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Some skills that I had to use were that of:

Independence in decision-making- I truly had the freedom to make decisions on all the aspects of the syllabus and how I would implement it into future courses.

Reflection- I reflected a lot on how I would want the course myself. I wanted to see it through the lenses of the students. I wanted to make sure that I was spiritually/soulfully learning as well.

Connection to Previous Knowledge- I used my previous knowledge of lesson and unit plans from my graduate study and used it to structure my syllabus with detail.

Organizing my thoughts and Processes Clearly- I used this multimedia website to organize and showcase my information instead of a paper. It took a bit to understand how to use it, but in the end, I liked how customizable it was.

Being brave and asking for others to help out- I asked some of my coworkers if I could stage pictures and such with their students. I was going into thinking they would say no, but most of them had gone through graduate studies and understood my struggle.

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The knowledge I gained from this course was that of reinforcement learning from my undergraduate studies. This course and project helped me to understand how best to support ADULT learners and their learning. Everyone, no matter their age, deserves to have a learning environment that is safe and unique to further their spiritual and soulful learning. The knowledge of implementing this syllabus reinforced that it takes time to come up with the lessons and activities that you want to present within the course. You have to be careful and link your rationale to your goals to make sure everything flows smoothly.

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The implementation of this syllabus was fairly easy since I went into deep detail on the original syllabus. I wrote it about the same I would have written a lesson/unit plan in my undergraduate studies. I still learned that there are many influences in implementing a lesson such as student count/availability, where the lessons would take place, and what resources I had to gather and share so that the students knew what was expected of them.

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Preferred class set up for round circle talks 

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Round Circle Talks

Students will discuss the reading and reflect with other students about the questions at hand. Round Circle Talks help students to reflect and bounce ideas off each other in difficult situations where a problem may arise. See how the instructor in not interrupting their work but is observing from afar.

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Dirkx, J. M. (1997). Nurturing soul in adult learning. new directions for adult and continuing

education., 1997(74), 79–88. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.7409

MacKeracher, D. (2004). Making sense of adult learning (2nd ed.). Toronto: University of

Toronto Press. ISBN-10: 080203778X ISBN-13: 978-0802037787

Tisdell, E. J. (2023). The braid of transformative learning, spirituality, and creativity: The impetus

to create as well as critique. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2023,

37–50. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20477

Watson, Vajra (2017) "Life as primary text: English classrooms as sites for soulful learning,"

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning: Vol. 22, Article 4.

https://doi.org/10.7290/jaepl222jli

All in-person photos were taken at the Ivy Tech Warsaw location with the consent of the individuals pictured. Both the journal reflection and round circle set up use this location and students are already enrolled in classes. Photos were staged to show hypothetical situations.

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Student paints a cut plastic bottle to use for a planter.

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Recyclables and "Trash"

These are both for the Four R's activity and the Repurpose Activities. Students are asked to bring in ordinary pieces of trash to sort out what could be reused into something new or if it has to be thrown away in the trash.

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Students wear appropriate clothing and gear for outdoor activities.

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Weather Appropriate Clothing for Trash Pickup Days/Other Outdoor Activities

Students should wear appropriate clothing based on the weather conditions of the area for the days the class will be held outside.

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Books and Other Reading Materials Used

All readings will be posted online but if you would like a hard copy, please refer to the following information:

Geisel, T. (1971). The Lorax. Random House Books for Young Readers.

Kimmerer, R. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the

Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions.

Thunberg, G. (2019). No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. Penguin Books.

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Students reflect using their journals while outside observing nature around them.

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Notebooks and Writing Utensils to Write Down Thoughts and Reflections

Students should bring a journal and writing utensils when we will be out of the classroom without any Internet connection. Students are suggested to use hard copy paper and pencil but if the student prefers digital that is also fine to use.

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Round Circle Talks- “We must nurture students to individually and collectively reflect and find that within themselves through group work and other creative activities such as storytelling, narratives, myths, tales, and rituals. Students must also solve interrelation issues with others without the educator interjecting” (unless violence breaks out) (Dirkx, 1997). I want students to independently take away learning activities and apply them to their everyday lives through real-world activities and collaborative work.

