Service-Learning Project
When considering the impact of communication disorders on personal interactions, the temptation is to focus on the deficits of the individual with the diagnosed disorder. As the ICF Framework highlights, however, a richer understanding of the communicative context can be gained by exploring factors internal and external to the patient, including the communicative environment and communication skills of the conversation partner. To explore these and other issues, each student will serve as a conversation partner for an adult living in a long-term care setting.
The anticipated outcomes of the project include:
- students will
- gain an understanding of and familiarity with long-term care environments
- appreciate the roles of community members, including professionals, families, and volunteers who serve individuals residing in long-term care facilities
- gain insight into the issues faced by individuals experiencing long-term illness or disability
- appreciate the influence of personal history, interpersonal communication styles, and other internal factors on conversations
- gain skill in facilitating conversation
- conversation partners will have enriched opportunities for conversation and develop strategies for enhancing communicative effectiveness
- the community partner agency and its service providers will be exposed to strategies for enhancing communicative effectiveness in adults with and without communication limitations.
General Expectations
ACT Orientation: Each student will attend an ACT orientation session in the Table Rock room of the Student Union on one of the following dates/times:- Tuesday, August 29 (Table Rock Room, 2nd Floor)
3 Sessions: 2-3pm, 3:30-4:30pm, and 5-6pm - Wednesday, August 30 (Table Rock Room, 2nd Floor)
2 Sessions: 9-10am and 10:30-11:30am - Thursday, August 31 (Table Rock Room, 2nd Floor)
3 Sessions: 9:30-10:30am, 11am-12noon, and 12:30-1:30pm - Friday, September 1 (Table Rock Room, 2nd Floor)
2 Sessions: 12-1pm and 1:30-2:30pm - Tuesday, September 5 (Table Rock Room, 2nd Floor)
2 Sessions: 11am-12noon and 12:30-1:30pm - Wednesday, September 6 (Table Rock Room, 2nd Floor)
3 Sessions: 1:30-2:30pm, 3-4pm, and 4:30-5:30pm
Conversation Training . Each Student will complete a training session for facilitating conversation. Details to be provided.
Glenbridge Orientation. The community parnter agency requires volunteers to complete and orientation and meet several other prerequisites prior to beginning the service project. Details about these requirements will be provided in class.
Service Log and Journal. Each student will commit no less than 30 hours to the project (including training), as documented on a service log to be submitted on the due dates indicated below. Successful completion of the service requirement constitutes 25% of the project grade. Additionally, students will submit regular journal reflections addressing the prompts listed below. Each journal entry accounts for 5% of the final project grade.
| Due Date | Prompt |
| Sept 29 | Reflect on the preparation required for a project such as this. What is the value of each of the requirements? |
| Oct 13 | Write about your conversation partner (please protect privacy by using initials or a false name). Have you "hit it off?" What can you do to develop the relationship? |
| Oct 30 | Reflect on the long-term care setting. What factors contribute to communicative effectiveness? What factors hamper communicative effectiveness? |
| Nov 10 | Reflect on your skills as a conversation partner. What could you do to continue to develop these skills? |
| Dec 1 | Reflect on your plans for either concluding or continuing your relationship with your conversation partner. Be specific about how you will communicate your intentions to your partner. |
Final Paper. The service learning project culminates with a research paper, constituting 50% of the project grade. The sections are described below. Students are encouraged to refer to their journal entries as they complete the final sections.
Content (75 pts)
- introduction, including a description of conversation facilitation techniques (2-3 pages)
- literature review discussing how conversation partner training has been studied with respect to normally aging adults and adults with various communication diagnoses (aphasia, dementia, TBI, etc). (3-5 pages) (Draft of sections 1, 2 & 7 due Oct 27)
- summary of personal experience (2-3 pages)
- when did you visit? how often?
- what was the nature of the conversation or activities?
- how did you facilitate conversation?
- discussion of outcomes for the student, including how the experience related to personal and professional development (1-2 pages)
- discussion of outcomes for the resident, care providers, and/or community (1-2 pages)
- critical appraisal of the project (what worked? what challenges were faced? what could be done differently to improve the experience?) (1-2 pages)
- complete reference list (Draft of complete paper due Nov 27, final versions due Dec 8)
Form (25 pts)
- the final paper should be no fewer than 10 pages (12 pt font, 1 inch margins, double space), not including the reference list
- APA format should be used throughout
- all sources should be cited, including training materials and course materials
- professional language is expected
- transitions and other organizing strategies are expected
Project Evaluation. ACT requests that students participating in service learning projects complete a standardized evaluation to provide feedback to ACT and to instructors regarding the effectiveness of the project. Students who complete the ACT evaluation will earn 10 bonus points.
