First Ascent Research
ODU-Symposium-FA-pdfHonors Civic Learning Project
My Civic Learning Project had a positive impact on both myself and the Perry Honors College. Halie Maass and I, both honors students and Outdoor Adventure Program (OAP) Trip Leaders and Challenge Course Facilitators, wanted to create a project that would help honors students break out of their comfort zones and connect with their peers. Through leading trips and facilitating challenge courses for the OAP, we often achieve these kinds of goals with our participants. We thought that creating a program for honors students to grow as individuals and as a community through an outdoor adventure trip would be a great approach to meet these goals, so we developed our Civic Learning Project.
Halie and I planned a weekend camping trip to First Landing State Park specifically for honors students. This trip would serve as an introduction to camping, and our participants could grow through different team-building activities that we use on our Challenge Course. Not only that, but honors students would be able to build friendships within the Living Learning Community of the Honors College. This Civic Learning Project was a valuable experience for my learning because I was able to develop my leadership through the programming of an event that connected two impactful parts of my college experience: the Outdoor Adventure Program, and the Perry Honors College.
This project gave me the valuable experience of creating a program to achieve a specific goal. As an Exercise Science major, creating programs to meet a specific goal is crucial to any role in my field of study, whether that be setting goals for research, or creating a program for the goals of a specific client or patient.
For this project, Halie and I set the goal of creating a program for Honors College students to develop as a community while breaking out of their comfort zones, enabling them to grow as individuals. Halie and I agreed that the combination of an outdoor adventure trip and challenge course activities would help us to reach this goal. The experience of spending time in nature and working together to complete tasks necessary in order to camp gives participants the opportunity to develop as a community and bond with each other. Activities from the challenge course are designed to bring participants out of their comfort zones, and to develop skills such as teamwork, communication, and leadership. The combination of these two experiences would foster a setting for personal and social growth for our participants.
This program was different from leading any OAP trip or facilitating any challenge course program because I had the freedom to combine aspects of each, and even add my own creative aspects to the program. For example, I included an activity that we do not typically include on any of our trips: having participants write a letter to themselves in order to reflect on what they learned over the weekend that they can read at the end of the semester. This activity was a great way to wrap up the trip, which had the specific goal of participants developing a community and growing as individuals. Participants will be able to look back at what they wrote about this weekend, and reflect on how they have grown during and since the trip.
Another way this project benefited me is that it helped me to further develop my leadership skills, and I can apply the leadership I developed during this trip to my studies. In the field of Exercise Science, I will have an important role of keeping clients or patients engaged in achieving their goals, even if that means I have to change the original plan. During this trip, I specifically focused on developing a leadership style that kept participants engaged in the experience. This trip had a different dynamic than usual because Halie and I had to tailor our leadership toward meeting the specific goals of our project. There were quite a few instances during the planning and execution of this project in which I had to adapt in order to keep our participants engaged.
Halie and I had many great ideas that would work with a larger group of participants, and ideas specifically geared toward freshmen transitioning to college. We originally had 15 spots available for the trip, but even after we had about 20 students show interest, only four students could participate. Of the four participants, there were two sophomores and one freshman that had already attended a wilderness orientation trip over the summer with the OAP. Because of these factors, we decided to tailor the trip toward our audience and eliminated some of the activities geared toward college transition and incoming freshmen. We focused on connecting the Honors College students with each other, and individual growth. This proved to be helpful: these students seemed to build friendships with one another and stepped out of their comfort zones. For example, one of our participants took a leadership position during an activity in which he admitted he would usually sit back and let someone else take charge. Another example was when a participant who was quite introverted at the beginning of the trip was asking for the other participants’ phone numbers before they all parted ways. These are just a few of the positive outcomes resulting from my ability to remain flexible and engage participants as their leader during this trip.
The Perry Honors College has also benefited from this Civic Learning Project, from the perspective of the individual students within the Perry Honors College, and from the perspective of the Perry Honors College as a whole.
