Resources

• Learning Agency - Public Home Page
• Agency Scholarships - project formulas and rewards
• Contributor Kickstart - Introduction to using this blog (Ghost)
• Post Formatting - How to format your posts on this blog

Instructor & Course Information

Instructor Name: Brad Hinson
Instructor Email: brad.hinson@ucdenver.edu
Website: https://ucdenver.instructure.com/courses/439063
Office Hours: By Appointment.
Class Meetings: Online / Remote / By Appointment

Course Catalog Description
Placement in a business, school or field setting where professional skills are applied to assess needs, design, develop and evaluate an instructional system, and provide leadership for change. Repeatable.

Course Overview
The purpose of the internship is to learn by doing. Students complete 90 hours of project-based learning in a workplace context. Students take ownership of project-management and project-production as they adapt to the people and contexts of learning design & technology in the real-world.

Course Goals & Learning Objectives

Students in this course will...

• Demonstrate principle project-management skills by taking ownership of project planning, communication, time management, and problem-solving; as evidenced by documented project preparation, iterative design & development, and evaluation.
• Gain hands-on experience and portfolio artifacts as a learning design & technology consultant; as evidenced by achieved project milestones and deliverables.
• Develop skills in coaching and mentoring by providing guidance and feedback on peer-projects as evidenced by documented reviews, supportive critiques, and recommendations.
• Demonstrate effective communication and project-leadership by proactively organizing and sharing relevant information and updates, as evidenced by positive feedback from stakeholder surveys.
• Apply learning theories and principles in real-world contexts, demonstrating an understanding of how concepts translate into practice; as evidenced by critical analysis & reflection on the people, places, and things of workplace learning & development.

Course Prerequisites
None

Course Credits
3 (repeatable)

Required Texts and Materials
All texts and materials are available open access on the web or provided in pdf format. We have a field-experience focus, so materials are lite. Contextual and sample materials are listed below.

• Brown, J. (2008). The Open Architectural Studio. Tinkering as a Mode of Knowledge Production in the Digital Age, The Carnegie Foundation / Vimeo.
• Drysdale, J. (2019). The Collaborative Mapping Model: Relationship-Centered Instructional Design for Higher Education. Online Learning, 23(3), 56-71.
• Torrance, M. (2019). Agile for instructional designers: Iterative project management to achieve results. American Society for Training and Development.
• IDEO.org. The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. 2015.
• Marnewick, C. (2023). Student experiences of project-based learning in agile project management education. Project Leadership and Society, 4, 100096.

Synopsis: How This Works

• Students will document 90 hours of field work
• Field work may occur via the Learning Agency or with an external employer.
• External internships are up to the student to find and arrange. They must be pre-approved.
• All internships have a client / subject matter expert - with whom students work.
• Students must check-in with deliverables at each 30-hour interval, per the Course Schedule.
• Students must complete a capstone project relative to their field work, internship, learning experience. TBD by the student and the faculty together.

Course Schedule

The course effectively offers an open-entry model that enables us to adapt to real-world schedules and timeframes. Students have 1 year from the point of enrollment to complete 90 hours of field work according to the work-pattern and criteria below.

Kickstart: Within the first three weeks

From this point forward students work directly with clients and indirectly with mentors. Project work is variable and generally involves components of research, meeting and planning, documentation, and production. Students log weekly hours, briefly describing what was accomplished that week. Every 30 hours documented is a checkpoint.

Key Checkpoints

You are the project manager of your own field work.  You are required to plan and arrange these check-ins with your project mentor.  Coordinate each check-in with your project mentor.  You ask them and you make the arrangements. 

• 30 hours:  Send survey to client(s). 1:1 Zoom check-in with your mentor. 
• 60 hours: group Zoom check-in - open invitation to fellow students.  Contribution to the FieldNotes blog. 
• 90 hours: Send survey to client(s).  1:1 Zoom check-in with your mentor. Complete your capstone reflection.

Evaluation

Undergraduate/Graduate Differentiation
Graduate students are required to produce a detailed final reflection incorporating the connections of theory, methodology, and application, and their personal growth. Undergraduate final reflections focus on personal growth.

Assignments

• 30 hour checkpoint (25% | 25pts)
  • collect client feedback - send survey links to clients
  • Zoom w/mentor - schedule a check-in after surveys
• 60 hour checkpoint (25% | 25pts)
  • Zoom w/audience - LDT students invited - coordinate w/mentor
  • contribute a blog post to FieldNotes - coordinate w/mentor
• 90 hour checkpoint (25% | 25pts)
  • collect client feedback - send survey links to clients
  • Zoom w/mentor - schedule a check-in after surveys
  • produce a capstone reflection - coordinate w/mentor
• Project Management (25% | 25pts)
  • checkpoint logistics and arrangements are coordinated, planned, and executed
  • checkpoint deliverables are on-time, complete, and professional
  • clients are satisfied with the student's work ethic, work quality, and project deliverables

CU Denver uniform grade scale:

A = 94% +
A- = 90-93%
B+ = 87-89%
B = 84-86%
B- = 80-83% C+ = 77-79%
C = 74-76%
C- = 70-73% D+ = 67-69%
D = 64-66%
D- = 60-63% F = <60%

Assessment
Feedback on project work is ongoing via email, Zoom, or other electronic means; and is formally built-in to each 30-hour checkpoint.

