Faculty link research and civic engagement
On the first day of class in First-Year Research Seminar 140: Perspectives on the American Community, Dr. Sherry Kasper reads the Maryville College Promises aloud to her students.
Ending on the last promise – “Maryville College students are taught the skills and given the opportunities to be successful and to make a difference in the world” – Kasper, a professor of economics and the FRS140 coordinator, explains that the course in which students are now enrolled will not only help them succeed in their upcoming years at MC, it will help them succeed in life beyond.
“In this course, we focus on research methods,” Kasper explained recently, “but there is an overall theme of civic engagement.” Kasper said psychological research on current students shows that they come to college with a very black and white view of the world. Their idea of an argument originates from TV shows like “Crossfire,” and their concept of civic engagement probably extends as far as voting and volunteering in the community.
“We have to meet the students where they’re coming from and lead them from there,” she explained. “We’re trying to get them to the next level, and in this course, we stress that part of being an engaged citizen is researching a question and understanding the issues.”
Much like FRS130, where students can choose from water, energy, solid waste and forestry, students in FRS140 can choose from several different topics, including: “Science vs. Religion on Human Origins,” “Muslims in America,” “Poverty” and “Education.”
Concurrently, students are enrolled in CMP120: Advanced Composition and Speech, where instructors focus on the mechanics of writing and how to use writing to build an argument. While FRS140 instructors reinforce those skills, their emphasis is how to conduct research and synthesize information. Learning how to write abstracts of scholarly articles that inform various arguments is one goal for students; they also learn how to identify, locate and evaluate sources for a bibliography.
The major assignment is a 1,200-word research paper. The process of putting it together comes with a slight twist. “What we used to do [in earlier FRS140 courses] was have students form a thesis statement, then require them to go out and gather arguments to support it,” Kasper explained. “Now, we have students start with a question. This helps them be more open-minded in their approach to the research. They start to see the grayness in the world.”
And they end their research with a hypothesis instead of beginning with it, the professor added.
Last spring, Brandon Brewer ’08 was enrolled in Kasper’s FRS140 class on social justice. When the time came for students to choose a topic for their research papers, Brewer wanted to find out if financial aid in today’s higher education system was adequate in its job of providing a way for middle- and low-income students to pay for college. The question was a personal one for the 19 year-old.
A writing/communication major from Alcoa, Tenn., Brewer said he began the Spring 2005 semester with serious plans to transfer.
“To be honest, I felt like I could get the same education for a cheaper price at a public state school,” the MC sophomore said. “I felt like I was paying too much for a private school when I could go up the road to another university, never have to do anything, get a degree and be in little or no debt at all.”
Brewer’s research revealed problems in financial aid, but he came to the conclusion that student loans were a viable way to finance an education. Meeting with his professor several times throughout the project, he shared with her his plans to transfer. Citing Brewer’s own findings and drawing on her own expertise in economics, Kasper helped him see that the loans were investments in an enriched life that would include, among other benefits, higher-earning jobs. His ending thesis statement was: “The current financial aid crisis in America can be alleviated by reforming the Pell Grant to model the meritocracy for which America is known.”
For Brewer, FRS140 was also a good lesson in the nature and spirit of Maryville College.
“Dr. Kasper didn’t let me fall through the cracks. She didn’t let me become a statistic, and I believe a teacher at a state school would never have cared enough about me personally to make sure I understood that I had options,” he said. “After my research, I believe the higher education system needs a major overhaul. I hate student loans, but because of Dr. Kasper, I know that the options I have now will pay off for me in the future.”
