Category: Student Projects and Reflections

Professor: Nancy De Sousa 

Students Reporting: 17 

Time Reported: 24 

Course Description: 

 As future medical professionals with a responsibility to disease care and prevention in their communities, GW medical students had the exclusive opportunity to integrate advocacy into their curriculum through Professor De Sousa Williams’ fall HSCI 2110 course. 

Exclusively available for students in GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences, De Sousa Williams’ 8-week online course produced some pretty incredible and in-depth projects about health education and disease prevention in D.C. Students reviewed basic public health concepts, especially those regarding prevention and were able to delve deep into the core concepts of the course through a hands-on approach. 

As part of this course, students also studied and created a proposal to engage a local community in program planning to achieve health equity. An emphasis was placed on achieving health equity through disease prevention and health promotion to advance U.S. community, population, and public health. Through their work, students interviewed with community leaders and human services agencies in and outside D.C., expanding their perspectives on issues such as infant mortality and food insecurity. 

For information about Community Engaged Scholarship at GW: https://go.gwu.edu/cesc 

Examples of Student Interviews & Their Impact: 

First Example

“This by far was the best experience that I have ever had. What I can sometimes take for granted because I already have certain rights and protections, this community is still currently fighting for.”

Second Example

“Mrs. Addington was very informative and engaging on the topic of infant mortality. She provided a great amount of insight into the social determinants which affect infant mortality within Jacksonville, Florida. From unconscious bias and cultural differences from providers/care givers, to horrid infrastructure/capabilities for a safe home life all affect the macro-view of infant mortality.”

Third Example

“[Dr. Allkhenfr] was able to provide great insight to the challenges presented by the refugee crisis as well as the outlook for the state and assisting community-based organizations. I was provided ample information by Dr. Allkhenfr and was fortunate to be connected with such a subject matter expert to our local community.”

Fourth Example

“I learned a great deal from the session this week. - I sat in on a planning meeting for the nonprofit organization asking questions and posing ideas.”

 Additional Quotes from Students:  

 “I enjoyed looking into all of the resources in my county that help adolescents with mental health challenges. I found that a lot of them are fee-for-service programs though, which I feel like is not helpful to those who need it. It made me more motivated to come up with an initiative that based on volunteers, that way no one is left out.” - A student whose project focused on mental health resources, prevention, and support  

 “It was a great opportunity to work outside of my comfort zone for my final project.” - A student working on a project to increase the awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco and to increase smoking cessation numbers

Students in Professor Cheers’ SMPA 4180 online journalism workshop completed at least 3 multimedia packages over the course of the semester on an advocacy topic of their choice to populate a website with original, engaging and compelling content.  This capstone experience exclusively focused on the crossroads between journalism and social justice work. As students in Professor Cheers’ course, students honed in on their journalism and multimedia production skills needed to report on an advocacy issue affecting the District. Students’ packages included a podcast segment, documentary profile, news package, and multimedia package.  

For information about Community Engaged Scholarship at GW: https://go.gwu.edu/cesc  ...continue reading "SMPA 4180: Online Journalism Workshop"

Professor: Meghan Hollibaugh Baker 

Students Reporting: 22 

Total Impacts: 574 hours 

Course Description: 

Students in Professor Baker’s GTCH 2003 Step 1 and 2 Hybrid course applied the core concepts of their class to hands-on teaching experiences.

GTCH 2003 is a combination of GTCH 1001’s Inquiry Approaches to Teaching and GTCH 1002’s Inquiry-based Lesson Design. As future educators, students directly learned from their peers and mentors through in-person teaching experiences and lessons at local middle schools in the District. 

While COVID-19 continues to affect educators at schools across the country, having a direct in-service component to education courses is especially imperative to preparing our teachers of tomorrow. Professor Baker’s course emphasized inquiry lesson design, teaching with technology, classroom management, and analyzing student performance, all of which are important to keep students on track and interested in learning. 

Students in this course had only positive things to say about their experiences teaching in their classrooms and getting to engage with younger children. In reflections, students acknowledged the experience as “extremely rewarding” and educational, teaching them how to adapt to new situations and grow as teachers. 

For information about Community Engaged Scholarship at GW: https://go.gwu.edu/cesc 

Student Involvement: 

Students in Professor Baker’s course observed classrooms and created, then taught, STEM-focused and general education lessons for eighth-graders at the following elementary schools:

McKinley Middle School in Northeast, D.C.

Stuart Hobson Ms. Capitol Hill Cluster in Capitol Hill, D.C.

Jefferson Middle School Academy in Southwest D.C.

School Without Walls at Francis-Stevens in West End, D.C.

 Quotes from students:  

“As with the other teaching experiences, I had a great time getting to work with the students. I feel like I've grown a lot both as a teacher and as a person throughout these experiences, and I've really appreciated it!” - A student who observed and taught an engineering lesson to eighth-graders at McKinley Middle School. 

“This was extremely rewarding socially to be able to go out and give back to the community through teaching.” - A student who observed, prepared, and taught an eighth-grade class in geometry at Stuart Hobson.  

“Going into D.C. public schools gives me a better idea of what the community that we live in here as students is like. At this school we got the opportunity to help and impact kids in middle school with their education.” - A student who observed a classroom at School Without Walls at Francis Stevens. 

“Learning how to build a lesson plan and apply that lesson plan in a classroom setting has allowed me to give back to the eighth graders doing geometry at Stuart Hobson Middle School.” - A student who observed, prepared, and taught an eighth grade class in geometry at Stuart Hobson.

“Through the different aspects of student teaching, I felt like I was able to grow personally as well as in community with my teaching group, mentor teachers, and the students... It was a great opportunity to apply course concepts in a tangible, service-oriented way. I really appreciated getting to know the students as well.” - A student who observed, prepared a lesson for, and taught an eighth grade engineering class at McKinley Middle School. 

 “To what extent is your sense of self shaped by your culture, circumstances and location? How does where you are living and working influence what you dream? Does performing service, and writing about your experiences, change your ideas about who you are?”  

As part of Professor Presser’s UW 1020, students got to dive deep into these questions within the domain of consciousness studies, an interdisciplinary field that includes psychology, philosophy, physics, cognitive science, and more. Still a rapidly evolving area of study, scholars worked to develop their own opinions and theories on the expansion of human consciousness. Rather than learning through traditional lectures and discussions, students had a chance to explore these theories outside of the GW bubble with a community organization

This semester, students made over 900 impacts in Professor Presser’s 4 sections serving in their local D.C. community. For many, this was their first time getting to do service in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic began, making it especially enjoyable.  

For information about Community Engaged Scholarship at GW: https://go.gwu.edu/cesc 

...continue reading "Course Report: UW 1020: Writing Lives: Composing Consciousness and Service Learning"