Family 445: Family Practicum Syllabus

Learning Outcomes

Overarching Goal: Students will capture a vision and develop confidence in their ability to use knowledge and skills learned from the major, coupled with their individual and unique strengths and abilities, to strengthen individuals and families through the delivery of family life education.

Foundational Knowledge

a. Learn principles and methods associated with delivering family life education, including understanding ethics that provide guidance when teaching family life education.

Application

a. Prepare & deliver family life education that makes a difference in the lives of others, this includes a professional write-up of all activities.

b. Demonstrate the ability to teach & facilitate small-group discussions effectively using active learning methods.

c. Apply critical & creative thinking skills by learning to think critically about issues & circumstances affecting those serviced by students in the class. Also, use creative thinking to apply the gospel and scholarly literature to address specific needs of individuals & families.

d. Prepare for the transition of becoming a professional.

Integration

a. Demonstrate ability to draw upon and integrate past learning and experience with scholarly literature from the field when preparing and delivering family life education.

Human Dimension

a. Understand & appreciate personal strengths and attributes (i.e., skills, abilities, gifts) related to working with and helping others, including ways to continue building upon & refining these attributes.

b. Increase confidence and develop vision as to your ability to deliver family life education and to make a difference in the lives of others as a mentor and/or teacher.

c. Be a cooperative member of and make an important contribution to a team.

Caring

a. Create greater concern for individuals and their families who are in need of assistance and have a greater desire to reach out and help these families using one's unique gifts and expertise.

Learning how to learn

a. Demonstrate ability to develop family life curriculum by researching a given topic using scholarly sources and by preparing detailed lesson plans for teaching, using active learning methods.

b. Demonstrate the skill of taking stock and being reflective in order to improve the delivery of family life education.

Note

Outcomes were structured using the taxonomy from: Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Learning Activities

Course Project

To receive hands-on, experiential training with individuals and families by applying knowledge and skills learned in the major, you are to develop and teach family life education by completing one of the following two options, as further described below: 1) Family Relations, or 2) Family Life Education Workshop.

1) Family Relations: Family Relations is a service provided by students in the family practicum whereby the practicum students work in pairs to teach family life education to another individual or couple who is interested in receiving the education. This will be done by working with a participant over Skype or Google+ to identifying specific family related needs and then preparing and teaching curriculum to address those needs. After conducting an initial interview to identify participant needs and establish learning goals, individualized lessons lasting approximately 40-50 minutes each will be taught once per week for approximately 4 weeks.

Each pair of students who participate in the Family Relations option is to serve two to three participants over the course of the semester. Participants will come from two sources. First, instructors teaching the family practicum will market the Family Relations program to students enrolled at BYU-Idaho. Those who are interested in the program will sign up by completing an online survey, which will enable practicum students to understand the general needs of a given participant. The names of potential participants will then be made available to practicum students so that each partnership can sign up to teach a given participant.

Second, each pair of students is responsible to find at least one of their own participants to teach. You could teach a friend, an acquaintance, a friend of a friend, a distant family member, or someone in your circle of contacts. However, avoid teaching very close friends or family members. The reason being is that the relationship becomes too casual, familiar, and the interactions become characteristic of close friends rather than a professional type of a relationship. If in doubt, visit with your instructor about potential participants. In order to teach someone you know, the individual must first complete the online survey. You must also inform your instructor of the name of the individual you will be teaching so that the person you refer to the program can be reserved for you and your partner.

As you contemplate people you know that you could work with, there are a few thoughts to keep in mind. A) Some potential participants have "messy" family situations, especially when there are relationship problems. You don't want to know all of the details of the messy situations, especially if you are quite close to the individual; so the best thing to do is to avoid working with these potential participants altogether. Moreover, you must maintain a principle-based, educational focus, rather than a counseling type of interaction. B) Look for someone who will genuinely benefit from the education, rather than someone that simply goes through the motions of participating so that you can receive credit. C) What social networks can you use to help find potential participants? Your social networks are an excellent source for finding people that could genuinely benefit from the family life education.

