Service Learning
Quincy Junior High Mentoring
Communication Students
Description of the Service-Learning Project:
Students in Senior Seminar in Communication (COM 497) will participate in Quincy Junior
High Wednesday Mentoring/Tutoring Program from 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. under the supervision
of Renea Yates. These mentoring/tutoring sessions will enable Communication students to apply
and to assess their interpersonal and intercultural skills with Junior High students.
According to Dr. Yolanda Dawson, “Middle school students’ limited communication skills
create misunderstandings and interpersonal conflicts with adults and peers. These limited
communication skills may lead to problems in personal relationships and may affect school
academic performance.” This mentoring will focus on developing a foundation for strong
interpersonal and intercultural skills for the Junior High Students.
Learning Objectives:
1. Using the various communication skills they have developed, Quincy University
Communication students will be mentoring junior high students in an effort to develop
various communication skills including verbal and written communication. The
mentoring will focus on developing self-confidence, interpersonal skills, professional
conversations, eye contact, etc.
2. Quincy University students will also be explaining the importance of communication,
both verbal and non-verbal in their lives. For example, students will explore using the
correct communication strategy when speaking with an adult vs. a friend, or the impact of
non-verbal communication.
3. Students will develop various activities that allow for students to develop their
communication skills.
4. Students will also develop their own communication skills such as functional
perspectives on group decision-making, social judgment, cultural approach to
organizations and critical theory of communication in organizations.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Students will be able to articulate specific examples of their mentees demonstrating the
communication concepts utilized, such as symbolic interactionism, coordinated
management of meaning, constructivism and uncertainty reduction.
2. Students will be able to identify their mentees’ communication skills most in need of
improvement and describe the ways in which their mentoring advanced these skills.
3. Students will be able describe the ways in which their mentoring helped to improve the
self-confidence of their mentees and increased their understanding of the importance of
communication.
Orientation:
The Instructors of the Senior Seminar in Communication (COM 497) will prep the students on
the concepts that will be used in their mentoring sessions. Dr. Renea Yates of Quincy Junior
High who will instruct them on the mentoring of these students and help create activities to use
with students in mentoring.
Reflection:
Students will submit their written reflections on their tutoring/mentoring experience which will
be one part of their overall portfolio at the end of the course.
Reflection Questions:
1. In what areas of communication did your students need the most development? How did
your mentoring help to develop these skills?
2. What developments in communication and behavior did you see in your mentee over the
course of this program?
3. How did your mentoring impact the student?
4. What insights have you gained from the experience about yourself as a communicator
and about the student(s) that you assisted?
Reflection Paper: (Determine the length and deadline)
The service-learning reflection paper will be a component of their log which is a record of their
hours, experiences and reflections on those weekly experiences. All this is to be completed at
the time their portfolio is due.
Service-Learning Hours to Be Awarded:
The number of service-learning hours awarded depends on the number of times students
tutor/mentor. Students will keep a log of their time which will to be signed by their respective
on site supervisor or teacher. The log will then be used to determine the number of servicelearning hours awarded.