This program created an opportunity for the participating honors students to learn about themselves and their Honors community. Throughout the trip, students participated in team-building activities that focused on skills such as problem-solving, communication, leadership, and trust. Following each challenge, students had the opportunity to discuss what they did, how they did it, and what knowledge they could gain from each activity. Students were able to take lessons they learned in previous challenges into their next, more difficult challenge.
Students developed individually and socially solely from their time spent in the outdoors. A memorable example of this was when one of our participants, who had never been waist-deep in the ocean, conquered her fear, and joined her encouraging peers in the water. By exiting her comfort zone, she was able to grow as an individual by gaining a sense of accomplishment that she could apply to other aspects of her life. Another memorable example was when one of our participants expressed to us that he gained trust in his group members simply through the act of cooking dinner together. Working together to complete this task allowed our group to grow as a strong community.
Apart from the benefits of individual honors students, this program has benefited the Perry Honors College as a whole by creating a line of communication with the Outdoor Adventure Program. The Outdoor Adventure Program has a great deal to offer regarding opportunities for individuals and groups, and this relationship has the potential to impact the Perry Honors College in a positive way. There are many different types of programs that the Perry Honors College could execute partnered with the OAP. For example, the Perry Honors College could request a day hike trip with OAP so that Living Learning Community members can connect with one another; the OAP could hold a paddle and barbecue night specifically for honors students at Whitehurst beach to celebrate the end of the academic semester; Challenge Course Programs could be hosted by the OAP for specific learning communities or honors courses, so that students can improve teamwork, communication, and leadership; the First Landing Beach Camping trip could become an annual event, providing a unique opportunity for students of different majors and interest to socialize and form a community. My Civic Learning Project was a valuable experience for my learning because I was able to transfer skills I have learned through being a leader and facilitator for the Outdoor Adventure Program and apply them to my impact in the Honors College community and my own academic studies. Not only that, but I was able to impact the honors students that participated in our program positively by teaching them new skills that they can apply to their studies and college career. I believe that this new partnership between the Perry Honors College and Outdoor Adventure Program has the potential to impact students in a positive way, and I look forward to any future programming.
Upper-Level Exercise Science Coursework
EXSC 408: Nutrition for Fitness and Sport
EXSC 417: Biomechanics
EXSC 420: Research Methods
EXSC 431W: Writing-Intensive Wellness Programming and Administration
Perry Honors College Courses
History 126H: Interpreting the American Past
History 126, Interpreting the American Past, Honors Section, was my first Honors course and class at Old Dominion University. The class consisted of lectures, discussions, quizzes, exams, and document analyses. The course was a challenge for me at the start, but as the semester went on I began to understand what was expected of me and earned an A.
The two quizzes and two exams had identical formats. The professor provided a study guide with a list of twenty terms. For each of the terms, I had to know the decade, major characteristics, and importance. Out of the twenty terms, six appeared on the quizzes and exams, and out of the six terms, I chose three to write about. For the exams, four essay questions were presented in the study guide, two appeared on the exam, and I chose one. These quizzes and tests ensured that I learned the information presented during the lectures and discussions.
I completed four document analyses during my semester. The first analysis was not as thorough as my last three, but after my first one, I learned what I needed to improve on. I learned the most from these analyses, because I had to research, write, and interpret important documents in United States history. These analyses helped me gain a deeper understanding of the history of these major documents including the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the Declaration of Sentiments, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. I learned how much an impact all of these documents have had on American history.
My professor would always say, “Never read history backward.” This statement describes what I have gained out of this course. I have learned of the impact events from the past have affected current events. Overall, this class taught me the importance of the history of politics and the world today.
ENGL 127L: Literature in Medicine
OBESI-TV.pptxEnglish 127L, Literature in Medicine, is one of my favorite lower-division courses I have taken here at Old Dominion University. The class consisted of weekly journal entries, essays, article critiques, a midterm and final review of the literature we read throughout the semester, and a final presentation. This course exposed me to many different genres about the medical world and gave me the freedom to explore topics I was especially interested in.
One of the first assignments in this course was to write a memoir about an experience related to medicine. I enjoyed this assignment because I was able to write about an experience that relates to my major and intended career path of physical therapy. In the critical analysis essay, I was able to compare the identities of freaks in Franz Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist,” and “Metamorphosis.” This assignment was significant because I learned how to critically analyze fictional works from the same author and make connections between the two different protagonists. Both essays also helped me improve upon the process of drafting, conducting peer reviews, and editing for the final draft.