Portfolio: Family Relations

Along with preparing and teaching family life education, you are to create a professional portfolio that captures what you did and what you learned. When completed, the portfolio will serve as a finished product that can be shared with a potential employer. In fact, as you organize and write your portfolio, keep in mind that the audience you are writing to is a potential employer. Make sure the portfolio is well written, organized, and professional in content and appearance.

As mentioned above those interested in the Family Relations option are to work with another partner from the class. As a partnership, you are to work as a team and create one portfolio between the two of you. Having said this, keep in mind that the practicum is to help each student in the class to develop and refine a range of skills (i.e., writing, interpersonal relations, use of technology, ability to work through problems and challenges, teaching, research, etc.) Therefore, students are responsible to ensure that they and their partner learn from all aspects of the practicum project, especially in those areas where one tends to lack confidence or has limitations. For example, it may be tempting to shy away from learning activities in areas where one tends to have weaknesses and to complete activities associated with one's strengths. Doing so defeats the purpose of the practicum experience. In short, you are strongly encouraged to teach and support one another in the range of learning activities so that both of you grow in remarkable ways from the practicum experience.

The portfolio must be structured using the following sections:

  1. Title page
  2. Table of contents
  3. Introduction to the practicum experience, including a description of Family Relations. Double-space the text within the portfolio.
  4. Program structure: Describe the overall structure of the program. Provide detail! Exactly how did you structure the program? Double-space the text.
  5. Pilot program: Before implementing the program, each group will have an opportunity to pilot their program by delivering a portion of their program to members of the class or another group of individuals. The purpose of the pilot is to practice facilitating the program and to assess the content and effectiveness of learning activities and methods. In your portfolio, summarize the details of how you piloted your program and lessons learned about the content of the program and teaching methods. Double-space the text.
  6. Intake summary, including specific learning goals to address the needs of the family, as identified in the intake interview. Note: Other than participants' first names, be sure to delete all identifying information from the summary in order to maintain anonymity. Within the portfolio, single-space the intake summary, including the learning goals. Use a blank line between sections and bold the heading of each new section so that the reader can quickly distinguish between sections. In terms of the order in which to place the intake summary, lesson plans, and reflective and learning integration summaries in the portfolio, follow the following format: Intake summary for participant #1, lesson plan #1 for participants #1, reflective and learning integration summary #1 for participant #1, lesson plan #2 for participant #1, reflective and learning integration summary #2 for participant #1... etc.; intake summary for participant #2, lesson plan #1 for participant #2, reflective and learning integration summary #1 for participant #2,…etc.
  7. Lesson plans: Include detailed and interactive lesson plans that are directly related to the learning goals. Make sure lesson plans include: specific learning goals for each session; a description of how a given session will be structured; scholarly research, theory, and/or doctrine to teach; ways to involve participants; questions; learning activities; visuals; handouts or other materials to use; references, etc. Single-space the text. Place the final lesson plan in the portfolio using single-spaced text.
  8. Reflective and learning integration summaries: Directly following each lesson plan and its associated teaching interaction, include a reflective summary and a summary of how you are integrating what you are learning from the practicum experience with prior learning. For specific details on what to include in these summaries, see the section on Reflective and Learning Integration Summaries in the syllabus. Double-space the text.
  9. Assessment Plan/Summary: How effective were the lessons in accomplishing the learning goals and how effective were you as a teacher/facilitator? These questions are to be addressed by conducting an assessment of the family life education program and by summarizing the results, along with your personal observations of the program. You are to include the instrument used for the assessment in the appendix and the plan and summary in the assessment summary section of the portfolio. For more specific detail on writing the assessment summary, see the form: Assessment of Program and Teaching Effectiveness.
  10. Reference Section: Provide a complete reference section of all citations in the portfolio, in alphabetical order. Be sure references are in APA format. Submit the reference section at the time you submit the final portfolio. Double-space the text.
  11. Appendix: Include material used in the development of the program (i.e., surveys, marketing material, PowerPoint presentation, visuals, handouts, etc.). At the end of the appendix, you are to also include a copy of your current resume. Place the final lesson plan in the portfolio using single-spaceed text

Note

Before turning in work to be evaluated by the instructor, you and your partner must carefully review and edit work to be submitted. In other words, written work that has been reviewed by only one member is not sufficient. Use a google document to do this.

