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Learner's Journey

Prismatic Perception/Learner’s Journey Development
1999 – 2010

Carol Panaccione, Susan Apshaga, Debra Lilli (P.A.L Concepts)


  • October 16, 2010 - Celebration to commemorate the first harvest of The Learner's Journey Community Garden
  • June 12, 2010 - Groundbreaking Ceremony of Learner's Journey Community Garden: Where Pride and Dignity Grow
  • April 14, 2010 - Learner's Journey Community Garden Kick-Off Celebration: CCRI, Newport Campus
  • March, 2010 - Unanimous approval by Newport School Committee to create the Learner's Journey Community Garden across from Sullivan School on Dexter Street.
  • January, 2010 – Drafting of letter of proposal to Superintendent John H. Ambrogi, Newport Public Schools, by Professors Apshaga, Lilli, and Panaccione
  • December 17, 2009 – Follow-up Meeting #3 with Mayor Napolitano, Mr. Ted Clement, Ms. Jennifer Quigley-Harris and Core Team with regard to securing a viable site for the Learner’s Journey Community Garden
  • December 9, 2009 – Learner’s Journey Student Debate – Warwick Campus
    Invited guest: Ms. Jennifer Jordan, Providence Journal
  • October 22, 2009 – Follow-up Meeting #2 with Mayor Napolitano, Mr. Ted Clement, Ms. Ann Twomey and Core Team
  • September 25, 2009 – Follow-up Meeting #1 with Mayor Napolitano, Mr. Ted Clement, and Core Team with regard to securing a site for the Learner’s Journey Community Garden.
  • September 9, 2009 – Team-taught Learner’s Journey Course - Knight Campus
  • August 5, 2009 – Luncheon with Mayor Napolitano, President DiPasquale, Vice President Morgan, Representative of Senator Paiva-Weed, Mr. Ted Clement, Mr. Jack Reed, Dean Robin Smith, Ms. Honore Ford, Professor Petro, Professor Vigneault, Ms. Nikki Vazquez, Ms. Julie Novak, Mr. Richard Coren. Presentation by Professors Apshaga, Lilli, Panaccione and Ms. Kaitlynne Ward of Learner’s Journey Community Garden Concept.
  • August 3, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #8 – Last meeting of Core Team before luncheon to introduce Learner’s Journey Community Garden Concept
  • July 28, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #7 - Learner’s Journey Garden Agenda Meeting with Core Team
  • July 10, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #6 - Letters to potential stakeholders sent out
  • June 5, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #5 - Drafted letter to invite potential stakeholders
  • May 26, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #4 - Meeting with President DiPasquale and Vice President Morgan with regard to our vision of The Learner’s Journey Community Garden – Where Pride and Dignity Grow.
  • May 22, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #3 – Learner’s Journey Community Garden
  • May 18, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #2 – Learner’s Journey Community Garden
  • May 8, 2009 – Strategic Meeting #1 – Planning for The Learner’s Journey Community Garden – Where Pride and Dignity Grow.
  • March, 2009 – Receipt of $10,000 for The Learner’s Journey Community Garden: Where Pride and Dignity Grow at the Newport Campus
  • January, 2009 – Ten-year anniversary of inception of Learner’s Journey Concept
  • December, 2008 – Contacted advisors with regard to four Learner’s Journey course offerings in spring 2009
  • November, 2008 – New fliers distributed with regard to four sections of Learner’s Journey course in fall 2009
  • December 11, 2008 – College-wide Learner’s Journey Forum for Awareness, Newport Campus
  • December 10, 2008 – College-wide Learner’s Journey Forum for Awareness
    Knight Campus
  • October – December 2008 – Continuation of faculty mentorship
  • October – December 2008 – Development of student internship program fro students who seek experience in a student-centered, active learning environment
  • September 2008 – First offering of Learner’s Journey Course – Liston Campus
  • September 2008 – Learner’s Journey Course – Knight Campus
    Course achieved maximum enrollment.
  • June – August 2008 – New fliers made and distributed for new Fall 2008 Learner’s Journey course offering
  • May 16, 2008 – Faculty Technology Showcase: Learner’s Journey - Connecting Author and Students across Continents
    Presenters: Karen Anderson, English and Carol Panaccione, World Languages & Cultures
  • May 2008 – Approval of Learner’s Journey course as a 3-elective transferable course to University of Rhode Island
  • April 8, 2008 – Meeting with Amy Gerhard, MET School, Providence
  • April 8, 2008 – Meeting with Advisors & Counselors, Providence Campus
  • April 1, 2008 – Meeting with Advisors & Counselors, Warwick Campus
  • March 26, 2008 – The Learner’s Journey “Student Forum for Awareness,” CCRI, Warwick Campus
  • March 3, 2008 – Denver, Colorado P.A.L Concepts created
  • March 2-4, 2008 - Presented "The Learner's Journey: A Critical Thinking
    Retention Model at the League for Innovation in the Community College, Denver Colorado
  • January 9, 2008 – Meeting with Dr. Phyllis Harnick to discuss The Learner’s Journey Course as a transfer course with RIC and URI
  • January, 2008 – First student-internship for Learner’s Journey course
  • December 26, 2007 – Official Description of The Learner’s Journey course submitted for CCRI catalogue:
  • o LIBA 1000 – The Learner’s Journey: Critical Thinking & Learning Strategies for College Studies – 3 credits
    o This fully transferable, seminar-style course has been designed to help students maximize their effectiveness in the classroom, and, in turn, enhance their entire college experience. In The Learner’s Journey, students develop their critical thinking, reading, and writing skills; acquire valuable strategies for analyzing course content and for expressing themselves more confidently and effectively; improve their writing, presentation, collaboration, and research skills; and learn to make connections between courses in different disciplines. Through readings, discussions, and active participation, students take ownership of their education and find their voices as learners in a higher education environment. (Note: To be eligible for this course, students must have already taken ENGL 1005 or 0890, or be concurrently enrolled in either of these courses. Or an eligible student may have placed directly into ENGL 1010 as a result of the English Placement Test.)
    December 17, 2007 – Forum for Iranian Culture, Newport Campus
  • “Lipstick Jihad” author Azadeh Moaveni discussed her book via Webcast from London, England.
  • December 5, 2007 – College-Wide Forum: The Gathering, Warwick Campus
  • October 19 & 20, 2007 - TYCA Northeast Conference in Philadelphia
    Our session, entitled "The Learner's Journey: A Critical Thinking
    Retention Model," will be an informative, interactive presentation
    offering a proven active-learning model for those educators interested
    in effecting a more successful high school-to-college transition for
    their students, thereby increasing first-year retention. Showcasing
    the successful team-taught, humanities-based, critical-thinking course
    currently being offered at CCRI, this session will afford participants
    collaborative activities to create their own course.
  • September, 2007 – Two additional courses of Learner’s Journey offered at the Warwick & Newport Campuses

