Category: Projects

Community-neighborhood projects

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Families for Forward Thinking: Partnering with Parents in the 21st Century

This immersive learning project continued the already established Families for Forward Thinking: Partnering with Parents in the 21st Century (FFT) program that began spring semester of 2016 with Wee Wisdom Nursery School and Child Care Center in Muncie, IN. In the continuation of this project, the students generated additional ways to build school, parent, and student relations through technology. They educated Wee Wisdom staff in current technology resources including the use of iPads in the classroom. Furthermore, students created an audio series for the Wee Wisdom online parent resource center. They interviewed community members and early childhood experts in the Digital Corps recording studio. Finally, Wee Wisdom parents were invited to an evening of training focused on internet safety guidelines for young children and introducing Wee Wisdom new Technology Initiative.

Faculty Mentor: Stacey Allred
Department: Elementary Education
Community Partner: Wee Wisdom Nursery School and Child Care Facility
Students: Olivia Acheson, LeAnna Ballard, Megan Chalfant, Emily Dobczyk, Payton Fiedler, Deja Gibson, Alyson Gouveia, Alicia Hamman, Jessica Hanes, Catelyn Hufman, Alyssa Humburg, Katherine Milam, Jessica Mills, Laura Morrison, Matia Rujiraviryapinyo, Maria Schultz, Marissa Scott, Brooke Stafford, Bailey West

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Engaging the Next Generation of Leaders: Character and Leadership Devlopment at the Boys and Girls Club of Muncie

At the Boys & Girls Club of Muncie, leadership and character development are paramount. This immersive learning project put this important program in to action through developing a youth targeted curriculum and a train-the-trainer program for its staff. Through volunteering at the Club, research, and interviews with Board members, Club members and staff, the project team determined what leadership and character development needs were not being met with current programs. They are in the process of developing 12 sessions for the youth. The first six sessions deal with knowing one’s self, and the second set of six focus on working well with others.

Faculty Mentor: Peggy Fisher
Department: Communication Studies
Community Partner: Boys & Girls Club of Muncie
Students: Jasmine Cash, Maggie Ernst, Jacob Griffin, Allison Grime, Meranda Herbert, Robert Higgins, Oana Nae, Lea Newman, Siduri Purnell, Samantha Starcher

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Elementary and Maker Workshops: Making an Interactive STEAM Exhibity with Elementary Pre-service Teachers and Children

This immersive learning project situated undergraduate students, specifically first year pre-service teachers, as designers and producers of elementary workshops for Burris Laboratory School’s science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) Enrichment Club, which is operated by the Center for Gifted Studies and Talent Development. The purpose of this project was two-fold: (1) to meet the needs of Burris’ STEAM Enrichment Club and (2) to offer real-world experience to both immersive learning students and elementary children who designed, planned, implemented, and managed STEAM related activities. With such a heavy emphasis on STEM related standards in our elementary schools, the STEAM Enrichment Club reminds students and teachers that through art we reconnect “the arts and sciences in ways that learning can happen at the intersection of the two” (Robelen, 2011). Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein (1999) found that many of the Nobel laureates in science were also artists. This immersive learning project introduced pre-service, first year students, who have majored in elementary education, to experiences that integrated digital technologies and new media across the elementary curriculum via the arts and sciences.

Faculty Mentor: Kate Shively
Department: Elementary Education
Community Partner: Burris Laboratory School
Students: Hannah Andrews, Christa Burns, Sydney Chaney, James Colter, Erin Coogan, Erin Fleece, Chloe Gaines, Taylor Hobson, Lauren Hoffman, Samatha Jazayeri, Bailie Lehman, Aubrey Meister, Alexis Methner, Giselle Monfreda, McKinley Purdy, Jessica Reis, Claire Riemersma, Abbie Rooker, Hannah Wintz, Christopher Wright

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East Central Neighborhood Action Plan

The East Central Neighborhood Action Plan (ECNAP) is a citizen-generated policy regarding the future of the neighborhood, containing initiatives that will developed by the residents of the neighborhood with the assistance of the students. The ECNAP fell under the umbrella of the Muncie Action Plan (MAP), which is a strategic guide for the city to create an action agenda for the future. A partnership was established with MAP and Ball State University to help with the organization of neighborhoods, to assist with needs assessment/goal setting and to develop collaborative projects that meet the unique needs of each neighborhood. In addition to the action plan, a ECNAP handbook was also produced as a document to aid citizen planners when they begin to enact initiatives from the plan.

