Knowledge

Area
International
Students

Access to
Higher
Education

The
Neuroscience
Behind Learning

Why is it important?

How will I develop this area?

I have not had much first-hand experience

working alongside international students and
therefore have little knowledge about what
their daily life looks like what challenges they
face, why they choose to study in the United
States, and in what ways they need support
from student life staff. I value diversity and the
important role higher education has in creating
global citizens, but to date much of my
experience has been with domestic students.

Year One: Learn about the international student services office on my new
campus.

Access to higher education is an extremely

important and relevant topic that extends well
beyond the field. In order to better understand
and think more critically about the policies and
politics surrounding access, I need to increase
my knowledge regarding the cost of college,
financial aid, and what common challenges and
barriers exist at an institutional level.

Year One: Sign-up for email updates from the Institute for College Access and
Success and read their blog posts.

With a bachelors degree in neuroscience, I still

find the field of study fascinating. Of particular
interest to me is the broad question, how do
we learn? In the CSP program, weve learned
about various developmental and learning
theories. I am interested in the research that
links these theories with the field of
neuroscience.

Year One: Read Education on the Edge of Possibility (Caine & Caine, 1997). I
recently found this book at a used bookstore in Detroit. The description reads,
What happens when learning theory meets the reality of the classroom? In this
book, youll find out what happened when Renate and Geoffrey Caine took their
theory of learning, which is based on a wholistic interpretation of brain research,
and strived to bring it to life in two schools (Caine & Caine, 1997, p. xi).

Year Two: Attend a conference session on international student services.

Year Three: Foster on-campus partnership with the international student services
office and explore the potential of collaborative service projects.

Year Two: Read the resources provided by The George Washington University.
These readings can be found on this syllabus.
Year Three: Attend a National College Access Network conference or institute.

Year Two: The aforementioned book was publish in 1997, so after I read it I
would like to investigate how this research has progressed.
Year Three: Attend a Learning & the Brain conference
(http://www.learningandthebrain.com/) and learn more about Harvards Mind,
Brain, and Education graduate program.

Local Politics

Local politics have a heavy influence in our

communities and on our school systems. I am
guilty of falling into the category of folks who
spends most of their efforts in learning about
politics on the national scale. In college, I
minored in political science, but all of my
classes focused on national or global relations.
I want to learn more about and become more
involved in local politics.

Year One: Learn about the local elected officials in my new community.
Year Two: Read State and Local Government: The Essentials (Bowman & Kearney,
2011).
Year Three: Give a presentation to students or at a national conference about
how local politics affect education.

References
Caine, R. N., & Caine, G. (1997). Education on the Edge of Reason. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Bowman, A.O., & Kearney, R. (2011). State and Local Government: The Essentials. Stanford, CT: Cengage Learning.