Stander Symposium abstract book - University of Dayton

Learning as a Way of Service
Presenter(s): Gabrielle M Gloekler
Advisor(s): Lori G Phillips-Young
English - Independent Research
POSTER SESSION 2
The Sophomore Social Justice Service Learning Community(SSJSL)has a mission is to promote literacy. The SJSLC’s community partner, the nonprofit
organization Project READ, trains volunteers to tutor students in grades K-8 and young adults. After receiving my training, I was assigned a
tutoring position with a girl in second grade at Holy Angels. My work including helping her one-on-one with mathematics, spelling, and grammar
skills in ways that would help her to better understand essential educational concepts in those subject. I appreciated being able to be a part of
promoting literacy and helping the faculty with their afterschool program. Service learning is one way to learn as well as serve our community. It
is also an opportunity to apply the Marianist ideals of lead, learn, and serve.
Learning by Serving Others
Presenter(s): Jill M Smith
Advisor(s): Lori G Phillips-Young
English - Independent Research
The Sophomore Social Justice Service Learning Community (SSJSL) has a mission is to promote literacy. The SJSLC’s community partner, the nonprofit
organization Project READ, trains volunteers to help tutor students in grades K-8 and young adults and those students striving to learn
English as a second language. After training, I was assigned an afterschool tutoring position with a first grade student named Elijah at the Westminster
Presbyterian Church in downtown Dayton. Together, we would work on worksheets and workbooks that focused on spelling and reading.
We focused on letter combinations and the sounds that they made. In order to make it easier and more enjoyable for him, I would let him practice
on a dry erase board and draw pictures to help him remember. Elijah enjoys drawing so this was a good learning tool for him. On many afternoons
his progress was evident because he was able to remember the majority of the words and sounds that we had reviewed during that session. If
there was ever a time when he did not understand the concept, I would patiently explain it to him again but in a different way. For this reason,
this was not only a good learning experience for him, but it also was a good experience for me because I was able to work on exhibiting patience
and developing communication skills. In addition, it was also very rewarding for me to see how far he advanced throughout the time I spent with
him. Service learning is one way to improve the literacy rates in our community. It was also an opportunity to help me apply the Marianist ideals
of lead, learn, and serve to a real-life situation.
Observing Communication Practices in the Davis Center for Portfolio Management
Presenter(s): Jocelyn R Abron, George S Cressy, Gabrielle M Dimaio, Kevin O Martin
Advisor(s): Amanda J Wright Cron
English - Course Project, 12_SP_ENG_372_01
Evaluating the role that communication plays in an organization achieving its primary goals has been of interest to scholars over the past 30 years.
Particularly, Doheny-Farina’s (1986) Writing in an Emerging Organization discusses “how social and organizational contexts influence writing and
how writing influences the organization”(p. 160). This study aims to observe communication and its roles in this professional academic atmosphere.
The group will then develop a proposal to the organization to help them in their communication process. The group will collect written materials,
observations of daily and special events, and audio recordings of both Davis Center meetings and interviews with Davis Center members.
Written materials collected may include, but are not limited to, the following: center-wide issue-addressing emails from the management team or
the Center director; team memos for general information; Center advertising materials meant for nonmember populations; and research reports
pertaining to the primary function of the Davis Center’s work. Nonintrusive observing of verbal communication among Davis Center members will
be noted. Particularly, horizontal and vertical communication within the Center’s hierarchy will be evaluated (Spinuzzi, 2007). Audio recordings of
anonymous interviews of randomly selected Center members and Center management will be taken for later study. If permitted, audio recordings
of full staff Center meetings and special team meetings will also be recorded for study.Expectantly, this study will come to fruition with some
proposals for the Davis Center with regard to bettering their communication practices. This group expects to give concrete suggestions for more
effective verbal and written communication.
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