2) Family Life Education Workshop

You are to develop, implement, market, and evaluate a family life education program. Ideally, this program is to be carried out in small groups of two to three students per group that have similar interests in a program topic. However, this will most likely be difficult because online students probably live in different locations. If so, you can complete this project alone, or you could work with another student to develop a program and then teach it independent of one another within your own community. In other words, you can work together (i.e., program development and portfolio) except for the teaching portion. To come up with a workshop topic you will need to identify the family related needs of a specific target group and will also need to take into consideration areas of family life that you are interested and somewhat knowledgeable in. General content areas associated with family life are listed in Appendix B of the text for the class (Duncan & Goddard, 2011). Use this appendix to help generate potential topics.

Once you have worked closely with the instructor to determine a specific need to address in the target population, you will need to develop the program based on scholarly material from the field. Material and ideas can be borrowed from existing programs as long as proper citation is given and the material is tailored to the unique needs of those you intend to teach. If an existing program is used, you must research the topic of interest beyond the existing program so as to be better prepared for the workshop and to gain greater expertise in a given area.

Each practicum student must complete a minimum of four hours of direct face-to-face interaction with participants, although these four hours could be comprised of teaching the same workshop to more than one group of individuals, or it could include meeting with the same group over multiple sessions.

Portfolio: Family Life Education Workshop

Based on the FLE workshop you develop and implement, you are to create a professional portfolio that captures what you did and what you learned. When completed, the portfolio will serve as a finished product that can be shared with a potential employer. In fact, as you organize and write your portfolio, keep in mind that the audience you are writing to is a potential employer. Make sure the portfolio is well written, organized, and professional in content and appearance.

If you are able to work with another member of the class, you are to create one portfolio between the two of you. Having said this, keep in mind that the practicum is to help each student in the class to develop and refine a range of skills (i.e., writing, interpersonal relations, use of technology, ability to work through problems and challenges, teaching, research, etc.) Therefore, students are responsible to ensure that they and their partner learn from all aspects of the practicum project, especially in those areas where one tends to have weaknesses and to complete activities associated with one's strengths. Doing so defeats the purpose of the practicum experience. In short, you are strongly encouraged to teach and support one another in the range of learning activities so that both of you grow in remarkable ways from the practicum experience.

The portfolio must be structured using the following sections:

