COOP 245 Co-Op Field Experience I: (subtitle)
The Co-Op Field Experience I container course leads students to pursue their initial ideas and to explore some of the themes that that emerge from their cooperative education experiences. The course frames experiential learning as a co-constructed process that is realized through the promotion of student agency and the facilitation of engaged dialogue. It is based on best practices in experiential and participatory learning as it integrates the fieldwork component of the Cooperative Education experience with intentional forms of reflection. This integrated course is intended to promote students' understanding of social engagement as it involves them in deep collaboration with Co-Op partners and mentors. It also helps students better understand forms of deliberative action as it leads them to participate in dialogue, develop a sense of inquiry, and engage regularly in the practice of reflection-all fundamental organizing principles of effective field-based learning. Planned for students who have not yet designed their major course of study, participants are expected to reflect on their initial educational interests; to explore their assumptions about experiential learning; to become aware of action-based methodological approaches within their fields of interest; and to initiate a practice of communicating with colleagues within a variety of disciplines as well as within the diverse communities of practice in which they are engaged. This course balances real-world engagement with reflection as a central component of integrative learning that is carried out by cultivating the habits of thinking, writing, and engaging in forms of creative expression while immersed in serious experiential activity. Students are encouraged to make meaning out of their experiences in order to broaden knowledge of self and others. As a vehicle for reaching these goals, students produce a Fieldbook that contains documentation of their field experiences and constitutes a record of their reflections on learning. The course introduces students to a variety of dynamic tools for self-expression and leads them to embrace a medium to communicate their experiences, reflections, and ideas. Students are encouraged to make connections between their immediate experiences and prior learning, while also encouraging them to develop new practices, set career goals, and identify self-defined pathways toward their life aims. Upon completion of the course, students evaluate their learning based upon their ability to express themselves as well as progress toward the goals, action steps, and benchmarks they set for themselves early in the term.
Prerequisite
EXPR 145 or instructor permission.
Corequisite
In order to enroll in any Co-Op course, students must commit to and engage in an approved Co-Op experience on full-time basis (30 to 40 hours per week) for the duration of the academic term.