The article critiques focused on identifying the thesis in non-fiction articles, identifying supporting evidence, and either supporting or opposing the argument. This assignment was significant because it helped me focus on identifying bias or missing counterarguments in a persuasive article instead of focusing on only the supporting evidence.
My favorite part of this class was the final presentation because we had the freedom to present any topic related to the course. I chose to conduct research on a popular fad, television shows about obesity. I chose this because of the literature we read about freaks and wanted to know if obesity television shows were equivalent to freak shows starring obese individuals. I examined a variety of popular television shows and used convenience sampling to present data to the class. I concluded that it was possible for these shows to be educational and inspirational, but many audiences still do perceive these shows as freak shows were perceived in the 1800s.
Overall, Literature in Medicine helped me improve upon my critical reading skills and the writing process, taught me about medicine throughout history through the fictional and nonfictional works we read in class, and allowed me to be creative in my writing and research.
ENGL 231C: Introduction to Scientific and Technical Writing
This course had three major written assignments on the topic of climate change games: the annotated bibliography, game analysis, and research report. This course helped me to develop rhetorical knowledge by exposing me to various types of sources and requiring me to draft a variety of genres. In order to write the annotated bibliography, I had to analyze sources of similar topics with different styles. Finding various sources on the same topic represented different literature in the field of climate change and games, a very specific topic. The game analysis exposed me to an uncommon source to analyze, which was an online game. In the research report, I had the opportunity to analyze my own data. After analyzing my own data, I had to organize my data into a format that would support or counter the information I collected from the annotated bibliography and game analysis assignments, and I was able to incorporate my own hypothesis and research into the analysis of this game.
English 231C helped me to develop critical thinking, reading, and information literacy skills through each of these three assignments. Writing an annotated bibliography requires locating relevant sources, then analyzing each source. The summative analysis of the annotated bibliography required critical reading to properly summarize the information presented in each article, and the evaluative analysis of the annotated bibliography required critical thinking in order to distinguish how the source could be used in my research. I believe that I could always improve upon my skills as a critical reader and evaluating information from scholarly sources, and I will remember my experience with this course when I critically analyze sources throughout my academic career. Writing about the game in the game analysis helped me to process the meaning behind the game versus just playing it. Critical reading was required for this because I had to read into the details of gaming instructions, the game itself, and had to pull information from previously analyzed sources that fit within the analysis of the specific game Enercities. Conducting my own research for the research report helped me gain a deeper understanding of the topic rather than just reading about it. Once I conducted my testing sessions, I used inductive thematic analysis to categorize quantitative data I would be collecting and then analyzing in my discussion section.
This course required me to improve upon my drafting and composing strategies because of the process it took to develop the final draft of each of the three assignments. Each assignment required writing a draft, receiving feedback from peers, and editing based on feedback. Providing feedback to my peers was also beneficial because I was able to compare sources, analyses, and I could see which details were missing from my work. After I received feedback, I was able to decide if the feedback I received would alter my writing, and edit the rest of the draft from there. Overall, this course has prepared me for conducting scholarly research, analyzing sources, conducting usability testing, and constructing a report using the IMRAD format in the future. The information I learned in this course is valuable to me, because I am going into a scientific career field, and will be conducting research in my college career. This will require me to conduct research from current scholarship, define my own hypothesis, conduct testing sessions, collect and analyze data, write a report on my findings, and present my findings to an audience. The assignments in this course built on each other, creating this process of scientific writing. The weekly activities were relevant to the next major assignment and were often a starting point to a section in a draft. For example, Activity 3 was a starting point for the game description in my game analysis, Activity 4 was where I drafted information I put in the “Representation” section of my research report, and I used Activity 7 as a springboard in a major part of my data analysis during gameplay. Although the topic of research, climate change games, does not relate to topics I will be studying throughout college and beyond, I found the information interesting and useful, and I believe that this course was a great starting point for undergraduate research.