November 26, 1997
Contact: Louise Snider, 619/594-5204
Surviving freshman shock--SDSU and Hoover High School students help each other
WHAT:
Twenty-four SDSU freshmen teamed with 60 Hoover High School ninth graders to interview each other and research topics on immigration and human migration.
The San Diego State students will be presenting the results of their research--posters, papers, and project manuals--to the Hoover students. There also will be a slide-show.
The two groups interviewed each other to learn about their personal and family histories as a basis for further research. During the process, the SDSU students have gained self confidence and become role models for the high school students, and Hoover freshmen have learned more about college-level research and analysis.
WHEN: Tuesday, December 2, 1997, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Hoover High School Auditorium, 4474 El Cajon Blvd.
WHO: SDSU and Hoover students from a variety of racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds: African American, American Indian, Anglo, Bolivian, Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Laotian, Mexican, Polish, Puerto Rican, Russian, Salvadoran, Vietnamese, and others.
Two SDSU faculty from the Freshman Success Program: Ann M. Johns, professor of rhetoric and writing, and Elizabeth A. Colwill, associate professor of history; and 24 students from their linked classes.
Two Hoover High School teachers: Christine Johnson, team leader for the ninth grade coalition, and Lee Mongrue, humanities teacher; and 60 students from their humanities’ classes.
BACKGROUND:
Selecting and presenting information in an analytical research paper is one of the most difficult tasks for freshmen in high school and college. Both groups are asked to meet higher standards and expectations. What’s more, many of these students come from recently immigrated families and must cope with language and cultural problems.
SDSU professors Johns and Colwill developed a pilot writing/research program that linked their students with Hoover High School freshmen to gather oral histories from each other and use them as the jumping off point for research on the theme of human migration/immigration.
The SDSU students are being guided by their teachers to move from personal experience and interviews to research. They are focusing on specific themes, such as generational conflicts in immigrant families, history of immigration law, how cuts in state funding affect pre-natal care, etc.
The Hoover students will listen to the presentations, question the San Diego State students about their posters, the process of research and writing, and the conclusions they have drawn from their research. Subsequently, the Hoover students will work on their own research for presentation January 16, 1998.
CONTACTS:
Ann M. Johns, SDSU, 594-6331
Elizabeth A. Colwill, SDSU, 594-2715
Christine Johnson, Hoover H.S., 283-6281
Lee Mongrue, Hoover H.S., 283-6281