CODE 221 Learning Contract & Portfolio
| A Work | B Work | C Work |
-Misses one class or less, or completes make-up work for excused absences -Annotates all readings thoroughly -Makes substantive comments in discussions -Completes all assignments on time (or has an approved extension request) -Work demonstrates intellectual engagement, care, effort, and growth in response to feedback -Collaborates substantially, contributes to vision, works equally with peers | -Misses two classes or less, or completes make-up work for excused absences -Annotates readings -Often participates in discussion -Completes all major assignments on time (or has an approved extension request) -Completes most SAs on time -Work demonstrates care, effort and growth in response to feedback -Collaborates equally, completes required work | -Misses three classes or less, or completes make-up work for excused absences -Completes most readings -Sometimes adds to discussion -Completes all major assignments on time (or has an approved extension request) -Completes at least four SAs -Meets minimal expectations on assignments; shows limited growth in response to feedback -Completes required collaborative work |
First-Week Introduction
Hello! For this semester of research I want to focus on generating ideas, comprehension, reflection, improvement, and communication. I chose some of these because I experienced them last semester and they were very important skills, and some of them I chose because I felt like they would be important to improve on. The most exciting assignment to me seems like Lab 2 or 3 because we get to understand historical context and communities. The scrollyboarding assignment seems the most difficult because it going to take our best efforts in all the assignments to have an adequate understanding. Although this semester seems challenging, I am excited and ready!
Midterm Introduction
During this first half of the semester I have learned how to be more patient with my work, as things cannot always happen as quickly as we are ready to work. I most enjoyed my work in the archives because I learned a lot about the history of East St. Louis government’s relationship with conservation. I struggled with the unknown of our research. I most excelled in critical thinking, skills for lifelong learning, and collaboration. I want to do better at problem solving and quantitative literacy. I haven’t really done the last two goals I discussed because we haven’t had any data collection yet or worked with government to have problems.
Final Introduction
During this last part of the semester, I have learned that group projects can be a lot more difficult and disappointing than I expected. Because of this, I also learned to be grateful no matter what for this opportunity, even if I didn’t get to do the type of project I wanted. I still continued to enjoy my work in the archives the most! I really enjoyed being able to excavate the past environmental history of East St. Louis. I struggled a lot connecting with our community partner, as it felt like from our perspective, we were a part of the project, but from her perspective we weren’t. I succeeded the most in lifelong skills and critical thinking. I don’t think I did good with quantitative literacy, but it was out of my control because I was not able to conduct research the same way.
Course Goals
Grade Contracted For __X__ A ____ B ____ C
Goal 1 (20%)
Based on (12b): Collaboration (Facilitate collaboration between groups by being aware of contribution and sparking engagement.)
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
– Work on how I communicate with others and improve on the delivery. – Try to understand everybody’s perspective- Check in with myself to see how I feel during the projects so I can understand how to best address issues. | -Pictures of group meetings – messages sent -example of group member putting in effort -Questions asked | – At the most, people contributing more. But if that is not achievable, I feel like being able to see me trying to facilitate it because I am not in control of others efforts. – Good consistent project, as this reflects our ability to collaborate together despite our differences |
The above evidence is me sending pictures of my archive notes to Lyric. This shows me communicating perfectly because I was making sure Lyric had my notes from our archive day so she could emphasize them.
The above photo is a picture of our community partner giving a presentation about her project at the East St. Louis public meeting. This exemplifies how me and Lyric collaborated together to show up to her presentation and engage.
The above evidence is an email I sent to our community partner. This highlights collaboration because I was able to give her the feedback on how effective I thought her survey was. Additionally, I was trying to contribute to her public meeting by sending her an informational poster I created for the public.
The above evidence is an email I sent to our community partner. She had asked me to take her survey, but when I was unable to complete it due to website restrictions. I exemplified collaboration by using clear communication about what was the problem so I could move closer to completing it and giving her the feedback she needed.
Goal 2 (20%)
Based on (9b & 9c): Problem-Solving Skills (Identifies and understands multi-contextual problems with multiple solutions)
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| – Take my time understanding the content of the issue – Pay attention to minute details throughout the processes or context -Use previous experiences and how I delt with them as motivation -Stay attentive during class | – Reflection #1 From observing the content I can show understanding of the contexts -Data Collection – What problems did I pinpoint and try to change | – Success of research in the sense of being able to pinpoint some issues and make an attempt to make a change – Being able to reflect on my contributions |
The evidence above is from my reflection #1. This shows that I understood the multi-contextual issues with our research project, as I understand how East St. Louis may be hard to implement trees based on the history we learned.
Above is a poster I created for our city council meeting to inform the public about how trees can improve water quality. I created this because our project manager said that the public may be upset at us for focusing on trees instead of the water issues they have been facing.
Above represents information I found within the archives about East St. Louis’s beautification committee. The purpose of this committee was to make a more beautiful and healthier environment in the city and something they planned to do was get rid of hazardous trees/plant more. I exemplified problem solving skills by understanding that their plan was beneficial for the environment to change, yet it was also damaging as it portrayed trees as something merely aesthetic.
