UC Links - Irvine's Annual Report

UC Links at Irvine

In the Irvine area, there are three UC Links sites during the 2004-2005 academic year. Approximately 150 children and 70 undergraduates work together in a variety of after-school learning activities during this period. UC Links principal investigators at UC Irvine are Suzanne Charlton, Sue Cronmiller(Education), and Jim McMichael (Graduate program in English). Collaborating faculty from UC Irvine include Jill Robbins, Associate Dean of Humanities (Spanish). Collaborating faculty from CSU Long Beach include Michael Godfrey, Asela Thomason, Melody Kiang, and Thang Nguyen (Information Systems). The UC Links sites are:

UCI Poetry Academy and Writing LAB— Located in Santa Ana and Irvine.With roots in UCI’s Creative Writing Program, the UCI Poetry Academy was founded in 2003 with a grant from UC Links to promote poetry-based educational activities through an interrelated set of academic literary activities.

The Cosmic Dimension— Located in Costa Mesa. This site provides children with the opportunity to explore educational software and participate in kinesthetic activities, literacy activities and other projects designed by the UC Irvine undergraduates.

Long Beach UC Links— Located in Long Beach. A collaboration of CSU Long Beach, Long Beach BLAST, and the Washington Intensive Learning Center (WILC), the Department of Information Systems, the Department of Education, UC Irvine.

UCI Poetry Academy and Writing LAB:

This site provides participants with the opportunity to develop academic skills in Language Arts with applications to the California Content Standards in History/Social Science, Art and Science. Students write original poems, narratives and essays with the help of university faculty and undergraduates. In-class activities lead to on-line writing consultation, revision, publication and public speaking opportunities.

UCI Poetry Academy and Writing LAB

www.uclinks.org/PA
El Sol Academy of Arts and Sciences
Principal Investigators: Sue Cronmiller (Lecturer, Departments of Education and English, UC Irvine) and Jim McMichael (Senior Faculty, Professor of English and Director of the Graduate Writing Programs in English)

Participants

80 youth

Third + Fourth Grade

Bi-lingual, Predominantly Latino

Collaborators

El Sol Academy of Arts and Sciences, Santa Ana
Department of Education, UC Irvine
Department of English, UC Irvine
Department of Spanish, UC Irvine
UCI Faculty-Led Academic Preparation Programs
UCI Center for Education in the Arts

Activities

Poetry-based educational activities that bring university-level reading, analysis, discussion and writing to bi-lingual dual immersion students. In class writing leads to on line revision activities and publication via the Writing LAB. Students read, analyze and discuss university-level poetry selections, examine examples of fine art, observe and describe natural objects, discover world cultures and geography.

Goals

Encourage writing
Encourage deep reading
Develop original critical thinking
Develop confident self expression
improve attitudes and aspirations toward higher learning for participating youth
Provide high-quality, faculty supervised, content-driven teaching instruction experience for undergraduates

Evaluation Strategies

Assessment of pre- and post- student written work using writing rubric
Analysis of changes in student writing submitted to the Writing LAB in response to on line editor’s comments
Undergraduate field notes and case studies

UCI Writing LAB

www.uclinks.org/PA
This site is an on line, interactive writing tool designed to support student writing through submission, writing consultation, revision and publication. The Poetry Academy site houses two on line journals for student work: Mind's Eye for elementary work, Riptide for high school. Student work submitted to the Writing LAB, if revised successfully, can appear on one of these publications. Periodically, work published online is collected in professionally printed program anthologies.

The Writing LAB and Poetry Academy Site is designed to handle work in affiliated classrooms as well as regional poetry contests. Once in operation, the Poetry Academy will offer contests to the UC Links community, supported by Poetry Academy curricular materials and workshops delivered for staff at distant sites.

To reach students regionally and statewide, the Poetry Academy plans to collaborate with the UCI’s Center for Education in the Arts professional development workshops. Teachers interested in our methods will be eligible to participate in our contests for students.

The Writing LAB has the potential to reach thousands of students per year through these activities.

Undergraduate Course:

Currently, undergraduates enroll in a 199 Independent Study in English with Jim McMichael or in Education with Sue Cronmiller. The Department of Education has invited and is presently reviewing a course action proposal to create a new, 4-unit course to provide academic content, training and fieldwork at Poetry Academy sites. The course will be cross-listed in Education, English and Spanish and will satisfy the fieldwork requirement for the Minor in Education. Together with course work at the university, students complete 20-30 hours of faculty supervised elementary writing instruction/fieldwork.

