LEAP/SALTO:

Located at Dingle Elementary School, this site provides elementary school children with a range of informal learning activities including computers, homework help, gardening, and other outdoor activities. Undergraduates from UC Davis work closely with the children and participate in other activities as well, such as pancake breakfasts and neighborhood walks. In the current year (2004-05) the focus has been on the process of story creation and story telling.

LEAP/SALTO

Dingle Elementary School
Woodland, CA
Principal Investigator: Professor James Grieshop (Human and Community Development, UC Davis)

Participants

141 children

Grades 1 through 6

Predominantly Latino (Apr. 60%)

Collaborators

Dingle Elementary School
Department of Human and Community Development, UC Davis

Activities

• UC-Davis undergraduates assist children through hands-on learning activities. The particular focus this year has been on story creation and story telling using computers. Other activities have included homework tutoring, reading, computers, arts and crafts, and other enrichment activities (e.g., music, science).

Goals

• Increase basic literacy skills for participating youth through the process of digital storytelling.
• Increase knowledge and improve attitudes and aspirations toward higher learning for participating youth

Evaluation Strategies

• Use of rubrics assessing literacy skills enhancement through storytelling processes.

735-KLU (Knights Landing United) Club:

This site supports and develops youth interests in leadership, relationships, cultures, creativity, technical skills, and community service. Teen participants engage in ongoing activities such as computer-based learning, homework help, field trips, and social events. Youth develop leadership skills such as meeting facilitation and participation through weekly reflection and planning meetings, and through carrying out projects. They continue to work with two UC Davis graduate students.

735-KLU (Knights Landing United) Club

Grafton Elementary School
Knights Landing, CA
Principal Investigator: Professor James Grieshop (Human and Community Development, UC Davis)

Participants

8 middle and high school students

Aged 12-16 years

Predominantly Latino (Apr. 80%)

Collaborators

Knights Landing Family Resource Center
Grafton Elementary School
Department of Human and Community Development, UC Davis

Activities

• Field trips, movie nights
• Community Service: projects and event volunteers
• Action Research
• Youth-led program design

Goals

• Increase knowledge and improve attitudes and aspirations toward higher learning for participating youth
• Encourage mentor relationships between UC Davis students and youth, and between youth members

Evaluation Strategies

• Regular action-reflection (individual and group) facilitated by graduate students

Dixon Migrant Center Program:

In this summer program, UC Davis undergraduates and children and parents living in the Dixon Migrant Labor Camp worked together on computer literacy activities. Participants learned word-processing, spreadsheet, and Internet research skills.

Dixon Migrant Labor Camp Program

Dixon Migrant Labor Camp
Dixon, CA
Principal Investigator: Professor James Grieshop (Human and Community Development, UC Davis)

Participants

20 children and 10 adults

Ages 7 years to adults

All Latino

Collaborators

Davis Community Network
Yolo Housing Authority
Davis Migrant Center
deleted
Department of Human and Community Development, UC Davis

Activities

• Computer-based learning activities
• Enrichment, craft, and cultural activities
• Experiential education

Goals

• Increase computer, information, and basic literacy skills for participating youth
• Increase knowledge and improve attitudes and aspirations toward higher learning for participating youth
• Increase adult literacy and computer skills

Evaluation Strategies

• Integrated learning/evaluation activities (e.g., using MS Word to write a letter reflecting on the project)

Field Experiences with Children and Adolescents (Human Development 141)

Department of Human and Community Development, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis

Course Instructors

James Grieshop, Specialist and Lecturer (Human and Community Development)

Participants

16 undergraduates

Majors include Human Development, Psychology, Communications, Community Development, and Sociology

Fieldwork

For six or more hours per week, UC-Davis undergraduates assist children through hands-on learning activities, including homework tutoring, reading, computers, arts and crafts, and other enrichment activities (e.g., music, science). In 2004-05 the emphasis has been on students’ role as facilitators with 4th through 6th graders in their story creation and story telling practices.

Course Goals

• Examine alternative approaches to teaching, the ways in which schooling reproduces and/or diminishes socioeconomic inequality, and the cultural gap between Latino families and U.S. schools.
• Improve undergraduate education by connecting theory to practice and improving conceptual and practical knowledge of course content.
• Strengthen students’ skills in teaching, ethnographic research, and critical analysis
• Provide undergraduates with an opportunity to explore teaching as a career, especially in under-resourced schools.

