Building Confidence and Competence In Using Local Resources for Experiential Learning Curriculum Development Experiences of Pre-Service Teachers Applying the XLearning Process in a Rural Community

South Dakota Teacher Certification Requirements – South Dakota Indian Studies INED 411 – Human Relations EDFN 475 – Both classes focus on groups of people, the impact of the groups on the past, present and future, and the need to maintain the cultural integrity of the groups in a classroom setting.

Undergraduate students enrolled in INED 411 and EDFN 475 during the 2012 spring semester All were education students

High Plains Western Heritage Center – Spearfish, SD Vore Buffalo Jump – northeastern Wyoming Volunteers and staff from both facilities

Jace DeCory – Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies – cultural advisor Faculty from the BHSU School of Education and Behavioral Sciences – project evaluators Staff from Center for American Indian Studies - project evaluator

Contacted Western Heritage Center (WHC) Established expectations of the WHC Director as to the facility use for educational purposes Developed a timeline for process including visits to WHC, due dates for research and project review, Local History Day presentations

Basic introduction of process Pre-Process evaluation of knowledge and experience James Banks cultural curriculum model Visited WHC and formed working groups Research Project Presentation on campus and at WHC Post-Process evaluation of knowledge and experience

Gathering Data Students, Topic Experts, Teacher, Community Staff and Volunteers

Process evaluation of knowledge and experience using a scale of 1-5 (strongly disagree –strongly agree) 1. I am not familiar with experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. 2. I understand experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. 3. I am confident in my ability to effectively develop and apply experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. 4. Additional comments

Topic Group Members / In Progress / Completed / Next Group leaders submitted the Progress Reports on specified dates Required accountability for group members Detailed progress, possible points of concern, and areas to assist group for the teacher

Journal of observations in class and at WHC Discussions with groups and individuals

Interviews with staff and volunteers at WHC Interview with project cultural advisor

Data Collection Results Pre-Process Student Evaluation

INED 411 students I am not familiar with experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. Strongly disagree or somewhat disagree = 5 Neutral = 2 Somewhat agree or strongly agree = 18

INED 411 students I understand experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. Strongly disagree or somewhat disagree = 15 Neutral = 3 Somewhat agree or strongly agree = 7

INED 411 students I am confident in my ability to effectively develop and apply experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. Strongly disagree or somewhat disagree = 9 Neutral = 6 Somewhat agree or strongly agree = 11

The majority of students responding to the survey were not familiar with experiential design or using local resources in curriculum development The majority of students responding to the survey did not feel prepared to develop experiential learning curriculum Some expressed positive attitudes about learning the process

Starting the Classroom Process Introduction to James Banks and Applying Multicultural Curriculum Reform to XLearning

Based upon research by Banks, the majority of classroom teachers do not explore culture in-depth Many cultural lessons are based on food, festivals and purchased generic material Few challenges are presented for the students to immerse themselves in the culture

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Education students were required to immerse themselves in a cultural topic that was inspired by a display at the WHC. After a field trip to WHC, students formed groups based on like interests. Within each group, four roles were chosen – Leader, Creative Director, Researcher, Writer Roles were based on student self identified talents

Everyone in the group researched the topic but the Researcher was responsible for verifying the information, organizing the facts, and relating the information to the inspirational display at WHC The Writer assembled the paper for group members and topic experts to review, edited and revised for final copy

With topic approval, groups choose a grade level or ability level for project Ability levels were acceptable as the projects were for tourists as well as school groups The Creative Director was largely responsible for this portion of the project development The Leader submitted regular Progress Reports The teacher regularly met with groups to review Progress Reports

Completed projects were displayed for peer review Groups had one week to make changes before the topic experts from BHSU and WHC reviewed the projects Groups had three to four days to make additional changes before projects were displayed at WHC as part of Local History Day Celebration