Grades are ultimately determined by the instructor, based on assignments, stakeholder feedback, and conversations with each student.

Clients Happen
Clients are as variable as students. Everyone brings a different aptitude, attitude, context, and self-interest to the table. It is understood that clients and client organizations are variable. If & when the client variable is problematic, it will not impact the grade. In these cases, students should work with their project mentors, document attempts at resolution, and learn from the case-study in-progress. Even a bad experience is a learning experience.

Grade Negotiation & Dissemination
Grades are negotiable and students are invited to discuss, challenge, and advocate as appropriate. Grades in this course will be posted in the Canvas grade book and in the CU Portal.

Policies & Procedures

Critique
We exercise critique of each other's work in this course. Genuine critique is a good thing that elevates our work and our growth. Give it with care, and accept it with objectivity. Critique involves feedback, identified strengths and weaknesses, and constructive criticism. Critique promotes improvement and deepens understanding. Handle with care.

Civility
We think it goes without saying that we should be civil with one another. That said, your political and ethical opinions matter in this class, and you should not be afraid to express them. We will engage with one another truthfully, compassionately, and with open minds.

Client Satisfaction / Assessment
Your field-supervisor or client has a voice in your assessment. They are invited to provide feedback on your work at each 30-hour checkpoint - essentially validating the hours worked, and providing testing/feedback/coaching on project-progress and on the student's opportunity to develop professionally.

These assessments do not directly impact the grade, but they do inform the person who is grading. Client surveys are automated via email/online at each 30-hour checkpoint, and/or may also include synchronous dialogue. Client feedback is partially available to each student, with private comments available only to faculty.

Religious Observances
If a due date or assignment or other class activity is scheduled on a day which is a religious holiday for you, please let us know and we will honor your observance.

Late Work Policy
Due dates are set entirely for your benefit and to keep the course moving at a certain pace. However, if you are having trouble meeting a due date for any reason, please let us know and we’ll work out a plan so you can meet your goals.

Inclusivity
We are firmly committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in all areas of campus and social life. In this class we will work to promote an anti-discriminatory environment where everyone is welcome and where each individual’s dignity is affirmed. We recognize that discrimination can be direct or indirect and take place at both institutional and personal levels, and it is shaped by histories and structures of power imbalances. Discrimination and oppression are unacceptable, and consistent with the mission of the school, we are committed to facilitating conversations that advance the disruption of oppression of any form. Thus, we will work together to affirm each other’s dignity, being careful and intentional with our use of language and other communicative modes. We will do our best to find truth in what we oppose and error in what we espouse before declaring truth in what we espouse and error in what we oppose. Our interactions will be brave and kind, as we collectively move together toward a more just and compassionate society.

SEHD & University Policies

SEHD Incomplete Policy
Incomplete grades (I) are not given to replace low grades. To be eligible for an incomplete grade, students must (1) successfully completed at least 60% of the course requirements, (2) have special circumstances (verification required) that preclude the student from attending classes and/or completing graded assignments, and (3) make arrangements to complete missing assignments with the original instructor before more than one year has elapsed since the end of the semester in which the course was taken.

SEHD Incomplete Process: Students must be in close communication with the instructor PRIOR to the end of the semester regarding special circumstances precluding them from successfully completing the remainder of the course. Faculty may assign students an incomplete grade of “I” to signify that special circumstances beyond the student’s control prevented the student from completing a small portion of the course (no more than 25%) and that a final grade cannot yet be assigned.

It is the student’s responsibility to collaborate with the instructor to complete an incomplete agreement form (found at www.ucdenver.edu/education under Current Students/Current Student Resources) prior to the end of the semester for which the incomplete is given. A copy of the form, signed by both the student and the instructor should be submitted to the SEHD Student Services Center (LSC 701). Both the student and instructor should also keep a copy. The instructor sets the conditions under which the course work can be completed and the time limit for completion. The student is expected to complete the requirements within the established deadline. If the missing assignments are not completed within the allotted time, the “I” converts to an F on the student’s transcript. Students making up an incomplete should not re-register for the course.
Upon completion of the missing course work, a Change of Record Form is completed by the original instructor to change the “I” to a letter grade. Faculty should work with the Faculty Services Center to complete the Change of Record Form.

Student Privacy & the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Students’ records are protected under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA deals specifically with the education records of students, affording them certain rights with respect to those records. For purposes of definition, education records are those records which are:

— Directly related to a student and
— Maintained by an institution or a party acting for the institution.

FERPA gives students who reach the age of 18 or who attend a post secondary institution the right to inspect and review their own education records. Furthermore, the right to request amendment of records and to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from these records, shift from the parent to the students at this time.

