Capstone Course: Professional Engagement Initiative (PEI)

EDU BA10AY Subject & Catalog Number

Description

*Only Offered for Online Ed.M. Students* To enable students to apply theoretical frameworks and strengthen key transferable skills (as outlined in IEPM), in a specific context and engage in active exploration of at least one potential career pathway that they might pursue after graduation, this course will offer the opportunity to engage with an organization on a specific, priority challenge. There will be multiple opportunities for structured reflection during this full-year, four-credit course.

The Faculty Leader and Teaching Fellows will provide guidance and support throughout the course. The course has been designed to ensure that the engagement will be a rewarding experience for the students (for learning) and the client. Groups of students (3-4 students per group) will frequently interact with the external client, producing a thorough assessment of the challenge and drafting a set of recommendations that is proposed to address the immediate and underlying causes of the identified challenge.

Clients will be identified by the students with support from HGSE, based on the specific interest of students and range of potential clients.

HOW WILL THE PEI WORK?
This four-credit PEI (consisting of a 2-credit course in the fall and a 2-credit course in the spring) will be taught by a faculty member with TF support. Students are expected to complete both 2 credit courses in order to successfully complete the PEI. The core seminar will guide students through the stages of the process, including:

•    Identifying a topic and client
•    Articulating the challenge, research question, and alternatives
•    Collecting and analyzing the diverse types of quantitative and qualitative data through desk and possibly primary data collection (interviewing stakeholders, etc). 
•    Managing the relationship with the client (throughout) 
•    Writing and revising a professionally written report and oral presentation.

The Faculty Leader will teach a bi-weekly core seminar class (1 hour and 15 minutes) during the fall semester and then meet on an ad hoc basis with each group during the spring semester as they complete the assignment. All groups will present their final projects to the class near the end of the spring semester. Although each group will be primarily focused on their specific project, supporting the progress of the projects of others in the class will also be part of the seminar.

The culminating experience of the seminar will be a reflection memo that describes how this exercise helped the student strengthen relevant professional skills.

COURSE LEARNING GOALS

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1.    Identify the appropriate framework to understand and diagnose a policy or programmatic challenge 
2.    Use data to discern the underlying causes of the challenge.
3.    Identify possible responses and recommendations to address the underlying causes of the challenge.
4.    Formulate policy and/or programmatic recommendations that are technically correct and feasible. 
5.    Write compelling documents and prepare effective presentations.