Dear Dr. Jack,

I will succeed in getting an A in this class by fulfilling the four learning outcomes highlighted below:

1. a – Demonstrates ability and commitment to collaboratively work across and within community contexts and structures. 30%.

I had a hard time identifying how certain parts of my old research team fit into the greater goal of helping the botanical gardens, so this learning outcome is here to make it an objective of this course; to learn about why what we’re doing is important.

I plan to show this learning outcome through our 3 Ethical Research Labs. Each one being a great showing of collaboration, understanding of community contexts and structures, and why this course is important.

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4. b – Uses deep knowledge of global systems to develop and advocate for informed, appropriate action to solve complex problems. 30%.

I don’t have a strong understanding of the way we develop our information and turn it into action towards a solution, so I chose this learning outcome to learn how. 

I plan to show this learning outcome through the final digital project which will be an action we take in the gardens to show our progress on understanding the problems we face and how we might solve them. 

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6. b – Demonstrates sophisticated understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices. 25%.

I chose this learning outcome because all our work outside class will require us to understand people and their cultural ideals. This is especially true for identifying things in ethnographies. 

I plan to show this learning outcome through the times we will go out and collect data using research methods chosen beforehand. These Ethical Research Labs will be all about understanding the important elements of a culture of people. 

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9. b – Identifies and evaluate multiple approaches for solving problems. 15%.

I have struggled to come up with alternative solutions to problems in my past when I needed them. Which is a bad habit to have because it makes problem solving harder to accomplish. In a class which is meant to find potential solutions to problems, not having that skill could be detrimental. 

I plan to show this learning outcome through my chosen day as discussion leader, where I will need to propose ideas to lead the discussion on the source. If any differing solutions to a problem are brought up, they’ll be kept in mind in terms of the situation. 

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These are the learning outcomes that I believe will be most beneficial for me as a scholar and as a potential A grade student. 

Sincerely,
Brandon Underwood