Persuasion & Service
Learning: Nuts & Bolts
Dr. Norman Clark
Why Service
Learning & Persuasion?
I assume that most people reading this already understand the basics of what
service learning involves. If not, I would suggest jumping over to the ACT
(Appalachian and the Community Together) website to learn more about it. Here
I want to focus on why I decided to include service learning in a persuasion
course.
First, let me begin by saying that service learning is not necessarily appropriate
to all persuasion courses. But the course that I teach, Theories and Practices
of Persuasion, seemed like a good candidate to me, and has proven to be so over
the years. In this course, students are exposed to various theories of persuasion,
but they also have to put them into practice in both written and spoken form
(the course has "W" [writing] and "S" [speaking] designators,
which means it has to include multiple writing and speaking assignments). In
the past I have had students do such things as in-class debates, but I've found
they don't take them as seriously as I would like. In addition, the in-class
debates lacked any sense of "real impact," and I wanted students to
learn that education leads to efficacy, the ability to change their world.
It had been my experience in other classes that service learning can force
students to get serious quickly, and can develop a real sense of power
in students. I also emphasize three key concepts in my course: change, power,
and desire. I wanted students to see how these three crucial components
are an integral part of the day-to-day life of any community. For these reasons,
service learning seemed like a natural choice for this course. In addition,
it fit the needs of the community as well. Many NPO's lack the resources necessary
(whether it be time, people, skills, etc.) to develop the persuasive products
that they need to exist: brochures, flyers, campaigns, public service announcements,
promotional videos, websites, and more. I (and many others before and after
me) saw a strong connection between the needs of students in a persuasion course,
and the needs of the various local agencies for persuasive products.
It's important at this point to realize that the projects I imagined, and that
my students have carried out (see the Projects page
for examples), are labeledindirect service. This means that students
do not necessarily interact directly with the clients that the agency serves,
although I do encourage them to take advantage of such opportunities (more on
this later). Instead, they are working on persuasive projects that the agency
needs finished so that they can continue with their direct service of their
clients. These types of projects are often on the agency's "wish list"
of things they want to accomplish "some day."
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Persuasion
Course Goals & Service Learning
I've found that indirect service learning projects, where students
develop specific persuasive products for non-profits, also fit into many of
the goals that I have for the persuasion course. Below you'll see a list of
some persuasion course goals, examples of typical assignments given in a traditional
course to meet those goals, and then some ways that service learning can meet
those goals while simultaneously providing real-world experience and real benefits
to local agencies. If you have goals or assignments to add to this table, please
feel free to e-mail
me!
| Service
Learning and Goals |
| Goals of Persuasion
Courses |
Typical Assignments |
How Service Learning
Can Help |
| Understand application of persuasion theories |
Analyze an advertising campaign |
Understand what's been done/needs to be done by the nonprofit org
Produce a persuasive campaign
Have students analyze what they did
|
| Deconstruct messages, increased sensitivity to tactics |
Analysis of ads, in-class exercises, papers |
Have students deconstruct agency's messages, or their own products
Class feedback on each others' projects
|
| Understand receivers of persuasive messages, audience analysis |
Look at demographic info online, talk about how would use |
Analysis of multiple audiences of the agency |
| Skill building |
Speeches, papers to showcase persuasion |
Creation of a wide range of persuasive products, including advertisements,
brochures, presentations to local businesses/groups, logos, much more |
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Incorporating
Service Learning Step-by-step
- 2 Months Prior to Semester
- Line up Projects: In my course I do semester-long projects, so
they require a fair amount of advance setup. Thankfully, at my campus
we have the ACT office which is set up specifically to deal with student
service, including service learning courses. All I have to do is let them
know what types of projects would fit the course objectives, and they
contact the agencies for me. If you're not lucky enough to have such an
department on your campus, you'll have to call the agencies yourself.
We limit our Persuasion course to 24 students, which works out to be 6
groups of 4 (although I usually end up letting extra students in, for
a total of 7 groups). It's never been a problem finding enough projects.
