Fostering Civic Identity in Architectural Technology Students through the Evaluation of Critical Reflection in Service Learning Coursework

This case study follows a semester long, commercial construction course in architectural technology. Students worked both individually and as a class to transform an existing residential structure into a mixed use building for a predominantly commercial use. The semester project was an existing house in a local, urban neighborhood, which is owned by the community partner. The non-profit organization wished to repurpose the house to a mixed-use commercial building, which would house art gallery space on the main level, as well as both short term and long term residences on the second floor. Students spent the entire semester to work through the design process, from field verification, to project programming, all the way through to construction documents, to create a code compliant and aesthetically pleasing building design solution. The authors seek to document from both the student and professor’s perspective, the progress in students’ civic identity, through artifacts collected which centered on values, attitudes, and/or beliefs. The student’s perspective will focus on her personal involvement, architectural technology related project deliverables and perceived academic outcomes, while the professor’s perspective will focus on the development of the students’ increased civic identity through the use of meaningful reflection. Lastly, the authors will conclude by extrapolating this experience to other disciplines and applications. Service Learning /Civic Mindedness Background: “Two principles define the essence of service learning. The hallmark of pedagogy is reflection: What intellectual underpinnings inform the process and how is the field experience used to challenge and refine this thinking? The crux of engagement is reciprocity: What did the students learn and how did the community benefit; or, conversely, what did the community learn and how did the students benefit?” (Harden, 2006) Regardless of discipline, effective course design and project selection is paramount for success in any service learning class. When beginning the selection of a community partner for a semester project, the author first seeks to follow the six guidelines, as set forth by The Center for Service and Learning at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). 1) Reciprocal partnerships and processes shape the community activities and course design. 2) Community activities enhance academic content, course design, and assignments. 3) Civic competencies (knowledge, skills, disposition, and behavior) are well integrated into student learning. 4) Diversity of interactions and dialogue with others across difference occurs regularly in the course. 5) Critical reflection is well integrated into student learning 6) Assessment is used for course improvement. While each community project comes with its specific set of advantages and disadvantages, evaluating reciprocity before engaging with a community partner has the potential to alleviate conflict for the duration of the project. Once a community project and partner have been prudently chosen, Sutton suggests the following transformative strategies to utilize in service learning pedagogy: “cumulative exposures, comprehensive experiences, capstone experiences, immersion experiences, interdisciplinary experiences, community participation, youth participation, reflective practice, long term participation, and institutional participation” (Sutton 2012). While this is a lengthy list of strategies, not all of these concepts can be applied to a single course, as several are realized over the duration of one’s academic career. The strategies most applicable to this paper are immersion experiences and reflective practice, due to the duration of this particular community engaged project. Moreover, the Civic-Minded Graduate Model “identifies the specific knowledge, skills, and dispositions to describe how students develop civic-mindedness. This model pulls from multiple disciplines, including, but not limited to, student development, social psychology, political and environmental science, and philanthropy. Conceptual Framework for Civic Minded Graduate includes: identity, educational experiences and civic experiences. Included in this framework are: knowledge, skills, dispositions and behavioral intentions.” (Weiss, 2017) Figure 1 provides a graphically annotated example of civic mindedness to further illustrate this complicated formation process. Given the complexities of civic mindedness, the authors are choosing to focus their efforts solely on the domain of civic identity. Through the engagement with a local non-profit organization, students were given the opportunity to exercise their ability to work with others from a different perspective, and reflect on how this engagement impacted each of them personally. Figure 1: Civic Minded Graduate Rubric Architectural Technology Course Artifacts: At the beginning of the semester, students visited the existing project site to measure, analyze, and document all of the building’s existing conditions. The community partner was present during this visit, and provided insight about what was desired for the future design. The client also mentioned strengths and weaknesses about the existing spaces, and further explained the community partner’s mission and goals. Next, the students spent several weeks drawing the existing building in a building information modeling software program, while also completing a thorough building code study. Students were tasked with completing a building design that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Students also had to develop a one word concept, which could be seen in all dimensions of the project. Figure 2 provides an example of a concept board, as created by one student. Figure 2: Example of Student Conceptual Work Once the students completed a building code study, to ensure code compliance, the class met with the community partner to present preliminary color plans. Students received critique from the client regarding both positive and negative aspects of their designs. Students were also able to ask the client clarifying questions to ensure proper direction for the duration of the semester. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate examples of student color plans, which were presented during the preliminary design presentation to the community partner. Figure 3: Example of Student Schematic Work Figure 4: Example of Student Schematic Work Students then spent the last half of the semester implementing the client changes and developing final deliverables for the semester project. Required deliverables, at the end of the semester, included: a completed building code study, a life safety plan, floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, exterior and interior renderings, and building elevations. The semester ended with a final client presentation, where students individually presented their refined, finalized drawings and models for the client. Figure 5: Example of Student Final Deliverables Critical Reflection Artifacts: In addition to the course artifacts listed above, which focused on the architectural learning outcomes, students were also tasked with completing several reflective essays and journal entries which focused on personal experiences and growth. Students also completed digital stories at the semester’s close, which highlighted with music, voice and images what they learned through this service learning project. “Digital storytelling is trumpeted as a useful tool in the promotion of deep learning. Deep learning, as opposed to surface learning, is a term used to describe the kind of learning process that involves the critical analysis of new ideas and linking them to already known concepts and principles, which leads to understanding and long-term retention of concepts so that they can be used for problem solving in unfamiliar contexts.” (Boase 2008) Listed below are the following prompts given during various milestones throughout the semester. Journal 1: Describe service learning in your own words. Also describe how working with a real client might impact your learning this semester. Journal 2: In the first paragraph, describe what you have learned about the client's organization and their values. In the second paragraph, describe what you have discovered through your research about the wants and needs of potential users of the space. Potential users are a residence for visiting artists and visitors for an art gallery. Journal 3: Write two typed paragraphs explaining your one word design concept. Please explain how this concept reinforces our client's values and mission in the first paragraph, and provide specific examples how your design will reflect your one word concept in the second paragraph. Journal 4: The first paragraph will include the three most valuable points of feedback you received while presenting your color plans to our clients. The second paragraph will describe tangible ways you are going to incorporate their feedback moving forward with your design. Journal 5: What have you learned about yourself? What have you learned about your community? What have you contributed to the community site? What values, opinions, beliefs have changed? What was the most important lesson learned? How have you been challenged? What should others do about this issue? What impact did you have on the community? Digital Storytelling Prompt: A Digital Story is a digital video clip, told in the author's own voice, illustrated mostly with still images, with a musical track added for emotional effect. For this course, the digital story should capture your narrative of what you have learned from your service learning experience, and how this might impact your future personal or professional life. Your story should focus on ONE of the following subjects: Biggest lessons learned throughout the semester, or the concept, development and completion of your semester project. Critical Reflection Coding and Analysis Method While t