Date: January 19. 2010
Contact: Carol Connelly, Director, Media & Communication Services, ext. 5267, cconnelly@pnc.edu

PNC Faculty Members Earn Indiana Campus Compact Grants

Westville – Purdue University North Central faculty members have been granted Semester Long 2009/2010 Scholarship of Engagement Faculty Grants by the Indiana Campus Compact (ICC). The Lilly Endowment provides funding for this program.

A grant was presented to Dr. David Pratt, associate professor of Education, for his project, “Exploring the uses of Technology in the Classroom.” A grant also went to Dr. Roy Fowles, associate professor of Social Work, and Dr. Jane Brooks, limited term lecturer, for their project, “The Ethnographic Method Applied to Social Work Practice: Learning with Elderly Clients.”

Pratt's project will bring PNC students in the Elementary Education program together with teachers at Pine Elementary School so that that may together learn more about technologies available to them in the classroom and collaborate with them on how they can best be used.

Pratt explained that PNC students will research and experiment with the technology and how it can be used. They will teach what they've learned to the Pine Elementary School teachers. Students will provide resources in the form of a book and USB drive filled with electronic documents and resources, such as websites, that teachers can access easily.

Teachers at Pine will share their insights into how the technology will be used in the elementary school classroom and the context in which they will use the technologies.

“The teachers and students will all learn from one another,” said Pratt.

The PNC students and the Pine teachers will be able to work one-on-one, which will benefit all involved. Students will follow up to determine if their suggestions have been implemented. An online survey will gather feedback on the service learning project's success and to assess the students' ability to meet their objectives.

The Fowles and Brooks project, “The Ethnographic Method Applied to Social Work Practice: Learning with Elderly Clients,” will take an interdisciplinary approach, demonstrating the complementary nature of social work and applied anthropology.

PNC students will spend time at St. Agnes Adult Day Services Center in Valparaiso, observing, interviewing and interacting with the program clients, staff, volunteers and families. Students will meld the fields of anthropology and social work as they gain experience in the application of theoretical knowledge and practice the professional skills that are vital to social workers and anthropologists - rapport building, communication, data gathering, documentation, reliability, ethical responsibility and maintaining confidentiality.

The ethnographic research method mentioned in the project title, is an important research method in anthropology, explained Brooks.

“It also closely relates to the process of social work assessment,” she said. “It requires researchers to engage and observe the individuals, giving them more information and data than could be obtained simply through interviews.”

#