Period 1 - Pranavi Senthil

[CALIS]

Thank you for participating in TIRP service-learning outreach!

Your reports are the basis for academic credit.  Whether or not you are seeking a credit option, reports are required as a university record of service-learning efforts and impact in local schools.

Required Format:
Session 1 materials: [The first line of your report is the session number and full title of the database item(s).]
Focus Q: [On a new line, list your focus question from your TAP form. If you changed the question then add the new version after the TAP version.]
*** For the minimum of 3 student specifics, do not refer to students by name; instead call them Student A, B or C.
*** For the minimum of 500 words, guiding questions are here: https://www.forums.usc-calis.net/showthread.php?tid=297

Use clear paragraph structure. If you include too much focus on the step-by-step process of the lesson rather than substance, you may be asked to revise your report.
*** The webboard is public. If you include names, commentary or observations, you will need to revise your post.

To Post:
1. For each report, select Post Reply.  (Do not select New Topic)
2. Copy/paste from your Word file and save a copy until after the semester is over.
3. Before pasting, confirm that you have met the minimum of at least 500 words.
4. Each report must be submitted by midnight within 3 calendar days after each session.

A CALIS staff member will review your report each week and post a message below of the scoring for your performance evaluation.
We welcome any questions or concerns you have about scoring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[font=Tahoma, sans-serif]Session 1: Human Rights Bingo and UDHR Handouts[/font]
[font=Tahoma, sans-serif]***Scores pending revision of a 500-word minimum[/font]
On Time:  0/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student specifics: 6/6
Total: 12/15
Comments: Thank you for your detailed reflection on how students engaged with the material! Please try to meet the minimum of 500 words. Your student specifics sound great and I appreciate how you tied in your personal experiences as well. Please remember to submit your reports on time, but thank you for your late response.
-AS, 10/31

[font=Tahoma, sans-serif]Session #2: Blood Bones and Organs, Two Worlds That Protect and Serve, Four Worlds Worksheet
***Scores pending revision of a 500-word minimum[/font]
On Time:  0/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student specifics: 6/6
Total: 12/15
Comments: Your reflection sounds great, like your last one! Your student specifics sound insightful and I appreciated how you spoke on the ways in which your team would improve. However, please bring your word count to 500, and remember to submit your reports on time.
-AS, 10/31

[font=Tahoma, sans-serif]Session #3: Every Deed Makes A Difference, Remarks on Trayvon Martin by President Obama
***Scores pending revision of a 500-word minimum[/font]
On Time:  0/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student specifics: 6/6
Total: 12/15
Comments: I appreciate your detailed reflection! Your student specifics sound insightful and your implementation of technology and PowerPoints seems like a nice new way to educate these students. I hope you and your team can brainstorm ideas to maintain the attention of all students, and please feel free to speak with CALIS advisement to tackle this issue if you need to. Also, please bring your word count to 500, and remember to submit your reports on time.
-AS, 10/31

[font=Tahoma, sans-serif]Session 4: Taking Sides & Finding Balance: China's One Child Policy & Three Ethical Perspectives Introduction
***Scores pending revision of a 500-word minimum[/font]
On Time:  3/3
Substantive: 6/6
Student specifics: 4/6
Total: 13/15
Comments: Nice job on this reflection, thanks for submitting this on time! Please remember to include at least 3 student specifics, but I really appreciated your comments on students A and B. Remember that your report must be a minimum of 500 words. Glad to see improvement in student engagement.
-AS, 10/31

[Pranavi Senthil]

Session 1: Human Rights Bingo and UDHR Handouts 
Focus Question: What is human rights? How are the local and global issues? What protections do legal frameworks offer to human rights?

In this session, we wanted to introduce the concept of human rights to the class and gain an understanding of how much our students know about the topic at hand. Our first activity was the human rights bingo. We waited while the students went through the materials, and we began solving the human rights bingo together. Initially, we asked students to give us examples of what they thought were important human rights and then we began adding our own examples as well. Student A raised their hand and mentioned that the "right to education" and the "right to free speech" was important. Student B asked us to discuss "rights denied to children." We spoke about the right to vote and how it was important for an individual to have certain life experiences and be well-versed with the political structures before they voted. Student C asked us to discuss "rights denied to women". We spoke about how in certain developing countries, women's rights are still a highly contested issue. We gave in-depth explanations of these disparities and gave various examples to substantiate our claims. Our goal was to make sure the class understood the different international settings that force countries to value certain rights over others.