When we call and explain the types of projects we would like our students
to help the agency with, they've always got several ideas and are eager
to put the students to work. I imagine most of the time you would find
this to be true. We usually line up some extra projects so that the students
have some choices, and we let the agencies know in advance that their
project may not be chosen. We also try to make sure at this point that
the projects are similar in size/scope, are persuasive in nature, and
include writing and speaking components.
- Set up Meeting Date: I also set up a date/time (usually in the
evening) for an initial meeting between the students and the agency during
this calling period (more on this later).
- Publicize: I usually try to let students know about this course
in advance, especially during advising periods. Some students seek out
these classes, others avoid them. Our ACT office keeps a listing of service
learning courses for students to look over, and our registrar's office
is now adding a notation in the semester schedule of courses which tells
students that a course includes a service learning component. I let other
faculty know about the course, and students as well, and word-of-mouth
spreads the news for me.
- First Weeks of the Semester
- First Class: It's crucial to get the course started off right.
First, I make sure students understand that this is a service learning
course, and that they'll be working in groups throughout the semester.
I tell them that if they're not comfortable with this, they should switch
to a different section of the course. If this option isn't possible for
you at your school, you might consider making the project optional and
coming up with alternative assignments. I don't do this since students
in our department can take the course from another instructor who does
not do service learning. I emphasize that this will give them real-world
experience, items to include in their portfolio, a chance to make a difference,
and a unique experience to talk about in interviews. In short, I sell
them on service. I also talk about the importance of service in communities.
In general, this works to get people fired up about the projects, and
these projects do need a lot of energy and commitment. I deal with questions
A LOT on this first day, including the types of assignments they'll do
and questions about group work. For example, in my class groups can fire
non-performing members, and it is up to that person to get hired by another
group. After all, this is the real world, as I continually remind students.
The threat of being fired is often enough to get someone to start contributing,
although I have had some cases of firings in the past. I also point out
to them that even though 60% of their overall grade comes from the group
project, only 35% of that grade comes from group work. 65% of their overall
grade comes from individual effort (an issue of concern for many people)
- Project Day: Sometime very early in the semester, usually the
third or fourth class, someone from the ACT office comes to my class and
does a presentation about service learning in general, and then goes over
the specific project options for the course. Then, I start matching up
students with projects. I tell students to pick out their top two choices,
and then we go down the list. It's amazing, really, how often this works
out after one pass through the project. Usually I end up with 4 people
naturally selecting a project, and there's no need to flip coins or anything.
Occasionally though I do end up with one or two projects that a lot of
people want, and I either go to random selection, or we as a class come
up with criteria to select people for groups (for example, if the agency
is far away, we limit it to people who have transportation).
One thing to STRONGLY encourage people to consider at this point is to
pick projects based on their interests, and not on what their friend(s)
in the class want(s) to do. I remind them that these projects require
energy and commitment, and that they'll need enthusiasm more than an already-formed
friendship. It's better to make new friends through the project. In fact,
the groups that tend to have the most problems are the ones that are friends
first, and end up not being friends after...
On this class day we also have students fill out information about themselves
that is stored at the ACT office, mostly for liability reasons. We also
have students sign and keep an "ethical commitment" form, reminding
them that they are representing the class and the university, and that
they should conduct themselves appropriately. I cover some tips and hints
for successful projects as well. Finally, students get together with their
group and exchange some basic contact information (they're also supposed
to post this in their group discussion board on WebCT, but I'll talk more
about that on the Groups/Online page.
- Initial Meeting: In the past I used to have students contact
the agency to set up an initial meeting, but this was so fraught with
peril that I changed to single giant-meeting format. This way there's
no chance of a group not being able (or trying) to get a hold of their
agency contact for several weeks and falling behind. I reserve a large
room in the Student Union for an evening shortly after the project "divvying-up"
day, which I tell the agencies about when I call them 2 months before
the semester. All of the students are supposed to show up that night to
meet with their agency contact person, learn about the agency (although
they're also required to do some initial research about the agency before
this meeting), ask questions, and find out more details/specifics about
the projects. I have them fill out a communication form with everyone
in the group's e-mail, phone number, preferred means of contact, as well
as an indication of which person is the primary contact, and this is given
to the agency representative. They also fill out a "contract form"
that lists exactly what they'll do for the project, any agency deadlines,
and other information. I walk around and make sure there are no problems,
that the projects end up being about persuasion and of the same "weight"
(making sure things haven't changed since I spoke to the agency two months
ago), and in general keeping things moving.