Deep Meditative and Reflection Times- Practical ways of having students be more attuned to themselves and others are to “ask open-ended questions (Palmer, 2003), have information-giving sessions, listen rather than responding to students, have deep reflection sessions to mull over large topics, connect to the primary source of creativity, vitality, and wisdom within our lives” (Dirkx, 1997).

Hands-On Activities- Activities include “deep relaxation, guided imagery, humor, meditation, creativity, and mental play” (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 180). I wanted hands-on activities that helped students to have fun and relate their lives to the materials within the course. We should also as educators “need strategies that authentically bring student’s lives within the classrooms” (Watson, 2017, p. 8) such as activities that have students connect with the world around them such as show and tell and sharing experiences with others.

Midterm and Final Project- To relate to self and their local environment. I based this final project on Tisdell's quote. Elizabeth Tisdell quotes it as “a journey towards wholeness, enabling one to see the extraordinary in the ordinary business of our life, and our interconnectedness both of the natural world and to something bigger than ourselves” (Tisdell, 2023, p. 38). I also included Dorothy's reasoning for her meaning of spirituality. Spirituality is, “an awareness of something greater than ourselves, a sense that we are connected to all human beings, and all creation” (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 175).

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Main Activities of the Course and the Goals Met Week by Week

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Main Activities of the Course and the Goals Met Week by Week

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Week One Activities: Round Circle talk for self-introductions (individual students will decide what they want the rest of the class to know about them) and read The Lorax for Monday’s class. Friday's Assignment is to Read and Reflect on Chapter 20 of Braiding Sweetgrass. They are allowed to work on this during Friday's class time.

Goals: Notice the difference between before and after “logging practices” using the reflection time both within and out of the classroom.

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Week Two Activities: Round Circle talk to discuss Canvas questions and ask more open-ended questions regarding the topics above. Students will be able to discuss improper dumping methods that corporations use to expel waste and cover up other chemicals in “waste beds”. Chapter 27 of Braiding Sweetgrass will be discussed on Friday.

Goals: Can define local and large ecological disasters through learning about the history of local and large-scale disasters using both collaborative and individual reflection time.

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Week Three Activities: Students will have around two hours to have deep reflection and suggested meditation on the boardwalk. Regroup by 4:30 to carpool back to campus. Questions to consider while at location: What if this area had a chemical disaster/was used for waste beds? How would that make you feel? How would that affect the local environment? What would you do to counteract it if anything at all? Suggest that student start on their midterm book project of No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference.

Goals: To have deep reflection and suggested meditation skills to help students appreciate and admire local nature preserves but also reflect with the big what-ifs listed above.

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Week Four Activities: Monday’s class involves Round Circle talk to share things that they have noticed while living in the area (these may differ since some students may have lived here for longer than others. Have a supported environment in which all ages can be represented). Questions to consider: How do you notice an ecological issue, and who do you report it to? How can you respond?

Goals: Students will discuss local area companies and contact people whom they may know about who help with environmental disasters. Students will respectfully listen to elders and their experiences with the area as well.

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Week Five Activities: Trail Clean Up Day

Goals: Students will know the ramifications of pollution in their local communities and what they can do to counteract pollution from happening while volunteering for local clean-up day.

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Week Six Activities: Go over how we can practically use the Four Rs with hands-on activity regarding what students brought in from their festivities. Use it to structure the activities on Rethink, Reduce, Reuse/Repurpose, Recycle method.

Goals: Students will know how to properly use the Four R Method in everyday life

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Week Seven Activities: Lecture and hands-on creative repurpose day.

Goals: Students will know how to repurpose day-to-day waste such as clothing, plant scraps, food scraps, etc. Climate Activism is introduced so that students can have a jumpstart on their final project.

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Week Eight Activities: Time to work on the Final Project and to discuss what individuals had learned during the duration of the course.

Goals: Students will know how to connect their personal experiences to others and the world around them.

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The Learners:

The Environmentally Conscious Individual is an eight-week course for adults wanting to learn more about being environmentally conscious in their local area. The purpose of the course is to provide students with instruction about the practical and theoretical concepts related to environmentalism and how they can be better stewards of their local community. All interested adult learners are welcome.

The Learning Objectives:

·        Students will notice the difference between healthy and unhealthy logging practices through reading activities and show that they understand the difference between the two during collaborative reflection time.