  1. Title page
  2. Table of contents
  3. Literature review: Provide a brief literature review summarizing what we know about the identified family life topic. This literature review provides a scholarly foundation upon which the program is based and serves as an introduction to the purpose of the family life education program. Sources for this literature review should come from theory and research from professional journal articles, book chapters, and other credible articles from scholars in the field. This review should be roughly 3-4 pages, double-spaced.
  4. Target audience, needs, and learning goals: Provide a description of the target audience, followed by a description of specific needs of this identified audience (use headings to separate all three of these sections). After describing the target audience and their specific needs, list the learning goals you will establish to address the needs of the target audience. When developing leaning goals, writing a more general, overall learning goal for the workshop helps the reader to understand the general focus. Then list the specific learning goals that will help you to meet the overall learning goal. Be sure to list the goals in terms of what participants will learn, do, value, change, etc. When listing the specific learning goals, listing them with bullets encourages you to share goals that are concise and concrete. Moreover, bullets enable the reader to quickly see the goals that drives the workshop. Double-space the text.
  5. Program structure: Describe the overall structure of the program. Provide detail! Exactly how did you structure the program? Double-space the text.
  6. Marketing: Provide a summary stating how you identified and recruited participants for your program. Double-space the text.
  7. Pilot program: Before implementing the program, each group will have an opportunity to pilot their program by delivering a portion of their program to members of the class or another group of individuals. The purpose of the pilot is to practice facilitating the program and to assess the content and effectiveness of learning activities and methods. In your portfolio, summarize the details of how you piloted your program and lessons learned about the content of the program and teaching methods. Double-space the text.
  8. Lesson plans: Include detailed and interactive lesson plans that are directly related to the learning goals. Make sure lesson plans include: specific learning goals for each session; a description of how a given session will be structured; scholarly research, theory, and/or doctrine to teach; ways to involve participants; questions; learning activities; visuals; handouts or other materials to use; references, etc. Within the portfolio, single-space the lesson plans. Use a blank line between sections and bold the heading of each new section so that the reader can quickly distinguish between sections.
  9. Reflective and learning integration summaries: Directly following each lesson plan and its associated teaching interaction, include a reflective summary and a summary of how you are integrating what you are learning from the practicum experience with prior learning. For specific details on what to include in these summaries, see the section on Reflective and Learning Integration Summaries in the syllabus. Double-space the text.
  10. Assessment summary: How effective were the lessons in accomplishing the learning goals and how effective were you as a teacher/facilitator? These questions are to be addressed by conducting an assessment of the family life education program and by summarizing the results, along with your personal observations of the program. You are to include the instrument used for the assessment in the appendix and the plan and summary in the assessment summary section of the portfolio. For more specific detail on writing the assessment summary, see the handout: Assessment of Program and Teaching Effectiveness.
  11. Reference Section: Provide a complete reference section of all citations in the portfolio, in alphabetical order. Be sure references are in APA format. Submit the reference section at the time you submit the final portfolio. Double-space the text.
  12. Appendix: Include material used in the development of the program (i.e., surveys, marketing material, PowerPoint presentation, visuals, handouts, etc.). At the end of the appendix, you are to also include a copy of your current resume.

Note

Before turning in work to be evaluated by the instructor, you and your partner must carefully review and edit work to be submitted. In other words, written work that has been reviewed by only one member is not sufficient. Use a google document to do this.

Partnership and Consultants

To provide quality education to participants, each student will serve in two different roles: 1) as a partner (or "partnership"). You are to work with a partner to prepare and deliver the education, as described above. And 2) you and your partner are to serve as consultants to another partnership. As consultants, you are to provide observational insights to help another assigned partnership prepare for and deliver an effective program, this includes carefully critiquing curriculum, offering suggestions, and where possible, sharing observations about teaching and program delivery.

As a partnership, you are expected to turn in quality work. If needed, use your consultants to critique your work prior to submitting it to the instructor. As a consultant, you should have the same willingness and commitment to provide needed assistance.

Caution: As consultants, you have a responsibility to help the other partnership to be successful. At the same time, be careful! Don't try to micromanage the other team. Once suggestions or observations are extended, back off and let the other partnership decide what counsel to use and not to use. Also, be cautious about providing observations that are not solicited. In short, be sensitive to roles and boundaries. Be involved as needed, but not overbearing.

Evaluation: At the conclusion of the program, students within each partnership will evaluate themselves and one another based on specific teamwork skills. Students will also evaluate themselves and those who consulted them based on helpfulness and dependability. These assessments will be used as part of one's assessment of preparation and participation for the course.

Reflective and Learning Integration Summaries

Following each teaching interaction associated with your practicum project, you are to address the following two sections in writing: reflective summary and learning integration summary. Make sure your summaries are well-written and use headings to separate the two sections. Within your portfolio, place these summaries directly following each lesson plan associated with a given teaching interaction.

Reflective summary: After each teaching interaction, record the date that you taught, along with the location and number of participants in attendance. In addition, reflect on your teaching experience and respond to the questions that are most relevant, along with any others that will help you to learn from the interaction. Skip those that may not be as applicable for a given teaching interaction.