    August 8, 2007 – Fourth meeting with mentees

    June 12, 2007 – RIDE approval of Learner’s Journey Workshop for CEUs
    New CCRI Summer Professional Development Opportunity for Teachers entitled The Learner's Journey: A Critical Thinking and Learning Strategy Approach for Teachers that will be offered for the first time this summer at the Warwick Campus for 3 CEUs from July 9-13 & July 16-19.
  • June 4, 2007 – Third 3-hour workshop to train mentees for The Learner’s Journey course in fall 2007 and spring 2008

    May 1, 2007 - Second 2-hour workshop to train mentees for The Learner’s Journey course in fall 2007 and spring 2008

    April 25, 2007 – Curriculum meeting and course approval: Liberal Arts 1000

    April 10, 2007 – First 2-hour workshop to train mentees for The Learner’s Journey course in fall 2007 and spring 2008
    April 11, 2007 – Meeting with Dr. Jack Warner with regard to Learner’s Journey Course

    March, 2007 - New Course Proposal: Liberal Arts 8020: The Learner’s Journey: Critical Thinking and Learning Strategies for College Studies

    March 21, 2007 - All-College Professional Development Day
    The Learner’s Journey: Critical Thinking and Learning Strategies for College
    This workshop presented the student-centered, critical thinking model developed over the course of seven years.

    February 2007 – Applied for $5000.00 Student Achievement Grant
    Monies to be distributed to students interested in enrolling in the Learner’s Journey.

    December 2006 – Publication of Volume #1 of The Learner’s Journey Newsletter

    Fall 2006 – Team-taught the Pilot Course: The Learner’s Journey

    August 18, 2006 – Meeting with President DiPasquale, Vice President Morgan, Dr. Jack Warner and Dr. Carriuolo

    August, 2006 – Quantitative Study Completed: Student-Centered Teaching and its Impact on Students’ Self-Concept as Learners

    June 2, 2006 – Presentation of Prismatic Perception Project to President DiPasquale, Vice President Morgan and CCRI Advisors & Counselors.

