(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
    My activity was pretty great as it achieved my objective of demonstrating tangible goals, encouraged cooperation and attention from my fellow students, illustrated principles discussed in my lecture, and exemplified a type of lesson plan that I had discussed in my project as part of my best answer.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?

AE  

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE  

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
        In my senior project, I had a great deal of successful innovations in my senior project that worked rather well for me. Ultimately, what worked for me the most in this project is the sheer amount of research and strength of the sources that I selected for use in my Senior Project. Sources such as Wendel Stephens, "Dynamics of Political Participation", greatly aided my overall project by providing a solid core of research to bolster my conclusions and ensure I had the utmost credibility when it came to reporting and presenting my research.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
        If I had a time machine (in addition to gaming the stock market and creating time paradoxes), I would probably work on my graphic design skills. While my research and fundamental understanding of my project was solid, I was always left with the impression that the visual presentation was left wanting for a certain level of panache. In addition, I also would have definitely contacted more individuals to acquire their perspective on the subject matter as well.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples

     Senior Project has been helpful to me particularly in my future endeavors in multiple ways. It has shown me an interesting subject matter that I intend to pursue at UC Davis. In addition, the act of combining mentorship with academics means that I have 40 credits overall to carry with me to my future college which helps me reduce cost, and I have experience in my chosen major. Furthermore, I have gained a lot of experience in networking by utilizing my old contacts in friends and  family which is how I originally met my first mentor. These are all useful skills and assets to have and will serve me well in the future. Overall, I feel that I-Poly and the Mentorship experience have left me prepared for the future.

Blog 22: Mentorship

Content:

LIA Response to blog:

    Literal

·     Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties updated on the right hand side of your blog

·     Contact Name and Mentorship Place
 Contact Name: Murniz Coson
 Email. Murniz_Coson@chaffey.edu

-Hours Updated

    Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

-The single most important thing that I've gained from my experience is an academic understanding of the root causes behind democratic principles in action and direct peer to peer experience in seeing those academic systems in action.Given that a bulk of my hours came from attending classes and correspondence with my professors, I find this assessment of the overall impression of my mentorship to be a valid analysis of my time. in the course of my mentorship, I devoted a great deal of time to analyzing the structural systems underlying individual participation and the modifications to that end. I also engaged in a of of individual surveying to directly access data as seen in my independent component hour log, and I went above and beyond in my interviews by interviewing four different individuals to ensure that I got a diverse perspective on the issue.F information that I recieved. Furthermore, my essential question was derived from my mentorship as well.

   Applied

     How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.

As the bulk of my hours have come from classes, supplemented by attending city council meetings, I think it's fair to say that the primary benefit in addressing my EQ is understanding the mechanisms behind proposed solutions to the problem of low voter turnout rates and the reasoning behind that. My initial mentor taught me about the positive influence that a mentor can have upon a burgeoning politically oriented mind and  the specific requirement of an academic environment of fostering these views. My correspondence with my mentor as part of my mentorship also reinforced the role of the academic environment in addressing declining student turnout rates, and was a significant factor in my decision to include that as my best answer. In addition, attending city council meetings also helped me informally interview  people as to their beliefs regarding this, and I saw firsthand the techniques they use to try to encourage attendance such as use of technology to broadcast their meeting and other ideas.

Blog 21: Exit Interview

Content:

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

EQ: What is the best way to encourage youth voter involvement in local government systems?

My Best Answer was my first as increasing the role of education in encouraging youth involvement in politics is vital to addressing low voting turnout rates among youth voters as a societal issue. In this regard, the nearly universal levels of high school education among youth stands the best chance of reaching and influencing the larger population. In particular, youth voting receiving an increased emphasis in high school means that development of the youth voting behaviors can occur in a peer to peer environment which has proved crucial to the reinforcing of those behaviors.  This principle of peer to peer influence has been repeatedly codified by multiple sources and should not be overlooked. Sources supporting this idea include Megnan Condon's work on th voting behaviors of young adults, but this principle is ubiquitous in most readings of political science works. For these reasons, my best answer of increasing an educational emphasis on positive voting behaviors is rooted nt eh creation of a nurturing environment for the development of those behaviors that is not currently provided. 

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

The process to this answer was an arduous development predicated on an evolving definition of what the essential question was. To begin with, my original problem was the question of what it to,k to scceed in politics, an answer I thought would be addressed through outlining the solutions. The true issue that I would work on for my senior project would not arrive until later. This meant that I had a lot of foundation that was largely irrelevant in the face of my later research. Nonetheless, there was a great deal of research available on this subject given the matter at hand. This answer was decided as the best answer given the research available on why exactly individuals decide not to participate, and my own research also conducted on the subject. 

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

As stated previously, a great deal of the foundational work done on my subject was irrelevant given my later topic switch, yet this was counteracted by the great deal of research done to resolve this issue. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

Wendel, Stephen. "The Dynamics of Political Participation: An Analysis
of the Dynamic Interaction between Individuals and their Political
Micro-Environment." Order No. 3517713 University of Maryland, College
Park, 2012. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 26 Sep. 2014.

This source was absolutely vital to my response as it outlined the basic principlebehind most major voting behaviors. It outlined significant trends among various demographics, but most importantly it outlined the specific effect of minor influencers among this demographic. It was one of the few sources to particularly place an emphasis on the peer to peer influence angle which was found to have a measurable impact in encouraging others. This article was a phenomenal source to have and provided a great deal of information on my subject throughout the entire year.

Condon, Meghan, and Matthew Holleque. "Entering Politics: General Self‐Efficacy and Voting Behavior Among Young People." Political Psychology, 34.2 (2013): 167-181

Similar to the last article, this article provided a great deal of resources on answering this topic in a significant capacity. To differentiate it from the above, this article focused specifically upon analyzing the specific attitudes of the young.

Be prepared with evidence and specific examples to support any response.  It is also significant to cite sources as you explain.