What is wrong in the recreation classroom?

Currently in the Recreation classroom at South Dakota State University there is a lack of engagement and students are failing to live up to their potential. The classes include all of the information necessary for them to succeed after their time at the university, but the format of the classes does not suit several students in the major.

How severe is the problem?

The problem is one that affects all of the students in the classroom. They may be a student who is not of a linguistic intelligence, so they are not learning as much as possible. Or they may be a student who is distracted, or brought down by the students around them who are not engaged in the class. If there is one student in the class that is not engaged in the learning, they will be distracting to those immediately around them and will attract attention away from the lesson.

What is causing the problem?

It is likely that there is a wide span of different learning styles in the recreation classroom. As are most classrooms, the recreation classes are likely filled with an array different types of students. Students who are interested in a more solitary park setting will tend to have an intrapersonal or naturalist intelligence, while students interested in community programming will likely have an interpersonal intelligence. These students will not all learn best in the same way, and will require different activities to solidify their learning.

How can we fix it?

How can we fix it?

Currently if the students are not doing well in a class, they attribute it to difficult subject matter, or a terrible teacher. However, the problem may not be as severe as either of those. By adopting a three-phase project that installs an assessment program, adopts learning styles into the classroom, and educates students about their learning styles, the students and the teachers will be on the same wavelength, making the classes easier to understand for willing and able students.

Step 1--Assess and identify students
Step 2 -- Recognize and adopt learning styles in the classroom
Step 3 -- Inform students about individual styles

Step 1--Assess and identify students

Each student currently in the recreation program is required to take an introductory course early on in their educational career. If the students are evaluated at this point to identify their individual style, the faculty members will have that information for the rest of their time spent at SDSU. This information will be used by faculty to suit the classes to the students, and to gain a better understanding on what the students need from them. By tailoring the classes to the students, we are allowing them more opportunities to excel both in the classroom and out of the classroom after graduation because they will be able to retain more information from the classes.

Step 1--Assess and identify students
Step 2 -- Recognize and adopt learning styles in the classroom (Next Step)
Step 3 -- Inform students about individual styles

Step 2-- Recognize and adopt learning styles into the classroom

Faculty can use the information provided to adapt their classroom to match the students in it. This will require a realization that it is possible that a room full of 30 students will all require a somewhat different experience. According to Loli Dillon in an article in the Minnesota English Journal, “During classes, nearly all college students still experience an hour or two of pure lecture or discussion as the way they encounter course material in the college classroom. Though those teaching methods are effective, they may be only reaching a fraction of students who have much linguistic strength.” She goes on to recommend breaking the students into groups that will allow them to work in such a manner that applies specifically to them. Her application was in an English classroom where she broke groups into clusters of three to four. Each cluster is assigned labels: ‘Small Group Discussion,’ ‘Journaling,’ ‘Hands-on’ etc.” By splitting the recreation students into similar groups, each of them can be reached, and they will have a higher chance of succeeding.

Through a discussion with faculty members the recreation department at the University of South Dakota, and SDSU Professor Paul Fokken, a great relationship was formed that will allow collaboration between the two departments, and will increase the opportunities offered to all of the students involved. There will be great opportunities for service learning projects which will allow a much more hands-on, application focused program.

Step 1--Assess and identify students (Previous Step)
Step 2 -- Recognize and adopt learning styles in the classroom
Step 3 -- Inform students about individual styles (Next Step)

Step 3--Inform students about styles

Teaching the students about their learning style, and how they will learn best.
Howard Gardner found that with the exclusion of unusual circumstances, all students have the ability to develop all 8 intelligences to a high-level. If a student is aware of the reason why they are not learning in a particular class or what they can do to develop themselves to comprehend the material, their success rates both in our classes and others will be higher.
Implementing a constant feedback system to establish whether or not students are comprehending material.

Because of the scope of learning styles in the classes, it is necessary that we regularly check with students to ensure that they understand the course material. By testing students 2 or 3 times a semester, you do not discover a lack of understanding until you are very far into the semester. In a study by Loli Dillon, she found that by asking students once a week what activities they enjoyed or learned the most from, and asking them which things were still unclear to them, she was able to respond immediately to the needs of the class.

Step 1--Assess and identify students
Step 2 -- Recognize and adopt learning styles in the classroom (Previous Step)
Step 3 -- Inform students about individual styles

Will this work?

Why should we do it?

This program will allow students to succeed both inside and outside of the classroom because they will be more aware of their style and the styles of their teachers. It is important to the students so that their performance will improve, and it is important to the professors because the students will not only do better in their classes, but they will retain more information from the classes they are teaching.

The current program, while strong, allows room for improvement. By allowing our program to respond specifically to its current students, we can enhance not only the education of our students but the future of the program as well.

Proposal Main Page

Will this work?

The program will not require additional labor, and will only require a few more resources. With this plan, the current faculty will format the classes that they currently teach to better fit the needs of a wider group of students. Any new information that will be covered will be added into the introductory course that the students already take.

The students in the Parks and Recreation program currently take an introductory course when they enter the program. By dedicating part of this already present class to this program, they will not lose much valuable class time. They will only need to make minor changes to their current curriculum so that they can address the needs of all students.

In order for this program to work, the faculty will have committed to the development of the program and in turn the development of the students. Currently in the program, the faculty has taken a vested interest in each of the students that come through the program. As long as this genuine interest continues, their drive to have each student connect in their classes will be substantial.

Why should we do it?