Evaluation Strategies

• A pre/post survey adapted from a national study examines: (1) the quality of students’ internship experience; (2) what they learned; (3) how they learned; and (4) changes in skills, attitudes regarding educational and social issues and leadership, and career plans.

Community and Regional Development Internship

Community and Regional Development 92 and 192
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis

Course Instructors

James Grieshop, Specialist (Human and Community Development)

Participants

5 undergraduates

Majors include Community Development and Human Development

Fieldwork

For six or more hours per week, UC-Davis undergraduates assist children through hands-on learning activities, including homework tutoring, reading, computers, arts and crafts, and other enrichment activities (e.g., music, science).

Course Goals

• Improve undergraduate education for participating students by connecting theory to practice and improving conceptual and practical knowledge of course content
• Provide undergraduates with an opportunity to explore the possibility of teaching as a career, especially in under-resourced schools

Evaluation Strategies

• Weekly email reflections and a final reflection paper.
  

Magical Web (Deterding Elementary School):

Located in an elementary school with a diverse socioeconomic population, the site at Deterding attempts to increase reading comprehension skills and strategies through engagement in a range of literacy activities. Children collaborate with CSU Sacramento undergraduates on computer-based literacy activities embedded in a range of content domains (e.g., math games, digital storytelling, etc.).

The Magical Web Fall 2004-present

Deterding Elementary School
Carmichael, CA
Principal Investigator: Professor Lynda Stone (Child Development, CSU Sacramento)

Participants

28 children

Ages 6-11 years

40% Western

15% European
Eastern European (Russian/Urkranian)

20% African American

15% Latino

10% Asian

Collaborators

Deterding Elementary School
Department of Child Development, CSU Sacramento

Activities

• Digital Storytelling
• Think-aloud strategies as a way of engaging in literacy activities
• A range of academic games with embedded literacy activities
• E-mail and/or off-line letter writing to other program participants

Goals

• Increase computer, information, and basic literacy skills for participating youth
• Increase knowledge of reading comprehension skills and strategies through guided participation in literacy activities
• Increase knowledge and improve attitudes and aspirations toward higher learning for participating youth
• Encourage children to develop attitudes that promote participation in learning activities

Evaluation Strategies

• Local adaptation of a rubric developed by UCLA and UCSB researchers to document change in writing competencies over time
• Post-test survey, interview, and video data to document changes in participants’ reading processes and motivation
• Development of rubric to document undergraduate and children’s help-seeking (assisted performance) and help-giving strategies
  

General Service Learning Course

Child Development 144 (CHDV 144)
Department of Child Development, Sacramento State University

Course Instructors

Natalie Pierce, Lecturer (Child Development)

Participants

8 undergraduates

Fieldwork

Undergraduates participated in five or more hours per week in the Magical Web UC Links Program

Course Goals

• Provide service learning opportunities for undergraduates
• Provide undergraduates with an opportunity to explore the possibility of teaching as a career, especially in under-resourced schools
• Provide an in-depth understanding of the relationship between teaching and learning through on-site mini lessons about literacy development and the social organization of learning

Evaluation Strategies

• Analysis of undergraduate assistance strategies to document changes in conceptual understanding linked to practical activity
• Survey to document views about service learning

Fieldwork and Career Investigation

Child Development 132 (CHDV 132)
Department of Child Development, Sacramento State University

Course Instructors

Judy Judd, Lecturer (Child Development)

Participants

2 undergraduates

Fieldwork

Undergraduates participated in 4 or more hours per week

Course Goals

Provide undergraduates with opportunities for fieldwork in elementary education setting
Provide undergraduates with an opportunity to explore the possibility of teaching as a career, especially in under-resourced schools

Evaluation Strategies

Evaluation strategies are under development for this new course

Culture, Communication, and the Development of Thinking

Child Development 148 (CHDV 148)
Department of Child Development, Sacramento State University

Evaluation strategies are under development for this new course

Course Instructors

Lynda Stone, Professor (Child Development

Participants

18 undergraduates

Fieldwork

Course Goals

Evaluation Strategies

• Evaluation strategies are under development for this new course