discuss specific course concepts and how these relate to your experiences at your service-learning placement.

Purpose:

The purpose of this assignment is to discuss specific course concepts and how these relate to your experiences at your service-learning placement.

Basic Reminders:

? Papers need to follow APA formatting style, including:

o A cover page with your full name and the course information (e.g., HDFS 270).

o References in-text

o A References page, which begins on its own page immediately following your writing

? Write in complete sentences (i.e., do not simply answer the questions with “yes” or “no,” a number, or a one word answer); avoid using any direct quotes from the readings or any other materials.

? Your paper should be no more than 5 pages.

? Formatting:

o 5 page maximum

o Times New Roman font

o Size 12 font

o 1 inch margins

o Double spaced

o Do not use bullet points—write in complete sentences

o Do not copy/paste the questions/prompts into your paper

o Writing must be clear and free of grammatical or spelling errors

? Your answers need to be uploaded to D2L as a Microsoft Word document in the Final Paper dropbox that is posted (go to the “Assessments” tab and then “Dropbox”). Please do not also post your answers as text into the textbox—a Word document is what we need.

? Five points will be deducted from late responses that are submitted after the due date, but by 4/21/2015 at 11:59pm; 15 points will be deducted for late responses submitted after that point. Responses will not be accepted past 4/27/2015 at 11:59pm.

GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS

Directions: Answer each question (#1-5) below by giving rich, detailed answers.

Total: 100 points

? Each question (#1-5) is worth a total of 16 points. More specifically, there are two parts to each question—so each part is worth 8 points.

? Organization, clarity of writing, formatting, etc. is worth 20 points.

Required Parts of the Paper:

? Write a short introduction—briefly describe what your service learning placement has been like, and the main topics that you’ll address in the paper.

o For example: Where is your placement? Who are the individuals you work with? What do you do when you are there?

? Each question has two parts—the parts do not have to be presented in a specific order, all that matters is that each part is present for each of the individual areas (#1-4) posted below:

o Part 1: Define a concept and/or make a clear connection to content in the textbook.

o Part 2: Link the concept or connection directly to your service-learning placement by providing at least one or more concrete, detailed example (or use hypothetical situations when necessary—be clear when you are being hypothetical so we can tell the difference between your actual experiences and those that were not your actual experiences).

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o Note: Question 5 has two parts, but neither of them needs to include a connection to the text or another resource; this question is opinion-based.

? Write a short conclusion—briefly sum up what you have written about and your overall thoughts/impressions.

Notes:

? Questions #1-4 can be addressed in any order. Ideally, question #5 will come at the end before your conclusion.

o Questions #1-4 will include a citation from the book or from another resource listed.

? Grading will be MUCH easier if each of the questions its own paragraph—rather than having all of the parts weave together or overlap between/within paragraphs.

Questions to Address:

1. Focus on empathy.

a. Part 1: Describe empathy and/or make a connection to why empathy is important and how it can be helpful.

i. Resources: Chapter 4; the empathy vs. sympathy video that you watched for AR #2.

b. Part 2: Think of time during your service-learning that someone was struggling or needed help—how did you demonstrate empathy?

i. If you did not demonstrate empathy and/or it is a skill that you are still working on, brainstorm about how you could have addressed the issue differently in the future.

2. Focus on the social welfare system or poverty (or the relationship between the two).

a. Part 1: Describe one or more aspect of the social welfare system in our country and how it is intended to help individuals OR describe things that are related to poverty (e.g., income instability, certain groups who experience it more than others, hunger, homelessness, etc.).

i. Resources: Chapters 6 and 7.

b. Part 2: Discuss the ways in which individuals at your service-learning placement are supported by aspects of the social welfare system OR how poverty seems to influence their lives, and provide examples of this.

3. Focus on privilege, oppression, or power, and/or cultural competence. You do not need to address each of these four topics—chose one (or discuss how one goes with another).

a. Part 1 examples/options (you could choose to address part A or B): (a) What does power, privilege, or oppression really mean in society? Who does it influence, and how? (b) What is cultural competence and how does this influence your ability to work with others? What things must you still learn about in order to better serve others? How could you go about gathering this information or these skills?

i. Resources: Chapter 8; Dean, 2001; Yan & Wong, 2005; videos played in class that are available on the lecture slides.

b. Part 2 examples/options (you could choose to address part A or B): (a) How do topics of diversity, or power, privilege, or oppression present themselves in your service-learning placement? Was there an attempt for the agency/school/etc. to overcome this, or does it seem to be an on-going issue? (b) Discuss the ways in which yourself or others at your service-learning placement demonstrated aspects of cultural competence OR ways in which cultural competence/understanding could be improved in the future.

4. Focus on ethics.

a. Part 1: Describe what ethics are and how they influence professionals and the individuals who they serve within the field of human services.

i. Resources: Chapter 5; the National Council on Family Relations’ (2012) document titled, “Family Life Educators Code of Ethics”; the Children’s Protective Services Program Office’s (n.d.) document titled, “Michigan Mandated Reporters’ Resource Guide.

b. Part 2: Describe an ethical dilemma that you faced, observed someone else face, or heard about during your service-learning placement; then discuss how it was handled by yourself or someone else.

i. If you did not have any direct experiences (yourself or through others) then feel free to talk about expected ethical dilemmas that may come up—just be clear that you are thinking in advance, rather than discussing something that happened.

5. Focus on your experience at your service-learning placement. This question has two parts, but no connection to the book or any other resource is needed.

a. Part 1: Discuss your feelings regarding your service-learning placement. This can be honest—Did you enjoy the process? If so, why? If not, why not; what could have made it better?

b. Part 2: To what extent did your service-learning placement influence your understanding of your own interests or future career path? Once again, be honest. If it did help: How did it help you to better define your interests/path? If it did not help: Why not and what could have made the experience more helpful for finding your interests/path?

Your References page will include:

? The textbook (required).

? Other resources listed above (optional).

? Reminder: We need to be able to tell where you received you information—so if it is not included via in-text citations for the appropriate questions (#1-4), you will lose points for those questions as well as for the APA formatting.