  1. Brief assessment of the participant or workshop participants: I.e., How did the teaching interaction seem to go for the participant(s)? What was the participants' level of receptivity to learning? If in Family Relations, how would I describe the emotional well-being of the participant? Etc.
  2. Based on my most recent teaching interaction, what specific concerns do I have for the participant(s)?
  3. What went well during the teaching interaction?
  4. What would I change if I could do the teaching interaction over again?
  5. What did I learn from the teaching interaction?
  6. What did I learn about myself from the teaching interaction?
  7. What are the "cautions" to be aware of when teaching the participant/workshop in the future, given the specific needs, personality, family dynamics, life circumstances, recent stress or changes in one's life, upbringing, and culture of the participant(s).
  8. What are some possible directions for a follow-up workshop (or teaching interaction) for the future in order to more fully meet the needs of the participant(s)?

Learning integration summary: What connections can you make between your teaching experience and previous learning? Address this question by responding to at least one of the following: 1) Beyond material used in your lesson plan, relate your thoughts and observations from the session to at least one piece of theory and/or research. If necessary, build clear bridges between what you are observing and thinking by going back and reviewing the literature or by studying literature that you are only vaguely familiar with. 2) How does the most recent teaching interaction, including information you taught, relate to your observations and personal experiences of family life?

How does this learning activity differ from learning-teaching interactions, as described in the syllabus? This learning activity builds upon the reflective summary by connecting your experience during a specific teaching interaction with previous learning, whereas the learning-teaching interaction is focused on connecting learning from the reading with other learning. Moreover, the reflective summary and learning integration write-up become part of the portfolio, whereas the outlines for the learning-teaching interactions do not.

Learning-Teaching Interactions

The purpose of this course is to use knowledge and skills learned from the major, coupled with your unique strengths and abilities, to strengthen individuals and families through the delivery of family life education. To accomplish this goal, you will need to think deeply about everything you have learned in the major.

Learning-teaching interactions are designed to help you accomplish the objective of strengthening families by integrating your learning from the reading with other learning. Approximately every two to three weeks you will have a learning activity that consists of integrating your thoughts from the course readings with insights learned from other courses at BYU-Idaho and from the practicum experience. Your thoughts are to be written down in an outline/resume format. Then, consistent with the learning model at BYU-Idaho, you are to use your outline to teach what you have learned using a video recording, which will be posted to I-Learn and listened to by other members of your program and consulting teams at a time convenient for them. The length of video recordings should be kept within 7-8 minutes. This means you will need to identify selected insights from your outline to share in the video recording. Please be respectful of other team members by not exceeding this time limit.

The outline should be organized in a resume style, using headings to illustrate key principles/concepts, with supporting detail under each heading. Make sure your outline is well organized so that key insights can be quickly identified. Use bullets, empty space between sections, etc. You do not have to write in complete sentences, however provide enough detail with each bullet to represent a clear thought. Single-space the outline and condense your thoughts and insights into about one to one and a half pages of text. Like a resume, leave a blank line between sections.

To help stimulate your thoughts and in preparation for organizing your outlines, a set of questions will be posted to I-Learn each week. Moreover, you should include and respond to a few of your own questions in your outline. You are strongly encouraged to think about the questions that are posted and work on writing and organizing your thoughts into an outline as you progress through each segment of the course, rather than procrastinating until the due date. Otherwise, this learning activity becomes merely busy work and a waste of your time. Moreover, outlines will not pass the instructor's assessment if they appear to be busy work. Along with a structured and well organized outline, the instructor is especially looking for the integration of your thoughts, as described above, and for evidence of in-depth thinking. After using your outline to teach other classmates using a video-recorded format, you are to post your outline to I-Learn, along with your recorded teaching interaction.

Once video-recorded teaching-interactions have been posted to I-Learn, you are to listen to the recordings of your partner and members in your consulting team. Afterword, you are to share your thoughts and insights from the learning-teaching interactions of others to discussion board. Once again, share thoughts that represent in-depth thinking and contribute to the learning of others. Posts should be equivalent to at least one-third to one-half page, single-spaced text, using Times New Roman, 12 point font.

