Instructor: Connie Schrader
Office Hours: 8-10 T TH Office Number: 232.5652
Email: cschrader@unca.edu
Course Web Connection:
http://facstaff.unca.edu/cschrade
Policies
and Expectations
The premise of this course is “Health is Choice.”
The goal of our course is to understand ways we can choose to foster our
abilities and dissolve barriers to health and well-being so that we can choose
to be in an Optimal Performance state.
Attendance is critically distinct from participation. Students who attend class are indeed physically present in the room and often benefit from being there but whatever benefits they receive are entirely personal. To participate is to be involved in a reciprocal relationship with the instructor, the other students and the person you were when the session began. You will not receive credit for attendance but you will be required to honor the class-authored participation policy and meet your own individually generated goals.
Participation
Using the class-authored participation policy and a set of individually generated goals, your contributions to class will be assessed. The Participation Paper (details below) is a required element of this assignment. (50 points possible)
This assignment also includes a four-page typed participation analysis paper, submitted in installments, due dates indicated on the course calendar. The participation paper is an additional 25 points.
Installment One: one page reaction to and assessment of the class-generated participation policy and your own participation goals for the semester. Due August 23rd
Installment Two: one-page mid-course progress report reflecting on your own participation goals and making any modifications to those goals as necessary.
Installment Three: one-page final assessment of your participation as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of this process in this course and in your own education. Link to Assignments Page
Readings, activities and assignments are easily managed if
you schedule an hour between each class meeting rather than once/week.
Projects and research will require additional time.
In cases where assignments depend on material covered or presented in class, there is
no option for making up the work: you missed it.
To receive credit for the course as a WI you need to submit a minimum of 15 edited pages. To earn all 50 possible points, you will need to have done more than this minimum.
Your portfolio should be a collection of writings that are evidence of progress you have made over the course of the semester. The portfolio will contain your first drafts (all marked up), the summative comments of your reviewer, and the final draft of each of your writings. These documents can be contained in a binder, a notebook, a file folder or some other device of your choosing. What's important is that everything is in one place.
You are expected to reflect on your strengths and your weaknesses as you submit material so that the satisfaction of having accomplished improvement can be yours. Students who continually struggle with the same kinds of difficulties will be encouraged to arrange consultations with folks at the University Writing Center--a free resource. You are always encouraged to use this service and such a consultation counts as Peer Review.
Papers that have been effectively peer reviewed but show no evidence of development in the final draft will not be counted toward the total number of edited pages. Only those that show evidence of revision will be considered as having been edited. WI portfolio's will be awarded points as follows:
8-15 edited pages: 35 points 11-15 edited pages : 45 points 16-25: 50 points
We do not have a core text that follows our course week-by-week. We will use Thich Nhat Hanh"s book, Peace Is Every Step, as our central course literature. Hanh's book is a collection of essays which could be thought of as meditations on Mindfulness which, ultimately is what Optimal Performance really is. You will have five required reflections incorporating this book.
Other readings will be assigned and placed on e-reserve in
Ramsey Library. For most of these
readings I have prepared questions to guide your encounter, be that a writing
response or a discussion guide.
These questions are posted on the course web site.
Active Learning Project
This project will commence in the second half of our course, after we have some theoretical and practical tools and we have established relationships within our class community. As you can see from the total points possible, this is an important aspect of the course experience.
One of the goals of the course is to enable participants to make choices about being in a state of Optimal Performance. A necessary corollary of that goal is to explore barriers to being in Optimal Performance. This project will require you to identify a person or a group of people whose life experience you believe or predict to be compromised by challenges in one of the five components of wellness: Physical, Social, Emotional, Intellectual, or Spiritual. What are the barriers and challenges that this population is perceived to have? What choices are truly available? How does their situation relate to or impact your own?
The project will entail a minimum of ten contact hours working directly with the population you have targeted. you will not be "volunteering" but rather will be doing personal research exploring this issue, the potential you have to impact the issue, and the nature of the assets both you and your target population have in addressing this issue.
The fruits of your research will be presented to the class during our final class meetings. More information about this project is available here.
“Hey! That’s
personal!”
It is important to me that students master the theories and practices related to Optimum Performance. In many cases, this mastery will come from direct encounter with techniques introduced in class. If, however, you find you are uncomfortable with a specific exercise or a line of inquiry you are free to use someone else as a subject. In other words, you may choose to interview another person or answer the questions as you suspect another person would answer. You are strongly encouraged to discuss your concerns with your instructor should you feel uncomfortable.
Your grade reflects the degree to which you have shown evidence of learning. There are six requirements that give you the opportunity to produce such evidence. The word "learning" is used here in the broadest possible context. You are encouraged to think of learning as transformation rather than acquisition.
| The only kind of learning which significantly influences behavior is self-discovered or self-appropriated learning - truth that has been assimilated in experience. - Carl Rogers |
Reflective writings 10 points 60 points
Active Learning Project 100 points
Writer's Portfolio 50 points
Infolit competencies 5 each 60 points
Participation 50 points
Participation Paper 25 points