Then we went on to explain the UDHR and the US Constitution and the critical role of these legal frameworks in ensuring human rights. As an international student, I also made sure to emphasize the difference between Western human rights which focus on individual political freedom, and the Eastern approach to human rights which emphasized the collative economic freedom and security. I drew a chart on the whiteboard explaining the differences in the way human rights are perceived. After this, we asked about which rights students found surprising, Student A responded and said that the "right to leisure and rest" was surprising and we discussed this in-depth with them as well. 

We did not get as much student participation as we expected but when we asked the teacher, he told us that continuation schools followed a more "self-directed" learning pattern, and this was one of the first times the class had engaged in group discussion. We also agreed that we should answer the first question to let students know what types of answers we are looking for. Moreover, the school seems to be pretty relaxed when it comes to phone usage in class. Some student had their AirPods on for the whole duration of the class.

We decided it was a good idea to focus more on explaining the material and teaching the concept rather than diving into group activities in the beginning as the students did not seem to be aware of a lot of topics till we taught them about them. The students seemed to be more interested when we explained concepts to them as some of them were taking notes.

[Pranavi Senthil]

Thank you for participating in TIRP service-learning outreach!

Your reports are the basis for academic credit.  Whether or not you are seeking a credit option, reports are required as a university record of service-learning efforts and impact in local schools.

Required Format:
Session 1 materials: [The first line of your report is the session number and full title of the database item(s).]
Focus Q: [On a new line, list your focus question from your TAP form. If you changed the question then add the new version after the TAP version.]
*** For the minimum of 3 student specifics, do not refer to students by name; instead call them Student A, B or C.
*** For the minimum of 500 words, guiding questions are here: https://www.forums.usc-calis.net/showthread.php?tid=297

Use clear paragraph structure. If you include too much focus on the step-by-step process of the lesson rather than substance, you may be asked to revise your report.
*** The webboard is public. If you include names, commentary or observations, you will need to revise your post.

To Post:
1. For each report, select Post Reply.  (Do not select New Topic)
2. Copy/paste from your Word file and save a copy until after the semester is over.
3. Before pasting, confirm that you have met the minimum of at least 500 words.
4. Each report must be submitted by midnight within 3 calendar days after each session.

A CALIS staff member will review your report each week and post a message below of the scoring for your performance evaluation.
We welcome any questions or concerns you have about scoring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Session #2: Blood Bones and Organs, Two Worlds That Protect and Serve, Four Worlds Worksheet
Focus Question: What is the role of economic inequality? How do political and social organizations protect or threaten human rights?

We began our session by playing the NPR interview about the organ trade and the organ black market in India and briefly explained the economic and social causes that may push someone to sell their organs. We initially had some issues with setting up the Wi-Fi but after our initial hiccups, the session went on smoothly. When asked about their thoughts on the matter, Student A explained how this was a dangerous situation for the government and individuals and shared her belief that no one should be forced into a position like that. We made sure to emphasize that illegal organ trade usually occurs in countries with wide economic inequalities and organ brokers know when a crisis will arise. Around this time, we still had more students coming to class. We noticed this in our last session as well that it was common for most students to come to class around 9am, halfway through our sessions.
After a brief introduction to the case, we introduced the Two Worlds That Protect and Serve Framework to prepare us to look at the problem of organ trade from multiple lenses. We asked the students about what social issues they would like to see being discussed through the Four World Framework and Student B said Housing. After discussing the issue from the perspective of government and social organizations we asked the class if they had any other examples. When we got no responses, we began explaining human rights through the Two Worlds that Protect and Serve Framework and how this relates to our previous case on the organ black market. Another important aspect that we made sure to highlight was the fact that the illegal organs usually "move upwards" from the poor to the socio-economic elite.
Finally, we discussed the Four Worlds Worksheet and tied it back to the case. Student C made an important point about consent and whether it would be illegal if the people themselves had consented to shave their heads and sell their kidneys. Here, we emphasized the coercion tactics of organ brokers. More importantly, this allowed us to use the concept of consent and voluntary compliance as a solution to tackle the problem and discuss the importance of being aware of your rights. We noticed that two students in the middle were constantly using their phones and laughing amongst themselves during our session. They did not participate in our discussion but we continued teaching either way.
Although this session went as planned, we as a team realized that we should be incorporating more relevant examples and questions that pertain to the students of the class. In the future, we should make an effort to incorporate newer examples and focus questions that will hopefully allow more students to participate in our discussions. We decided to work on coming up with concrete examples that pertain to students to hopefully gain more student participation.

