CCED 7023 is Field Study. It should be taken near the end of the program of study. This is an action research project that asks you spend some time on one or more community college campuses. While this does not come up to the standard of an "internship," the purpose of the course is to get you into the "field" to experience firsthand what a community college is all about (to get a "feel" for community colleges at the gut level). If you have connections at a community college, there might be a project the college would like you to help with (e.g., analyzing their web site, analyzing their retention data). For those of you who do not work at a community college, the expectation is that you will spend at least 24 to 32 hrs "in the field" for this project.

You might sit in on classes or observe students outside the classroom environment or observe and interview community college officials. Your "field study" could compare and contrast textbook information with what you observed firsthand.

You might come up with a project that calls for interviewing students and/or faculty. As an example, suppose you are interested in the opportunities and challenges facing part time or adjunct faculty on a community college campus. You might want to know what they did to get their foot in the door so to speak. Do some reading in the library and off of the internet and then visit one or two community colleges to interview part time faculty to find out firsthand what their work environments and concerns are like. The field study report would consist of your library research and your interview findings.

If you already work at a community college, your needs are different. In your case try to take on a project that takes you out of your regular work setting (i.e., your comfort zone) into a new environment in order to experience a new perspective on community colleges. Is there someone at the institution where you work that might like some help with a special project or that would help you get a different kind of learning experience? For example, you might ask the finance officer at the institution to teach you more about the budget process and maybe get you involved in a hands-on activity. Another "action research" example would be to take some aspect of your work and try a new wrinkle (e.g., compare your regular way of teaching with online teaching or, if you are an administrator, try a new approach to staff development or team building).

Look for a creative opportunity to personalize your learning with a meaningful "action" (trying out new behavior) project.

I have to clear you to enroll in the course because you cannot register for this particular course on your own. It is listed in the schedule every term. When you are ready to take it, email me dwcox@astate.edu with a proposed topic or focus area and ask me to clear you for registration. I will reply when you are cleared, then you register just like you would for any other course. 

The product will be a 20 to 25 page action research report due on a date provided by the instructor (or on the last day of classes for the term in which you take the course if no due date was provided by the instructor). The report may include some tables reporting your findings. There may be a literature review component of 8 to 12 citations.

The difference between the field study and the special problems courses is the field study emphasizes some sort of experimental action undertaking at a community college. You are engaged in some sort of "field" experience activity. (The special problems course is a traditional, bury-yourself-in-the-library reading project.)

For grading rubric, go to http://myweb.astate.edu/dwcox/writing rubric.html