·        Students can define local and large ecological disasters by learning about the history of local and large-scale disasters.

·        Students will practice deep reflection and suggested meditation skills to help students appreciate and admire local nature reserves but also reflect on the big what-ifs.

·        Students will discuss local area companies and contact people whom they may know about who help prevent environmental disasters.

·        Students will know the ramifications of pollution in their local communities and what they can do to prevent pollution from happening while volunteering for local clean-up day.

·        Students will understand how to properly use the Four R Method in everyday life.

·        Students will show how to repurpose day-to-day waste such as clothing, plant scraps, food scraps, etc. Climate Activism is introduced so that students can have a jumpstart on their final project.

·        Students will connect their personal experiences to others and the world around them through projects and book reflections.

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Video Reflection for Question 5: What do you suggest to better support your learning? What are your suggestions for future students?

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Video Reflection for Question 5: What do you suggest to better support your learning? What are your suggestions for future students?

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I believe that both the discussion posts helped me the most in retaining knowledge. Although this may be different for each learner, the resources in this course helped support my learning. I would like more group interactions to help maintain and share knowledge with others within the class. My suggestion for future students is to keep an open mind when choosing your project topic. Make sure it’s a subject that you want to learn about so that you are interested in completing and understanding the information. I would also suggest that future students should try and reach out to each other when it comes to collaboration. It is a wonderful way to bounce ideas off of each other.

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Video Reflection for Question 4: Use examples to tell us how the various learning resources in weekly discussions help you understand the theories and how to apply theories to practice.

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Video Reflection for Question 4: Use examples to tell us how the various learning resources in weekly discussions help you understand the theories and how to apply theories to practice.

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I appreciated that there were different resources for each weekly discussion. The differentiation with materials (both auditory and visual) gave me the flexibility to listen or watch the resources within the background while I either worked on the assignment and/or participated in other activities such as working. These resources also helped me to expand my knowledge in adult learning by allowing me to learn about new ways to teach learners such as the videos on environmental context within learning. Another example could be that of sharing our discussions and reading about other resources that other colleagues have used in their field. Having that wealth of knowledge helped me to understand and apply these theories to practice.

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Video Reflection for Question 3: How do you think the project was able to help you understand the practical field and the theories?

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Video Reflection for Question 3: How do you think the project was able to help you understand the practical field and the theories?

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All the projects reinforced my knowledge of teaching learners, no matter their age. Everyone is different and yet the same when it comes to teaching. Everyone is a learner, and learners need differentiated materials and communication with their teachers to succeed in their courses/classes. Individually, I learned that if you are really interested in teaching or researching something, sometimes you have to work/research about it on your own. I was really interested in soulful and spiritual learning and did not want to give that up if I moved to another group.

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Video Reflection for Question 2: What did you like or dislike about our online discussions, group project, and this course in general?

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Video Reflection for Question 2: What did you like or dislike about our online discussions, group project, and this course in general?

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One of the likes that I enjoyed in this class is that of having most of the bigger projects towards the beginning of the course. Was it overwhelming, yes, but in the end, it freed up time at the end of the course to start to focus on next semester's classes, finalizing assignments, and applying/planning to apply for grants and scholarships for future courses as well.

Some of the dislikes that I did not enjoy about the class were those of the group projects. I tried to communicate with other students to share the subject, but it did not work out. I am glad that the professor gave us the freedom to work on these projects independently but also missed out on the opportunity to collaborate with someone else. Another one of my dislikes was that of the blog, but after a little while of self-teaching, I understand the use of this resource and understand the importance of it.

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Video Reflection for Question 1: What did you learn from this course?

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Video Reflection for Question 1: What did you learn from this course?

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I learned a lot about how to understand and teach adult learners. I enjoyed reading both textbooks and will be using them for other resources. I appreciated that the sections broke it down to include all the aspects of a learner and not just the broad subjects of different types of learners. I learned that most of my undergrad studies helped me understand more of the aspects of adult learning such as learning styles and how to differentiate for certain learners. I learned that I could put together bigger projects by myself, but I tend to prefer to work within groups.

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Member: Kayla McAllister

Roles: See attached photo for roles

Commented on: Group 1

EDAC 635: Strategies for Teaching Adults

Dr. Bo Chang

Submitted on: 11/12/24