Susan Burt, English; Joe Pacha, EAF; Jodi Hallsten, Communication
How can we move students from theory to practice, and lead them to doing real work in their field while also benefiting from collaboration with others? In this presentation we discuss a technique for engaging students with civic and professional problem-solving on issues that are new to them, participation in the instructor-created polity. In one assignment in her Sociolinguistics course (English 342), Susan assigns students to imaginary ethnic groups in an imaginary country, and asks them to tackle the language-planning issues facing multilingual polities, and to construct a solution that is linguistically sophisticated, practical and humane. In EAF 465 (Managing Human and Fiscal Resources in Education), Joe assigns students to the principalship of elementary schools in an imaginary school district, and in a semester-long project, confronts them with the budgetary and personnel challenges that school leaders can expect to face from year to year. Both assignments give students the opportunity to experience engagement with real-world problem types, in the rhetorical position of highly interested participant, while still affording them the safety and analytical detachment of the university classroom. In small group work, Jodi moves students to real-world engagement with an assignment that pairs student groups with non-profit organizations, so that students can do fund-raising or public information for the non-profit.