Plan Website

Faculty Mentor: Lisa Dunaway
Department: Urban Planning
Community Partner: East Central Neighborhood Association
Students: Joshua Bannister, Josh Campbell, Brendyn Cyrus, Matt Dixon, Alyssa Flandermeyer, Lauren Gillingham, Gregory Huss, Kenta Lanham, Keaton Osborn, Alexander Pormen, Ellen Randall, Ikechukwu Robert-Eze, Paige Story, Taylor Sweet, Shannon Szabo, Jordan Wyatt

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Let’s Build!

This immersive learning project was a partnership between the Ball State construction management program and the Ross Center, located on the south side of Muncie. Let’s Build is part of the elementary outreach initiative developed by the Ball State construction management program in 2015. The construction industry is facing a severe workforce shortage. The goal of the program is to introduce students to the construction industry at a young age. The project team worked with elementary school students on a weekly basis at the Ross Center. Through hands-on activities, the students learned about construction, careers in construction, and construction safety. The students also assisted the project team with building an outdoor bench for the Ross Center.

Fall 2018

Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Warrner
Department: Construction Management and Interior Design
Community Partner: Longfellow Elementary School
Students:Aaron Albright, Kathy Berryhill, Hayden Castor, Aaron Davis, Michale Delong, Grant Denney, Reid Dettmer, David Dickey, Jordan Harrison, Nathan Heine, Susan Lamermayer, Austin McNally, Danny Nestorovski, Nate Netzhammer, Grant Small, Jacob Swales, Isaiah Swanigan, Zack Taylor, Jacob Wendrickx, Morgan Wiley

Fall 2016

Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Warrner
Department: Technology
Community Partner: Ross Center
Students: Joel Bolen, Chase Clark, Anthony Cook, Nate Cox, Kendal Franz, Mark Fritz, Sarah Galloway, Jake Leonard, Cody Smith, Brad Wells, Robert Yaggi

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Fall 2016 Ball State Immersive Learning Projects

Ball State faculty, students, and community partners are working together this fall on a number of immersive learning projects in and around Muncie.

Let’s Build!
Community Partner:  Ross Center
Faculty Mentor:  Jennifer Warrner, Department of Technology

Delaware County Historical Society Strategic Plan
Community Partner:  Delaware County Historical Society
Faculty Mentor:  Robert V. Morris, Department of History

East Central Neighborhood Action Plan
Community Partner:  East Central Neighborhood Association
Faculty Mentor:  Lisa Dunaway, Department of Urban Planning

Elementary Maker Workshops:  Making an Interactive STEAM Exhibit with Elementary Pre-service Teachers and Children
Community Partner:  Burris Laboratory School
Faculty Mentor:  Kate Shively, Department of Elementary Education 

Engaging the Next Generation of Leaders:  Character and Leadership Development at the Boys & Girls Club of Muncie
Community Partner:  Boys & Girls Club of Muncie
Faculty Mentor:  Peggy Fisher, Department of Communication Studies

Families for Forward Thinking:  Partnering with Parents in the 21st Century
Community Partner:  Wee Wisdom Nursery School and Child Care Facility
Faculty Mentor:  Stacey Allred, Department of Elementary Education 

Sustainability Park for Northwest Muncie
Community Partner:  Red-tail Land Conservancy
Faculty Mentor:  Dave Ferguson, Department of Landscape Architecture 

Jacket Copy Creative: Covering All Your Communication Needs
Community Partner:  Whitely Community Council
Faculty Mentor:  Eva Grouling Snider, Department of English

Unmasked: The Stigma of Meth
Community Partner:  Ball Brothers Foundation
Faculty Mentors:  Terry Heifetz, Department of Telecommunications, Juli Metzger, Department of Journalism

Narrative Contemporary Dance
Community Partner:  Cornerstone Center for the Arts
Faculty Mentors:  Vladimir Stadnik, Department of Theatre and Dance

Preventing Financial Exploitation of Older Adults
Community Partner:  Muncie Delaware Senior Center
Faculty Mentor:  Ronald Dolon, Department of Social Work

Riverside-Normal City:  Portrait of a Middletown Neighborhood in a Post-Industrial Age
Community Partner:  Riverside-Normal Neighborhood Association, Building Better Neighborhoods
Faculty Mentor:  Jennifer Erickson, Department of Anthropology

Shafer Leadership – Community Needs Assessment
Community Partner:  Shafer Leadership Academy
Faculty Mentor:  Melinda Messineo, Department of Sociology