Focus on Practical Application in College Courses
by Norma J. Stumbo and Margaret L. Arnold

Ask graduating recreation and leisure students and they will tell you that they learned everything they know during their senior internships. Even though the three and a half years preceding the internship some- how get discounted, there is a great deal of truth in this statement. Practica and internships are important for gaining valuable experiences and putting "book knowledge" into practice. It allows students to apply the knowledge and skills that have been accumulating in the classroom and to see if the "best practices" taught by the faculty are workable.

However, fieldwork and internship experiences are not the only avenue used in curricula today for "hands on" preparation. Many courses now are structured to take advantage of practical application benefits. The purpose of this article is to provide a few examples of recreation and leisure courses that use the "hands on" approach so that students graduate with as much experience as possible.

Within the Recreation and Park Administration core at Illinois State University in Normal, there are eight content courses (in addition to junior and senior internships) that are required of all recreation majors and minors. Most of these classes have projects or papers that require students to interact with local professionals, clients or customers, and civic groups. While some courses are more appropriate for practical application than others, with a little creativity and a lot of hard work on the part of the instructor most can focus on experiential learning. For example, the ISU Leadership class requires students to complete volunteer work hours at a local recreation agency, the Planning and Design of Recreation Facilities class requires students to complete technical site maps of the university or other local recreation areas, and the Recreation for Special Populations class requires several experiences learning about wheelchair mechanics, sighted guide techniques and sign language. Two of the core classes. Recreation Programming and Evaluating Agency Services, will be highlighted because of their in-depth experiential requirements.

RECREATION PROGRAMMING

In the Recreation Programming course, students learn the total program development process from needs assessments and writing goals and objectives to the final stage of evaluation. Fortunately, student interest in this class is very high and instructors have little trouble motivating the students with "hands on" assignments.

Although there are different sections of the Programming class offered each semester, each section is similar in terms of approach and course content. For example, one class section programs a very successful community-wide special event in the fall. Running Scared, a running race for the Bloomington-Normal community on the Halloween weekend, has catered to hundreds of participants ranging from ages four to seventy-four. In preparation for this project, the class works with the Bloomington and Normal Park and Recreation Departments to establish blueprints of the special event. Student groups accomplish programming tasks in the form of committees (budgeting, publicity, registration, evaluation, sponsors, etc.). Throughout the fall semester the committees meet to evaluate their progress individually and as a class. Not only do the students learn about the total development of a special event such as a running race, but learning to work within a committee structure can be just as educational!

In another section of the Programming class, several small-scale recreation programs are developed by various groups in the class. Groups are encouraged to identify a need for a specific program in the Bloomington/Normal community. Once the group targets a need and an audience, the students begin work on the program development process as the course content unfolds. Since course content is divided into components of the programming process, students learn sequentially and through practical application. Each group becomes responsible for the entire program, including writing goals and objectives, procuring sponsors, developing a budget, creating flyers for promotion and publicity, designing an evaluation instrument, organizing registration procedures, and identifying a risk management plan.

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Examples of programs developed by the Programming class include: Easter and Halloween parties for nursery school children and disadvantaged youth; a day camp getaway for children and adults with disabilities; a St. Patrick's Day party for preschool children; a dart tournament and a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for Illinois State students; and a walleyball social for young adults. It is found that when students experience choice, responsibility and accountability, learning is enhanced and the classroom concepts become more relevant.

In addition to these group-oriented practical experiences, each section of the Recreation Programming class requires a major individual program project that is not implemented during the semester. Each student selects a program or service and formulates a program proposal as if it were being submitted for implementation by a selected agency. The purpose of the individual project is to have the student participate in and demonstrate program planning knowledge and techniques on an individual basis.

More emphasis is given to this program plan than to the group projects, focusing on individual responsibility and commitment. With the individual projects, the student begins with developing a hypothetical needs assessment statement. From this point, the student is then responsible for developing goals and objectives, activity analysis selections, personnel plans, schedules, record keeping documents, publicity blueprints, a budget (with a break even analysis chart), lesson plans, an evaluation instrument and a bibliography. The in-depth final program proposal usually consists of a 40- to 60-page proposal with the ultimate goal being implementation during the practicum directly following this course.

EVALUATION OF SERVICES

One of the final core courses students complete at Illinois State is the Evaluating Agency Service class. In this course, students learn the evaluation process — from specifying the needed information to running statistical analyses and writing a final report. It is a prime example of a "lecture" course that has been transformed into an "application/experience" course.

In preparation for this course, local recreation agencies are contacted to determine suitable projects that can be completed, considering the time and resource constraints of the course. In the past, local agencies such as ISU Recreation Services, Bloomington and Normal Park and Recreation Departments, Activity Services of Brokaw Hospital, Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center, and Boys and Girls Club of Blooming-ton/Normal have agreed to allow students to perform evaluations of their services. Constraining factors include data collection that must be timed to occur when best for student learning, on-site surveys must be used to collect the data (both time and money play a factor), the sample of the evaluation must be large enough to run statistical analyses, and the entire process must be able to be completed by the end of the 16-week semester.

During the first few weeks of class, student groups are formed and instruction on the evaluation concepts and steps begins. The main contact person from the local agency comes into class to explain the types of information needed and how it will be used when gathered. Students then formulate goals to achieve and from these, initial draft questions for the surveys are created. When the draft of survey questions and cover letter are nearly complete, the professional returns to class to provide input and answers questions. Decisions about the sample size, how to collect the data, responsibility of each group member, time lines, and budget are made at this time.

Students then are responsible for either pilot testing or completing an expert panel review of their survey. This process helps increase the validity and reliability of the survey and helps reduce errors or misunderstandings in the final survey. With this complete, the students collect their data from the target sample of current or potential participants. This usually occurs in the eleventh or twelfth week of the semester.

When all the data is collected (usually each group must collect between 100 to 125 surveys) students learn and use statistics and a computer program to analyze the survey data. Each group must write their own statistical computer program and enter the data. The printout provides a complete and easy analysis of the survey data.

Each group is then responsible for completing both a written and oral report about the findings, according to guidelines given. The final report includes background information, how the evaluation was conducted, findings and recommendations, and is usually about 30 pages in length. Similar information is highlighted in a brief, group presentation that is attended by the professional and videotaped for student playback. The local professional also receives a copy of the final report. There is opportunity for this person to ask questions and challenge the recommendations made by the students. As much as possible, this final step is intended to help students prepare for presenting at Board and community meetings, as well as at future conferences.

For many experiential courses, the tight time lines and the difficulties of students "learning" and then immediately "doing" a task will continue to be problematic. However, the benefits to both the students and local professionals seem to outweigh the drawbacks. Most students gain from learning while doing a task that can be applied to many settings, as well as work skills such as time management, group processing, negotiation, and communication. Local professionals gain important information and services that are inexpensively provided by students, without taking much staff time and resources. Because of these benefits to both students and local staff, faculty remain committed to providing hands on experiences that focus on practical application.

Norma J. Stumbo is the Program Director for the Recreation and Park Administration Program at Illinois State, where she has taught for 10 years. Margaret L. Arnold coordinates the senior internship experience and the student society and is finishing her third year of teaching at Illinois State.*

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