Contact: Sasha Steinberg
Photo by: Kasia Gallo, CASLE
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A new Mississippi education center is helping university and elementary-aged students strengthen their communication skills while developing a passion for learning.
As part of a semester-long project sponsored by MSU's Center for the Advancement of Service-Learning Excellence, students in lecturer Michael McFadden's Spanish I class are creating short, educational videos for Lauren Stegall's first-grade class at Starkville's Sudduth Elementary School.
CASLE was launched in early 2013 as a joint venture between MSU's Office of the Provost and Extension Service. Led by April Heiselt, it works to promote university ideals of citizenship and service.
Largely in English with key concepts also communicated in Spanish, the three-to-five-minute videos being designed by McFadden's students aim to teach the Sudduth first-graders how to perform particular sequential tasks, such as making beds or brushing teeth.
"My students will get to practice writing and speaking Spanish in real time, and Lauren's class will provide feedback on how younger students learn," McFadden explained. "Consequently, this project will create an enriching learning experience for both groups."
In addition to asking Stegall's first graders about the types of characters and activities they would like to see in the videos, McFadden's students have been looking at children's Spanish books for inspiration.
"This project not only will help my students practice different aspects of language, but since they will be working with a younger age group, they also will develop the ability to change between registers," McFadden said.
"Their overall education is strengthened in both respects, as they move out of learning for the classroom to learning for life," he added.
Stegall, a 2007 MSU elementary education graduate, said at semester's end, her students will seek to determine which group's video was most informative.
"I'm hoping to conduct a pre- and post-picture test with my students, so we can access how many words they picked up throughout the project," Stegall said.
Heiselt said she also is anxious to view the finished videos since the project helps advance CASLE's mission of helping faculty and students "meet their course objectives through meaningful community service."
"We're hoping to get the videos posted on a YouTube channel, because doing so would not only make them accessible to everyone at Sudduth, but through Extension, we also could make them available to schools and families in all 82 counties around the state," said Heiselt, an associate professor in the College of Education's counseling and educational psychology department.
Sophomore Shawanda Brooks, an MSU communication/public relations major, is among the more than 20 of McFadden's students participating in the project. She agreed that being exposed to foreign languages like Spanish--especially at an early age--should prove beneficial to the elementary students.
"Even if they don't grasp all of these concepts now, they'll at least have some experience with them and will be more interested in learning," the Madison resident said. "It's good to know a variety of languages, so when you get out in the world, you can communicate with English speakers as well as non-English speakers."
After completing the group video assignment, McFadden said each of his students will write a paper expressing how they feel the overall project has enhanced their ability to speak and write conversational Spanish.
In encouraging other faculty to consider having their classes participate in CASLE-sponsored service-learning projects, McFadden said, "I have been highly impressed with April Heiselt and her staff's professionalism and enthusiasm. I definitely consider CASLE a very important resource on campus."
"Not only do students get to practice what they learn in a hands-on way, but they also have an incredible opportunity to serve as ambassadors of the entire MSU family," he emphasized.
More information on CASLE is found at www.servicelearning.msstate.edu, as well as on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-the-Advancement-of-Service-Lea... and Twitter @ CASLE_MSU.
MSU is online at www.msstate.edu, www.facebook.com/msstate, www.instagram.com/msstate and www.twitter.com/msstate.