SPECIAL ACTIVITY: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION [2015-2016]Course Facilitator: Dr. Ingrid E. Sladeczek

WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?

• I would like to acknowledge the extensive contribution of my colleague, Dr. Bruce Shore (Professor Emeritus), in that he shared his syllabus, a CD of past projects, past experiences, and information which has significantly influenced my conceptualization of the Special Activity course (EDPE697D1, EDPE698D1, EDPE697D2, and EDPE698D2; 12 credits, over two terms). A special thanks to Dr. Nancy Heath as well, who also recently taught the Special Activity course, and who has also been extremely helpful with insight and information.

• The Individual Special Activity Project is intended to be designed around your individual interests and available resources. It was conceived as a capstone project for the MEd and to allow you to bring together your knowledge and professional interests and aspirations. Thus, it should reflect your interest or inquiry-driven project.

HOW OFTEN DO WE MEET?

• We will meet on a bi-weekly basis, beginning on Monday, September 14th, 2015, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. I will send a group e-mail prior to this date indicating how and what you need to prepare for the first class.

• You are required to attend all of the seminars, even if you have an individual advisor for your project. That is, some of you may have other individuals whom you are already working with (e.g., licensed psychologist in the schools, research/academic supervisor at McGill) who will be directly involved with you in terms of carrying out your special activity.

• You may work with another student on your Special Activity, however, the expectations regarding the breadth and scope of the project will be adjusted accordingly.

• At the final class meeting (tentatively, April 18th) we will have a poster exposition, similar to how you would present at a conference or exhibition, followed by a dinner at a local restaurant.

• The final due date for your entire project is May 2nd , 2016.

WHAT FORM CAN THE SPECIAL ACTIVITY TAKE?

• The special activity project may take on numerous physical forms, for example (and not limited to) a formal paper, a curriculum plan, an instructional unit, a web site, a resource set, a research report, or a video document.

WHAT TYPES OF SPECIAL ACTIVITY PROJECTS HAVE BEEN DONE IN THE PAST?

• Examples of Past Special Activity Projects Include:• Examining new elementary teachers’ challenges and perceived principal

support• Examination of second-language acquisition• Social skills curriculum for implementation in elementary schools• Barriers to academic success for students with learning difficulties• Literature review of the Daily Five and literacy• Implementation of a personalized eating-assistance program for oncology

and geriatric inpatients who were at risk for malnutrition• Use of Ipads in literacy development at an early elementary level• Handbook of self-regulated learning strategies for teaching in Quebec

WHAT IS THE INSTRUCTOR’S ROLE?

• The job of the project advisor-instructor is to help you define a project of reasonable scope that can be completed within the two semesters that you have to devote to this project, advances your knowledge and competence, is useful and interesting to you, and helps you to make a professional contribution to the field of educational psychology and its applications in educational practice, whether in schools, higher education, health education, or elsewhere.

• I will work with you individually and with the larger group to assist in the consideration of suitable formats for the project, to offer you content-based guidance, or to suggest resources (human or otherwise) that may better be able to provide you with content guidance. I also expect that I will be advising you on ways to constrain or reduce the scope of projects that often have the tendency to expand beyond achievable limits.

HOW DO I COMMUNICATE WITH THE INSTRUCTOR?

• I urge every student to make an appointment with me in early September (or earlier if you like) to begin an initial discussion of your project and its’ feasibility. I am usually at the McGill campus 4 days per week and 1 day per week at Macdonald campus. Phone and Skype meetings are also possible. This is especially critical if you might need Ethics Board approval for your project. In order to apply for approval, you need to know what your project is and get feedback from me, an individual advisor, or both. In most cases you will not need ethics approval, but this should be determined as soon as possible.

• If your project involves ethics approval and presents no risks or very minimal risks, applications can be submitted at any time (but well before you anticipate the beginning of your actual project ‘data’ collection).

HOW WILL THE SEMINARS BE RUN?

• The class meetings will generally be conducted as seminars, sometimes mini conferences, sometimes divided into discussion groups based on overlapping interests or expertise.

• The primary content will be in relation to your projects, relevant skills that the instructor can bring (e.g., mini workshops on writing in APA publication style, preparing ethics applications, presenting your work at professional days or conferences, or writing up a project for publication consideration).

• We will explore together how to take this experience back into the classroom, whatever level you are teaching or doing other than teaching.

• There is no required textbook per se, but it is strongly recommended that you purchase or get access to the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition), and the corrections to the first printing at http://supp.apa.org/style/pubman-reprint-corrections-for-2e.pdf. Other references will be listed in the syllabus.

• Note that there will be strict deadlines regarding the submission of project components. Everyone must complete their projects by May 2nd , 2016!

CAUTIONARY NOTE!

• You need to plan your time very carefully, thus you need to set time aside for this project that is commensurate with 12 graduate credits. Schedule time to work on it! This is not a type of project you can complete within a few days or weeks!

HOW WILL THE SPECIAL ACTIVITY PROJECT BE MARKED?

• The project will be marked on the standard McGill graduate letter-grade pattern and will count for 100% of the overall grade in EDPE 697 and 698 (12 credits). A graduate studies grade below a B- is considered failure; the acceptable range is A, A-, B+, B, and B-. According to Dr. Shore, the modal grade has been an A with A- being the most common. A few B- range grades have happened in circumstances usually related to effort and time expended, use of feedback provided, or other items that will be indicated in the Special Project Evaluation Summary (initially provided by Dr. Nancy Heath in 2011). The rubric and general guidelines for the qualities of the project that are needed for the grades of A, A-, B+, B, and B- will be discussed in the syllabus.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

• This power point was intended to provide a brief introduction for the Special Activity, and as such, you may still have other questions that were not touched upon, thus, I suggest you set up an individual meeting with me prior to July 11th or after July 19th, or sometime in August. Otherwise we will see each other on September 14th, 2015!!!

• Wishing all of you a most wonderful summer!