FERPA applies to the education records of persons who are or have been in attendance in post secondary institutions, including students in cooperative and correspondence study programs, video conference, satellite, internet or other electronic forms. FERPA does not apply to records of applicants for admission who are denied acceptance or, if accepted, do not attend an institution. See http://www.ucdenver.edu/student-services/resources/Registrar-dev/StudentServices/Policies/Pages/default.aspx for further information.

Academic Freedom
Academic freedom and diverse viewpoints are highly valued at the University of Colorado Denver. The laws of the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado specify that:

"The University of Colorado was created and is maintained to afford men and women a liberal education in the several branches of literature, arts, sciences, and the professions. These aims can be achieved only in that atmosphere of free inquiry and discussion, which has become a tradition of universities and is called "academic freedom.... Within the bounds of this definition, academic freedom requires that members of the faculty must have complete freedom to study, to learn, to do research, and to communicate the results of these pursuits to others. The students likewise must have freedom of study and discussion. The fullest exposure to conflicting opinions is the best insurance against error.... All members of the academic community have a responsibility to protect the university as a forum for the free expression of ideas." Laws of the Regents 5.D.
"By enrolling as a student in the university, a person shall assume obligations of performance and behavior established by the university relevant to its lawful missions, processes, and functions. As members of the academic community, students have responsibility, equivalent to that of the faculty, for study, learning, academic integrity, and protecting the university as a forum for the free expression of ideas." Laws of the Regents 7B.

"All students shall have the same fundamental rights to equal respect, due process, and judgment of them based solely on factors demonstrably related to performance and expectations as students. All students share equally the obligations to perform their duties and exercise judgments of others in accordance with the basic standards of fairness, equity, and inquiry that should always guide education." Laws of the Regents 10.

For more information see http://www.ucdenver.edu/student-services/resources/Registrar-dev/StudentServices/Policies/Pages/default.aspx.

Disability Access
Offer specifics about the university’s policy on disability access. Example:
The University of Colorado Denver is committed to providing reasonable accommodation and access to programs and services to persons with disabilities. Students with disabilities who want academic accommodations must register with Disability Resources and Services (DRS) in Student Commons Building, Suite 2116, Phone: 303-315-3510, Fax: 303-315-3515. I will be happy to provide approved accommodations, once you provide me with a copy of DRS’s letter. Note: DRS requires students to provide current and adequate documentation of their disabilities. Once a student has registered with DRS, DRS will review the documentation and assess the student’s request for academic accommodations in light of the documentation. DRS will then provide the student with a letter indicating which academic accommodations have been approved. http://www.ucdenver.edu/student-services/resources/disability-resources-services/Pages/disability-resources-services.aspx

Student Code of Conduct
All CU Denver students are bound by the Student Code of Conduct, which serves to outline student rights and responsibilities as well as behavioral expectations. If a potential violation of the Student Code of Conduct is brought to our attention, you may be asked to meet with a conduct officer to address the situation. See http://www.ucdenver.edu/life/services/standards/Documents/CUDenver-CodeofConduct.pdf,

Academic Integrity & Academic Honor Code
A university's reputation is built on a standing tradition of excellence and scholastic integrity. As members of the CU Denver academic community, faculty and students accept the responsibility to maintain the highest standards of intellectual honesty and ethical conduct in completing all forms of academic work at the University. To this end, students are expected to know, understand, and comply with the ethical standards of the university, including rules against plagiarism, cheating, fabrication and falsification, multiple submissions, misuse of academic materials, and complicity in academic dishonesty. See https://education.ucdenver.edu/academic-services/student-resources/student-honor-code for details.

Grade Appeal
Student must follow the grade appeal process or student grievance process described below:

1. Discuss concerns with the faculty member.
2. If the issue is not resolved after a conversation with the faculty member, the student may appeal to the SEHD Student Committee (SC).
3. If the issue is not resolved after a SC review, discuss concerns with the SEHD’s Dean.
   For details about the SEHD policy and procedure see http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/SchoolOfEducation/CurrentStudents/Resources/all_docs/Student Academic Appeal Process.pdf.

Nondiscrimination and Sexual Misconduct
CU Denver is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working and living environment. University policy and Title IX prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, creed, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, political philosophy or political affiliation in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational programs and activities.

University policy prohibits sexual misconduct, including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or related retaliation. If you have experienced some sort of sexual misconduct or discrimination please visit the Office of Equity to learn more about the resources available or contact the Director of Equity/Title IX Coordinator at 303-315-2567. See http://equity.ucdenver.edu/ for additional information.

Student Resources

SEHD Academic Services
Academic Services provides support for all SEHD students. The office serves as the approval for add/drops admission to candidacy, degree conferral, CDE licensure and other processes. You can learn more at http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/SchoolOfEducation/CurrentStudents/Pages/StudentServicesCenter.aspx or by calling 303-315-6300.

Student Wellbeing
If you are feeling overwhelmed or experiencing life stressors that interfere with academic or personal success, please reach out to Melissa Dole if you do not feel comfortable sharing with us. Also UCD provides cost-free and confidential mental health services to help students manage personal challenges that impact emotional or academic wellbeing. You can learn more at the Center at http://www.ucdenver.edu/life/services/counseling-center/Pages/default.aspx or by calling 303-315-7270.