For my last piece of evidence, I just want to reflect on my research experience from the past semester. We had a lot of plans to do multiple events in the community, but first we were supposed to wait for the local government to confirm our project. Next, we were faced with the current political climate of the United States which has made our processes much slower. Despite this, I was able to use problem-solving skills to contribute to the project as much as I could by doing archival research, creating posters, reviewing surveys, and showing up to public council meetings.
Goal 3 (20%)
Based on (10a & 10c): Quantitative Literacy (Uses quantitative information effectively, to understand contexts and support ideas)
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
|---|---|---|
| -Make sure to replicate experiment enough to ensure accurate data – Have multiple sources to research for experiment -Stay attentive during class and community partner meetings – Work on understanding qualtrics and survey and interview processes | – Being able to read our data and understand what it’s telling me – Data Collection | -Being able to read my data and understand what it tells me about my subject or community – Have accurate data – Data rearranging – Conduct something to actually do in the community based on their responses -understanding how to use data websites and dissect them accurately |
The evidence above was from when I had to sort through a map of tree data and figure out how many trees of each species resided in East St. Louis. This shows my quantitative literacy skills as I was able to digest the map and figure out the most repeated trees as well as the number of each.
For another piece of evidence adding onto the above picture, I was able to figure out the 10 most common trees in East St. Louis by transforming the map data into a graph. This data was important to understand what we are already working with in the area, so we have a better understanding of what we need to change and implement. I do not have access to the map because I forgot to take a screenshot, but without this I would not have been able to figure this data out.
The above evidence is a screen shot of East St. Louis’s tree equity score, which I found on the tree equity score website. I demonstrated good uses of quantitative literacy as I used a reliable source to figure this out. This piece of information was a big indicator as to why we must start creating a tree canopy in this area.
The above evidence is from the tree equity score website. I used a very reliable source to not only figure out the tree equity score, but to also see this demographic breakdown of the types of people who live in this area as well as the challenges they are facing.
Goal 4 (20%)
Based on (7b & 7c): Skills for Lifelong Learning (Understands educational and research information from outside contexts and reflects to change perspectives)
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| – Keep my previous knowledge of the subject in mind -Keep an open mind regarding content – Be attentive during class, community engagements, and meetings with partners to base a proper change in perspective | – Research How did my research from last semester differ from this one? – Reflections #2 and #3 – How was my data and experiences different from last semester? | – Explain my changes in perspectives in each assignment with my prior knowledge on it/how the assignment has produced growth – Clearly show my mental processes through my writing |
The above evidence is an excerpt from my Reflection #2. I showed through this reflection that I am able to understand outside perspectives of our research and change to a more positive outlook, despite not having good experiences before. I still showed how I excited I am about the plans no matter what.
The above evidence is my reflection #2. I reflected on how our plans in this project was way more developed than the last year. I also reflected on how we had to wait a lot to start our project due to the political climate in America. This highlighted this goal because it showed how I understand how outside problems were affecting the project. I didn’t know at this time that there would be other outside problems as well.
The above evidence is my reflection #3. I was sharing my doubts for the semester before things went wrong, but I highlighted keeping a positive attitude and deemed these necessary conditions for the partner relationship. Overall, I did everything I could to foster a good relationship, yet it still failed in some ways. I realized that this is not the only thing necessary, as communication and perspective is as well.
For my last piece of evidence, I would like to reflect on how my research experiences have changed from last semester to now. Last semester my research failed, and I aimed to do a lot better this semester. Yet, in a way, it feels like my research failed again because I was unable to actually be a part of our partner’s project. Despite this, I learned to be less disappointed by this compared to last year. I was able to accept this failure and understand that it was out of my control.
Goal 5 (20%)
Based on (2a & 2c): Critical and Creative Thinking (Develop plans considering context, transforming ideas from multiple perspectives)
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| -Be attentive during class, community engagements, and meetings with our partners to broaden my sources and perspectives – Make concept maps if needed- Collaborate with peers to broaden my perspectives – Educating myself on historical contexts if needed | – Data collection -Reflections #4 and #5 – Showing how I thought critically about my research/active critical thinking | -Clearly show my thinking processes throughout my work – Clearly explain changes in perspectives – Considering all the possibilities and contexts that affect my research or explain why my results are the way they are |
Above is a picture from the archives that explained previous plans that East St. Louis government had to make the city a better environment. Because of all the plans I found in the archive, I realized that these same plans could be repurposed currently. This shows critical thinking because I see the values in the work already made but also understand the contexts of why these plans haven’t worked.
Above is an excerpt from my reflection #4. I highlighted critical thinking skills throughout this as I explained my elimination process for going through the archives to manage the time I had in the archives better. I was able to create a plan to find the most useful information with the time I was given.
Above is my reflection #5. I exemplified critical thinking skills by explaining how I understood that me and my community partner had different perspectives of how we viewed our partnership. Additionally, I understood that this out of my control and continued to contribute as much as I could to the project.
My last evidence is from the second paragraph of my reflection #5. I exemplified critical thinking skills by reflecting from the new partner experiences I’ve had this semester. I reflected on how I realized that this experience affected me, and the toxic self-behaviors I had for myself. My changed perspective showed my plan to treat myself better than I did before.