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Fred Glennon, Ph.D. (Courses) |
COR 100 FYS: Faith and Justice
in an Age of Violence and Terror
learning Covenant Guidelines
If you read the essay I assigned or watched
the video on the learning covenant (on Canvas, Module 1: The Learning Covenant),
you have a sense of what I mean by a learning covenant. The learning covenant is an explicit
agreement between the student, the professor, and other students concerning the
involvement of the student in the class. As such, it sets down the formal
requirements for your participation in this course. It lists the learning
objectives the student will seek to achieve, the activities the student will
perform to meet those objectives, and explicitly identifies the criteria which
will be used by the professor to evaluate the student's learning. It has the
following advantages over more traditional methods of evaluation: (1) it allows
for greater individual flexibility and freedom on the part of the student to
select those activities which she or he finds of most interest; (2) it states
everything clearly and explicitly so that there is no confusion or ambiguity
about what is expected; and (3) it allows the student an opportunity to take
responsibility for his or her own learning.
Although this First Year Seminar is an
optional course for you, Le Moyne College has certain objectives they require
the course to achieve which I must honor. I also have some objectives for the
course and for student involvement. The combination of these objectives
constitutes the course objectives on the syllabus which every student must meet
successfully to pass the course. However, learning is about more than meeting
someone else's requirements. Learning is a life-long adventure that contributes
to our development as mature, responsible persons in relationship with others.
The learning covenant is a means to enhance your potential as life-long
learners. That is why in addition to the required activities you have the
opportunity in this course to meet an objective you have chosen based on your
own interests and needs.
Before deciding on your objective, take the
time to assess your learning needs. A learning need is the gap between
where you are now and where you want to be in regard to certain competencies
and abilities. These competencies can relate to your knowledge, your
understanding, your skills, your attitudes, and your values. For example, do
you want to learn more about the concepts of faith and justice? Do you need to
enhance your analytical writing, public speaking, listening, or discussion
leadership skills? Are you interested in appreciating the distinction between
spirituality and religion? Clarity about your needs or interests can help you
to be more specific about what objective you would like to pursue.
You are now ready to start listing your learning
objective. A learning objective is a clear and concise statement that
defines specifically what you want to learn. Your learning objective should
describe what you will learn, in terms most meaningful to you, not what you
will do to learn them. Look at the examples I have provided (course objectives
and others). You should write one learning objective you intend to meet within
the parameters of the course. (Of course, the optional activity may help you to
meet more than one learning objective, but I encourage you to start
small.) Write the objective on the
covenant in the space provided. Clarity is important because your objective
will provide the basis for the final assessment activity, a self-assessment.
Once you have listed your objective, you will
need to describe how you propose going about accomplishing it—your learning
activity. I have provided a list of Activity Options which include the required
activities and some options from which you can select to meet your objective,
or you can identify your own (the final category is Wild Card). The key is to
make sure that the activity selected helps you to meet your objective. For
example, an objective to improve your ability to write analytically may lead
you to attend and write a lecture critique. An objective to learn more about
the history of 9/11may lead you to participate on the field trip to Ground
Zero. Once you have identified your learning activity, write it on the covenant
in the space provided.
Next you will have to give evidence
that you have in fact achieved each objective. The list of Optional Activity
Options provided includes the evidence associated with each option. However,
you may select one of those options but offer different evidence to demonstrate
your learning. Write the evidence you will provide in the space provided on the
covenant.
After specifying what evidence you will
provide for your objective, you must then specify the criteria by which the
evidence will be evaluated. Make sure that the criteria are appropriate for
each objective. On the document which lists suggested activities you will find
"Evaluation Criteria" attached to each activity. These are
evaluation criteria I am suggesting are appropriate to determine the quality of
the project. You can make changes to those criteria on your covenant, but we
will negotiate any disagreements. Only the evaluation criteria listed with each
objective may be used by the professor to determine the quality of your
evidence (and a grade). You should pay careful attention to them when
completing your activities. It is also possible to have persons other than or
in addition to the professor to evaluate your work. If you choose to do this,
then you must state what their qualifications are and how they will express
their judgments (e.g. rating scales, grades, etc.). I
In the final column of the covenant, you must
identify due dates for each learning activity. I have selected due dates
for the activities I require. You are in the best position, however, to
determine when you have time to complete the optional activity you choose. Just
remember: feedback is essential to learning. You will receive more feedback
from me the earlier you complete your activities. Waiting until the end of the
semester limits your chances for constructive feedback.
Finally, your learning activities (required
and optional) will be weighed according to the percentages listed on the
activity options sheet. For example,
participation = 20%; Ground Zero Field Trip= 15%; academic integrity exercises
= 10%; reflection papers = 40%; and film review (or chosen option) = 15%).
After you have completed the first draft of
your covenant, you will find it useful to review it with some members of the
class to get their reactions and suggestions (you may also review it with
others as well). Some questions they might ask about your covenant to help you
include:
- Is the learning objective clear, understandable, and realistic? Does it describe what you propose to learn?
- Do the learning activities seem reasonable and appropriate? Can they suggest other possibilities?
- Does the evidence seem relevant to the objective? Or would other evidence be better?
- Are the evaluation criteria clear, relevant, appropriate? Are there other ways or persons that might be more appropriate?
After consulting with your classmates,
prepare a final draft of your covenant to turn in to the professor, which you
must do no later than Monday, September 17 (on Canvas, under Assignments/Assessment
Activities). I will review your covenant and make comments on Canvas. Since this is new to some students, I will be
glad to meet with you individually during the week of Sep. 10-14. (You can ask after class to set up a meeting
or send me an email). We will negotiate any revisions necessary at that
meeting. The final step is to carry out your covenant. Remember, the
implementation of the covenant is your responsibility. Failure to fully
implement any or all parts of your covenant may result in receiving a grade of
"F" for those uncompleted sections and/or withholding of the final
grade. Your covenant may be revised and/or modified any time prior to November
20.