- During the Semester: As you can see from the WebCT
class site, students are required to meet several deadlines throughout
the semester. Regular and frequent deadlines help keep them on task and moving
forward. Organization and Audience Analysis reports get them thinking strategically
about their project. In addition, I've learned from experience that regular,
graded contact between the students and the agency is necessary. Thus, students
have to provide me with evidence of weekly contacts with the agency, usually
in the form of a forwarded e-mail exchange. Groups are also required to test
their persuasive products in class, recording the feedback they receive from
the rest of the class and myself and how they plan to incorporate that feedback
on a form. They then have to take the revised product to the agency and get
feedback from them as well. All students use WebCT to post reflections and
progress reports--you can read more about the specifics of this on the Groups/Online
page. Throughout the course of the semester, groups also collect and retain
materials for their group project portfolio, including drafts of projects
and any research materials. Finally, I try to take time each class period
to troubleshoot the projects, allow the groups to touch base, and discuss
issues of power, change, and desire that the students encounter during their
project.
- End of the Semester: Part of my course includes teaching about the
effective use of PowerPoint. Each group is required to do a PowerPoint presentation
at the end of the semester that summarizes what they did, what challenges
they overcame, and what they learned. I encourage students to think of these
final celebrations as a chance to celebrate their accomplishments. Thus, I
again reserve a large ballroom at the Student Union with a data projector
and large projection screen, and invite all of the agency representatives
to attend as well. They are usually gushing in their praise of the students,
which is wonderful to see. Refreshments help students get in a celebratory
mood. At this point students also turn in portfolios to me. They turn their
products in to the agency at least a week before the end of the semester,
if not earlier. This way I don't have to worry about the agency being left
in the lurch. The ACT office also has a feedback form for students and the
agencies to fill out, and the quantitative and qualitative data are collected,
typed/tallied up, and returned to me a few weeks after the end of the semester.
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Challenges &
Benefits
In a final reflection paper, one of the students in my Persuasion
course commented that "ever since I came to college, I've been waiting
for a class to challenge me. This was definitely that class." Service learning
courses are certainly challenging. But this can be a positive thing. One statement
that students hear repeatedly in my class is borrowed from the organizers of
the Martin Luther King Jr. Challenge yearly event: "It's all part of the
challenge!" When challenges are seen as opportunities for growth and learning,
they are accepted and even welcomed. This is the attitude I try to develop in
the students in this course.
One of the biggest challenges for students in a semester-long project like
this is out-of-class meeting time. Online course management software can help
with this, but it can't solve all of the problems. But this can be turned into
a benefit, since it encourages students to learn time management, and to work
together effectively in groups.
A very real challenge for myself as the course instructor is figuring out how
to grade a wide variety of projects, from video tapes to fundraising campaigns.
But I see this as a chance to learn from my colleagues, who can give me advice
on how to grade production quality. I could restrict the projects more, but
this would result in fewer opportunities, and a failure to meet the needs of
the agencies we are trying to serve.
If even the challenges can become benefits, it's not too surprising that the
benefits outweigh the challenges in service learning. I can't really even begin
to list the things students learn, since everyone takes something different
from the experience. But from my perspective, the biggest benefit to the students
is that they move from being dependent learners, to independent, and finally
to interdependent learners. They learn that their knowledge has to be combine
with the knowledge of others in order to satisfy the needs of the community.
This is an invaluable lesson that they take with them throughout their lives.
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This page created and maintained by Dr.
Norman Clark, last updated on 11/21/02