learning: Wingspread special report." Racine, WI: Johnson Foundation.

Koth, K. (2005). "Fostering a long-term commitment to service: The role of campus religious leaders in service learning." Spirituality in Higher Education, 2(1). Retrieved January 20, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.spirituality, ucla.edu/newsletter/3.html.

Leonard, A. (2004) "Service learning as a transgressive pedagogy: A must for today's generation." CrossCurrents, 54(2), 61-72.

Martin, H., & Wheeler, T. (2000). "Social justice, service learning, and multiculturalism as inseparable companions." In C. O'Grady (Ed.), Integrating service learning and multicultural education (pp. 135-151). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Glenda R. Balas, University of New Mexico

Balas, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Communication and Journalism and a University College Teaching Fellow