[Pranavi Senthil]

Session #3: Every Deed Makes A Difference, Remarks on Trayvon Martin by President Obama
Focus Question: What is civic engagement and why is it important? What is a global civil society? What is your role in the global civil society?

For our third session, we created a short PowerPoint with definitions and key terms surrounding community service and making a difference. We hoped that this would increase engagement as students would be more familiar with key terms and concepts. After introducing concepts such as ethics, and civic duty, we asked students why they thought community involvement was important. Student A mentioned how it was important for the functioning of government. We then discussed the three types of civic engagement on the continuum with examples. Student B was very engaged around this time as she was quick to point out that activities can be related to multiple aspects of the continuum and can have elements of all three. We went over the examples one by one and had all the students give us an example of what they thought fit in the continuum. Just like last time, midway through our session around 8.50 was when a lot of students started coming to class. Moreover, the students who were laughing loudly and on their phones the last time were doing the same thing again. This made me feel disrespected but our team did not intervene because we did not think it was our place to do so.

We wrapped up the first half of our discussion on how every deed makes a difference and then played President Obama's speech on Trayvon Martin to introduce the second half of our discussion. The students listened attentively and then we opened up this discussion by asking students what they thought of the solutions proposed by Obama towards gun violence. Student C said that the laws and changes mentioned by Obama were a good starting point. Most students agreed with what President Obama said in the speech and did not have any other suggestions for laws to end racism and violence. We ended our discussion by reiterating the three continuums of community engagement and emphasized that all three aspects should be incorporated when trying to tackle a problem.

We got a lot more student engagement this time which I was really happy about but I was very disheartened when the two students' laughing and talking amongst themselves kept interrupting the flow of the class. The rules surrounding classroom decorum at a continuation seemed to be pretty lax. Just like last time, some students had their AirPods on and some were on their phones. Although we did get more engagement, it was the same students who kept speaking in all sessions. We need to brainstorm new ways to engage more students in the class without cold-calling students.

[Pranavi Senthil]

Session 4: Taking Sides & Finding Balance: China's One Child Policy & Three Ethical Perspectives Introduction
Focus Question: What ethical and moral principles inform our actions? How are these perspectives reflected in our laws? What are the trade-offs in the One Child Policy?

This was the session I was most excited about as it gave us the opportunity to present an alternate, more international perspective to the class. We started off with a discussion of the Trolley Case. Since the TV screen did not work, Julianna showed everyone a picture of the trolley case one by one. We asked the class what they would do in that scenario. When we took a vote to gauge what the students thought, most students said that they would not sacrifice the life of the stranger as that was manslaughter and punishable by law. After this, we introduced the Three Ethical Perspectives and explained the differences between the three. We had a new student (Student A) who hadn't attended our previous classes today and he shared his views about how he thought it was better if the observer did not intervene. 

After this, we discussed the Simon Holmes case to further the understanding of the three ethical perspectives. Most students agreed that this was an example of utilitarianism and that this would be a case of manslaughter. We did a vote to see what the students saw to increase participation because we felt that the session was stalling a little bit. Finally, we introduced China's One Child Policy to the class. Student A was extremely interested in this and asked us a lot of follow-up questions to learn more about the topic. We explained the reasoning behind the policy and most students seemed to agree that this was a case of utilitarian thinking as well. Student B asked us what the consequences were and we explained the female infanticide, the 4-2-1 problem, and the decrease in the enrollment in the military. In my opinion, the most challenging part of the class was making the students understand the differences between political structures in the West which focus on civil liberties and freedoms, and the East which focuses on the rights of a group as a whole. Furthermore, we made sure to incorporate the continuum which showed the spectrum between individual and state, justice and mercy, and freedom and loyalty to highlight the different political regimes across the world.

We had come prepared to execute this session really well and Student A's follow-up questions and engagement really directed the class forward. We understood that participating in class may be intimidating for some students so we did a lot of group votes to understand what the students felt and have them participate in a less intimidating way. Overall, the students were more engaged than before and we felt that this session offered an alternate perspective to the students.