5 Special Populations Project (Unessay)
Nicole Patrie
Description: Students do a deep dive into a “special population” in the correctional system. These are groups of people who share a particular identity or label that sets them apart from the general population, which means they might be treated differently.
Overview: The project occurs in 3 parts. First, students create a 10-source reference list of academic, government, and news sources that pertain to their population and the correctional system. Second, they write an annotated bibliography using 5 of the sources to outline how the population moves through and is treated in the correctional system. Finally, they communicate their findings in “anything but an essay”.
Objectives: To explore how special populations move through the system differently, including people’s lived experiences and government legislation and guidelines. To demonstrate the different aspects of the correctional system pertaining to their population. To evaluate current practices with respect to their population in the correctional system.
I was really impressed with the diversity of the projects, and the interest that students had in each others’ projects. Throughout the term, I met with students to ensure they had selected a plan for their Unessay, which helped them to make decisions before the last minute. Scaffolding the project throughout the term made it easy to stay on top of the project, give adequate feedback, and ensure people were on the right track. In the future, I will try to ensure that each group or student selects a different special population so that all potential topics are covered. I will also need to explicitly teach the different categories of sources so that students can understand the differences and usefulness of media, academic sources, government documents, and grey literature. My general advice would be to show students an example, but try not to limit them. I showed them an example of communicating research through Lego blocks, which I think was “out of the box” enough to encourage them to think differently. Although I was nervous on our showcase day, I was really happy with everything and how confidently the students spoke about their projects.
