Journaling Guidance for Instructors Student Engagement Network Faculty

Journaling Guidance for Instructors, Student Engagement Network Faculty Academy Project Haley J. Sankey Assistant Teaching Professor, SEN Faculty Fellow Jane Sutterlin Learning Designer

Energy and Sustainability Policy Online Degree Programs • • Bachelor of Arts, since 2010 Bachelor of Science, Fall 2016 Offered wholly and only online Our College is Earth and Mineral Sciences ‒ Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, • ESP Faculty Advisers

ESP Students (3 -year average) Top 5 Age Ranges Gender % 18 -22 8% 23 -24 14% 25 -29 25% 30 -34 23% 35 -44 27% % Male 61% Female 39% Top 5 States % Pennsylvania 38% California 9% Texas 6% Georgia 5% Virginia 5% Approximately 28% of ESP students are affiliated with the military

ESP Engaged Scholarship Requirements • Travel or Internship • EGEE 299 Foreign Studies, or • EGEE 495 Internship • 3 credits, closely supported • Capstone Course – – EME 466 Energy and Sustainability in Society Independent student-driven research project Stakeholder interaction and in-person presentation Work is done in situ

Journaling Why? • “There is evidence that the art of reflection can help boost students’ critical thinking skills, encourage students to think about their own thinking (meta-cognition), and help students prepare for assignments and examinations” (Homik, M. & Melis, E. , 2007; Johnson, S. , n. d. ; RMIT, 2006). • A record of accomplishments • Writing sample • Interview prep

Program Assessment All baccalaureate and associate degrees offered by Penn State are required to submit a degree assessment plan and assessment report to the Department of Learning Outcomes Assessment each year.

Program Assessment ESP Program Learning Objective assessed: Graduates will be able to bridge the gap between theory and practice, by applying the knowledge acquired through formal learning to real-world settings.

Program Assessment How? – Apply Kolb’s Cycle of Experiential Learning to journal entries

Phase 2 Results Of the 2017 -18 journal entries of the students surveyed, 75% did not earn a C or better. 45% of students scored less than a C in 2016 -17 75% of students scored less than a C in 2017 -18

Student Engagement Network Faculty Academy • The Faculty Academy is intended to deepen the University-wide discourse, practice, and recognition of engaged scholarship at Penn State. Goals • Advance knowledge about engaged scholarship at Penn State across the University • Strengthen engaged scholarship courses and experiences and/or contribute to research on engaged scholarship that can lead to sustainable opportunities for faculty and students • Cultivate faculty leadership for engaged scholarship • Recognize and enable the contributions of engaged scholarship faculty • Participate in assessment of student engagement effectiveness in comparison to Student Engagement Network outcomes Appointments • Faculty Scholars – 2 years; focus on research and public scholarship. • Faculty Fellows – 1 year; focus on developing models of engagement in courses and field work.

Student Engagement Network Faculty Fellow Project Create Universal Journaling Guidance Document: A culminating resource that provides general guidance on how to encourage and lead students to provide better quality journal submissions that demonstrate a higher level of learning. Universal journal assignment prompts: The goal is to provide prompts that encourage journal submissions that demonstrate the student’s thought process moving from merely reflection to actually exercising more meaningful and deeper learning through abstract conceptualization and active experimentation (the advanced stages of Kolbs Cycle of Experiential Learning). Universal journaling rubric: Provide a rubric that can be used to assess the journal entries of students who have participated in engaged scholarship experiences to specifically determine the student’s progression through Kolb’s Cycle of Experiential Learning.

Apply Kolb’s Cycle of Experiential Learning to journal entries

Inquiry Based Learning

Guidance Document Content • Intro – Background – How to use • Prompts • Rubric • Resources • General guidance/discussion – Increasing student understanding/Explaining the IBL process – Sharing the rubric – Pitfalls Suggestions?

Haley J. Sankey haley@psu. edu