In summary, learning/teaching interactions will be evaluated based on:

Outline

a) Evidence of in-depth thinking.

b) How well your insights demonstrate understanding of reading material. Make sure you focus on your thoughts, insights, and questions rather than summarizing the reading material.

c) Your ability to integrate content from the course with learning from other courses and life experiences.

d) Your ability to relate content knowledge to your practicum experience delivering family life education, and vice versa.

e) A well organized and structured outline; approximately one to one and a half pages of single-spaced text.

f) Post the outline to I-Learn.

Teach one another

g) Share selected insights from your outline with class members in a video recording that is posted to I-Learn, along with the outline. The length of video recordings should be kept within 7-8 minutes.

h) After listening to the recorded teaching interactions of each member in your program and consulting teams, post your thoughts and insights related to the recordings to the discussion board. Posts should be equivalent to at least one-third to one-half page, single-spaced text.

Due dates

a) Outline and video recording: Post these to I-learn; Due on Wednesday of the given week it is due, before 11:59 PM.

b) Discussion board post: After listening to recorded teaching interactions of team members, post your thoughts and insights to the recordings to I-Learn; Due on Saturday of the given week it is due, before 11:59 PM.

Final Reflection Paper: Personal Growth

You are to conclude your practicum by reflecting on and responding to the following questions. Where possible, give examples to illustrate your conclusions. The paper should be 3-4 pages (double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font, with one-inch margins on all sides of each page). Structure the different sections of the paper using headings. Make sure you use proper spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. Make sure each paragraph contains only one main idea. In short, the paper must be well written.

  1. How has this practicum affected my attitude toward and sensitivity to the needs of those whom I served during the practicum?
  2. What are some of my greatest personal attributes or gifts of the Spirit as they pertain to working with and helping others? (For an excellent summary of various gifts of the Spirit that one may have yet not recognize, see: Marvin J. Ashton, There are many gifts, Ensign, November 1997. Link: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1987/10/there-are-many-gifts?lang=eng)
  3. What gifts of the Spirit or abilities related to working with others would I like to seek for and further develop?
  4. How has my confidence in my ability to deliver family life education and to make a difference in the lives of others changed over the semester?
  5. What are a few of the most important lessons I learn about myself as a result of this practicum experience?
  6. Looking into the future, in what capacities do I see myself delivering family life education and making a difference in the lives of others as a mentor or teacher, whether I am a homemaker, paid professional, volunteer, etc.?

Resume

Part of becoming a professional is having professional papers, including a resume. To this end, you are to complete a polished resume.

Prerequisites

Faml 150, 160, 220, 300, and HFED 340.

Required Materials

There are two e-books that are used and built into this course. A hard copy of the book is not required for this course. But, if you would like to purchase a hard copy of the book(s), please purchase them on Amazon.

Duncan, S. F., & Goddard, H. W. (2011). Family life education: Principles and practices for effective outreach (2nded.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. ISBN: 978-1-4129-7908-5

Teachings the gospel: A handbook for CES teachers and leaders(1994). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church Educational System. ISBN: 02348-29000

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Grading Policies

(Mastery Level Grading System)

Disclaimers

Code of Honor

It is expected that you will observe the Code of Honor: specifically – be honest, refrain from plagiarizing or any form of cheating; obey all rules and regulations; comply with the college dress and grooming standards; and help others in class to also fulfill their responsibilities to the Code of Honor.

Sexual Harassment/disabilities Statements

Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds, including Federal loans and grants. Title IX also covers student-to-student sexual harassment. If you encounter unlawful sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination, please contact the Personnel Office at 496-1130.

Students with Disabilities

Brigham Young University-Idaho is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere which reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. In compliance with applicable disability law, qualified students with a disability may be entitled to "reasonable accommodation." It is the student's responsibility to disclose to the teacher and the Services for Students with Disabilities Office, 496-1158, any special need she/he may have before the end of the first week of class. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by this office.