Question: What do you think the benefits of this course are?
Answer: I think this course exemplifies Elon’s ideal of engaged learning – students don’t just read or hear about philanthropy and program design, they see it and do grant-writing. I like experiential learning and that is one of the highlights of this course.
Question: What did you think of our class' decision making process? Did you think we worked well together?
Answer: Your class was very deliberative about its decision making. You often reviewed and reworked points you had agreed on – this really slowed your process down but ultimately resulted in a decision that people we satisfied with. You took longer than any other class had taken, but you really tried to get everyone’s input. I think there was a concern that some voices weren’t being heard, so you went backwards often to make sure everyone was content moving forward.
Question: How did our class' decision making process compare to that of last years class?
Answer: Each class is unique –it is difficult to compare them
Question: What is your favorite part about teaching this course?
Answer: My favorite part of teaching this course is seeing the group presentations and working with the groups. There is a point where students start to “get” how this whole process works, how all the pieces of a program and grant proposal go together. It is exciting when that happens. The presentations are one way you demonstrate this. Working individually with each group also gives me the opportunity to see students grasp the ideas that are involved. I am always amazed at how much information students gather and put together in a relatively short amount of time.
Question: Have you had people come to you after they graduate and talk about how this course helped them?
Answer: I have had numerous students let me know about how valuable this course was, whether because they are now writing grants or helping to write them or assisting agencies in figuring out outputs and outcome measures J One story in particular stands out. A student in an MSW program (UNC-CH) was taking a course in program design and the professor asked if anyone knew what a logic model was. She raised her hand, and the professor skeptically said ”Really? What is it?” She answered correctly and then the professor asked where she had learned this. She replied” Well, I had this course at Elon University that was supported by the Learning By Giving Foundation where we learned about philanthropy and how grant-writing works…. It is always rewarding to hear things like this. Teaching is a lot like planting trees – it often takes a while to see the results of one’s labors.