    Summer 2006 – Quantitative study, entitled “Student-Centered Teaching and its Impact on Students’ Self-Concept as Learners,” written based on the Prismatic Perception course paradigm.

    2005 International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence
    The Prismatic Perception team was invited to Austin, Texas by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development to present at the 2005 International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence on May 30, 2005. (Insufficient travel funds have impeded our travel to present at this conference.)

    In March 2005, the Prismatic Perception core team presented a workshop entitled “Creating Contexts for Active Learning: A Technology-Enhanced Interdisciplinary Paradigm” at the 2005 League for Innovation in the Community College Conference in New York City.

    January 2005 – Second Award of the Mr. Frank Ernest Coleman Scholarship
    This scholarship in the amount of $1000.00 was donated by friends of mine who very much support the concept of Prismatic Perception.

    In June 2004, as a result of the Stakeholder Learning Collaborative, the Prismatic Team was asked to serve in the capacity of consultants at Hope High School in order to devise strategies for the teachers to assist in the development of an Arts Small Learning Community.

    On April 28, 2004, the Prismatic Perception core team presented a workshop at the CCRI Warwick Campus entitled Learning Community Workshop: Curriculum Integration at the Rhode Island Stakeholder Learning Collaborative, which has as its aim to create learning communities connecting Hope High School, CCRI, and URI.

    In February 2004, the Prismatic Perception core team was invited to present two workshops, entitled “Creating a Technology-Enhanced, Interdisciplinary Humanities Paradigm” and “Prismatic Perception: A Hybrid for Humanities and Technology” at the 2004 League for Innovation in the Community College Conference in California. (Insufficient travel funds impeded our travel to this conference.)

    In January 2004, the Prismatic Perception core team awarded the Mr. Frank Ernest Coleman Scholarship to our outstanding student, Susana Figueiredo.

    March, 2003 - “Man and the Machine” course concept received Outstanding Program in English Award for Two-Year Colleges and Teachers from TYCA of NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English).

    March 2003 - Professional Development Award from the CCRI Foundation to support a case study based on "Man and the Machine."

    December 2003/January 2004 - Establishment of the Mr. Frank Ernest Coleman Scholarship
    April 18, 2002 - Prismatic Teaching and Learning: Creating a Team-taught, Interdisciplinary, Technology-Enhanced Course
    Professional Development Workshop – CCRI, Knight Campus
    The core team of the Prismatic Perception project held a three-hour faculty development workshop for those interested in creating a student-centered learning environment.
  • January 18, 2002 - Using Technology in Teaching Conference: Ideas that Work
    URI Bay Campus
  • The Prismatic Perception core team was selected to present a workshop entitled, “Man and the Machine: Creating a Technology-Enhanced, Interdisciplinary Humanities Paradigm at CCRI”. We presented to members of the URI, RIC, and CCRI communities. The session was of primary interest to those interested in developing a model for learning-community curricula at their institutions.
    November 14-17 2001 - 2001 Conference on Information Technology
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Our presentation, entitled Prismatic Perception: Creating Team-Taught, Interdisciplinary Technology-Enhanced Courses, focused on our new course "Man and the Machine”, which was piloted during the Fall 2001 semester. At this conference, our students joined us live via internet to respond to questions posed by the audience regarding the course.
  • October 12, 2001 - Learning Communities at CCRI: First Steps and Future Directions
    CCRI Lincoln Campus
    Attended this conference on behalf of the Prismatic Perception core team to discuss our approach to student outcomes in our pilot course “Man and the Machine."
  • October 1, 2001 - The College Board and NECC: Best Practices at Associate Degree Granting Institutions Conference, Crowne Plaza Worcester Hotel, Worcester, Massachusetts
    The Prismatic Perception core team presented the concept of our pilot course, "Man and the Machine”. The session focused on the development of our team-taught humanities WebCT- enhanced course.

INITIAL GRANT:

Phase I (December 1999 - December 2000) of the project was supported by the Community College Humanities Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Community College of Rhode Island was 1 of 17 community colleges chosen nationwide to be awarded a year-long, non-funded, mentor-supported grant during which time we developed the Prismatic Perception’s pedagogy.

Phase II (July 2000 - June 2001) was funded by the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education’s Incentive Fund for Excellence in Technology.) We were awarded $32,000 to support the goals of our project. The Rhode Island Board of Governors chose to support our endeavors, for they stated, "this program appears to have the potential for increasing student interest and performance in the humanities. It also will foster further collaboration with Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island by using the Prismatic Perceptions platform."