Peer Evaluation

Topic Expert Evaluation

Ghostowns that flourished and faded

Recording a Winter Count Using traditional methods

Can You Dig It? - The hazards and rewards of mining

Star Quilts – Three levels of design challenge

Lakota Games - Building skills needed for hunting

Managing Pine Beetle Infestation in the Black Hills

Using a drop spindle – processing wool

Archeology – Using clues from the past to explore a culture

Vore Buffalo Jump Permanent Display Researched and Designed by INED 411 Students

Traditional Uses of the Buffalo Permanent display VBJ

Traditional Uses of the Buffalo

Pre – Process /Post – Process Evaluations

INED 411 students I am not familiar with experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. Strongly disagree or somewhat disagree = 5/12 Neutral = 2/2 Somewhat agree or strongly agree = 18/4

INED 411 students I understand experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. Strongly disagree or somewhat disagree = 15/2 Neutral = 3/3 Somewhat agree or strongly agree = 7/12

INED 411 students I am confident in my ability to effectively develop and apply experiential design in curriculum development using local resources. Strongly disagree or somewhat disagree = 9/3 Neutral = 6/0 Somewhat agree or strongly agree = 11/14

Post-Process Evaluations Summary The majority of the students responding to the survey did understand the theory of experiential design. The majority of students responding to the survey did feel more confident and competent about finding and using local resources to develop experiential learning curriculum.

Post-Process Comments I don’t think experiential learning is a very effective method. The work can be done but it isn't worth it as a teacher or a student. I have enjoyed working on this project. I didn’t like parts of the group project activity. I think this is an extremely beneficial technique – learning and teaching. The process was a journey but a rewarding one.

Post-Process Comments I learned lots from doing a project and sharing it with the community. I learned how to improve over and over, which hopefully improved the overall clarity and historical/contemporary learning outcome. This will be very helpful as a future educator. I feel more comfortable with this material now than I did at the start of the class, but I still do not feel fully confident.

Post-Process Comments This was a very enlightening project. I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of working on the project, with the exceptions of a few group difficulties. I am learning a lot. Enjoyed learning about outside research material. Beginning to see and get how this works. Not too confident yet.

Initial confusion and a frustration about the new topic Interest and excitement built during the visit to WHC Group selection went well but in both classes there were students “left over” and they formed their own groups by default More commitment by some individuals than others in a group

Many projects were still unstructured until days before peer evaluations but were ready on the due date One group was not ready and based on peer evaluation, started over with a new idea Topic experts were impressed with the finished products BH students were in the role of teachers when presenting their information

One student in particular expressed disinterest in the class, the project and the group through body language and comments Student was in the group that had to redo the project but had a shift of attitude when the new project was positively evaluated by peers and topic experts Many students were not comfortable with the process in their own future classroom without more experience in the BHSU classroom

Exciting to students, hooked them into exploring culture Appropriate practices in working with Lakota youth Attitude when sharing the information was respectful and maintained the cultural integrity of the people We are more alike than we are different.

Most groups put heart and soul into project and viewed it as learning for the future but some groups looked at the process as an assignment Prepares students for the global community Using the SD Indian Studies Standards will emphasize the responsibilities of future teachers

Using community resources is the most important part of the process. Students were out of comfort zone and had to brainstorm with staff to develop project. Assignment is a challenging perspective WHC was considered an extension of the BH classroom. Students were respectful, polite and were trusted with the access to exhibits.

Would like to see more classes from other areas of study involved with WHC Students will use what they are doing – getting them involved is important.

Evaluations for group and self contributions to the process supported teacher observations and discussion with the groups Very positive and professional comments Honest evaluations, more direct than in person discussions

INED students will write lesson plans based on South Dakota Indian Studies Standards for grades K-12 and donate them to the Vore Buffalo Jump EDFN students will design education kits for contemporary issues in cultures Both classes will continue to visit the WHC and INED students will also tour the Vore Buffalo Jump

um/steps.html um/steps.html /pdf/session3/3.Multiculturalism.pdf /pdf/session3/3.Multiculturalism.pdf hes%20to%20Multicultural%20Reform,%20Banks.PD F hes%20to%20Multicultural%20Reform,%20Banks.PD F Resource Book for South Dakota Indian Studies by Mary L. Jones, Ed.D. (Black Hills State University Bookstore) Teaching for Diversity by Ricardo L. Garcia