Teaching Writing with Poetry and Technology
Course Instructors	Sue Cronmiller, Lecturer in Education Jim McMichael, Professor in English
Participants	19 undergraduates	Most students are minoring in Education, Majoring in English or Spanish
Fieldwork	Weekly in class, school day workshops at El Sol Academy of Arts and Sciences, a dual immersion charter elementary school in Santa Ana, Ca. Writing workshops are led by UCI Faculty and assisted by undergraduates. Each undergraduate is assigned a small group of K-12 students to instruct, in class and online, for the duration of the quarter.
Course Goals	Provide content literacy in poetry Provide training in writing pedagogy Practice commenting on student written work Provide quality in class teaching experience Provide experience teaching writing with bi-lingual students Practice use of technology in the classroom
Evaluation Strategies	Students write field notes and case studies regarding K-12 student participation, behavior, academic growth. Students make in class presentations during finals week Undergraduate instructional comments on K-12 written work are archived in the data base of the Writing LAB for analysis re impact on K-12 writing ability Faculty observation of workshop (fieldwork) instructional methods

The Cosmic Dimension:

This site provides children with the opportunity to develop close relationships with pre-selected university undergraduates. Together they explore multiple learning modes and co-curricular activities centered around educational software, sports and games, literacy challenges and other projects designed by the UC Irvine undergraduates.

The Cosmic Dimension Wilson Elementary School Costa Mesa, CA Principal Investigator: Professor Suzanne Charlton (Education, UC Irvine)
Participants	350 youth	Ages 6–11	Predominantly Latino
Collaborators	Wilson Elementary School Newport-Mesa School District Project Success Department of Education, UC Irvine
Activities	Collaborative exploration of educational software Kinesthetic programs - outdoor games and sports Literacy activities Special projects taught by UCI undergraduates (Cyberguides) Table games/social activities
Goals	Increase children's skills and knowledge about computers and information gathering, and develop their English literacy and Language Arts proficiency. Increase children's understanding of schooling and encourage their development of academic motivation and aspirations toward higher learning. Provide children with an environment that helps them build strong, constructive relationships with peers and undergraduate student mentors/Cyberguides. Extend the limits of in-school curriculum and instruction to include enriched content and co-curricular inquiries on wide ranges of topics. Provide students with problem-solving activities and multimodal learning opportunities that encourage their development of academic confidence and metacognitive understanding of how they learn best.

Undergraduate Course:

"Practicum in After-School Learning and Inquiry," offered by the Department of Education, challenges undergraduates to learn about multiculturalism, multiple and emotional intelligence, bilingualism and teaching, and apply their learning to experiences mentoring elementary school children in an after school setting, the Cosmic Dimension. Fieldwork experiences provide undergraduates with an opportunity to practice ethnographic research skills, improve their academic writing, and explore teaching as a career option.

Practicum in After-School Learning and Inquiry

Education 160 & 160L
Department of Education, UC Irvine

Course Instructors

Suzanne Charlton, Instructor (Education)
Nancy Christensen, Evaluator (Education)

Participants

90 undergraduates

Diverse majors, including Biological Sciences, Psychology and Social Behavior, Social Ecology, Humanities, Information and Computer Science

Fieldwork

Undergraduates participated three or more hours per week in the Cosmic Dimension UC Links program throughout each quarter.

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
Improve undergraduates' skills in technology, research, and academic writing
Afford undergraduates opportunities to perform meaningful community service of benefit to underserved minority children.

Evaluation Strategies

Local adaptation of standard UC Links undergraduate pre-test /post-test surveys
Summative analysis by undergraduate of their field notes, written assignments and presentations to report on their own growth, their relationships with the children and the children's social and academic development.
Evaluator's observations of children's engagement in skills development in technology, literacy and other educational areas.
Measures of institutional support for the program, including teacher referrals and informal evaluations, parent contacts, and community involvement
Summary of the co-curricular topics and skills development undertaken in undergraduate Teaching Projects.
Site Coordinator observations of undergraduate and child activities

Long Beach UC Links:

This site provides youth with the opportunity to develop skills in web page authoring, "digital storytelling," interviewing, and Internet-based research. Undergraduates collaborate with undergraduates from CSU Long Beach.

Long Beach UC Links

Washington Intensive Learning Center
Long Beach, CA

Principal Investigator:

Professor Suzanne Charlton (Education, UC Irvine)

Project Directors:

Alison Redman and Leslie Keeney

Participants

67 youth

Ages 11-15

Predominantly Latino but also includes African American, Asian/Pacific Islander and mixed race students

Collaborators

Long Beach BLAST (Better Learning After School Today)
Washington Intensive Learning Center
Department of Information Systems, CSU Long Beach
Department of Education, UC Irvine

Activities

Web page authoring
Digital storytelling
Interviewing and Internet-based research

Goals

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

Evaluation Strategies

Pre-test/post-test survey to document changes in participants' attitudes about school and learning
Pre-test/post-test computer literacy survey
Analysis of undergraduate field notes documenting participants' progress in creating web pages and digital movies

The Department of Information Systems at CSU Long Beach offers a course, "Management Information Systems," which develops undergraduates’ technology skills through the collaborative design of web pages with middle school students at the Long Beach UC Links program.

" Systems Analysis and Design," offered by the Department of Information Systems at CSU Long Beach, develops undergraduates’ technology skills through the collaborative design of web pages with middle school students at the Long Beach UC Links program.

" Internet Applications in Business," offered by the Department of Information Systems at CSU Long Beach, develops undergraduates’ technology skills through the collaborative design of web pages with middle school students at the Long Beach UC Links program.

" Information Systems Project" offered by the Department of Information Systems at CSU Long Beach, develops undergraduates’ technology skills through the collaborative design of web pages with middle school students at the Long Beach UC Links program.