Marysa Prettyman

LAS441
23 April 2021
Capstone Paper

Capstone Paper

During my time here at Siena Heights University, I am embodied with the following

phrase throughout my entire journey. To become more competent, purposeful, and ethical for the

common good is what I have achieved in completing my coursework. In my time at Siena, I have

learned how to grow and to act out what it truly means to become a more competent, purposeful,

and ethical individual, while achieving a bachelor’s degree as a double major of Special

Education LD and General Education Elementary degree. Completing the specific liberal arts

course, known as LAS, have allowed me to grow in the areas of diversity and community,

inquiry and truth, contemplation and action, and justice and peace, all of which allowed me to

stive to be the most competent, purposeful, and ethical individual I can be in life. Furthermore,

there are eight key learning outcomes that I have been able to achieve over the past four years,

these eight outcomes include liberal arts learning, religious traditions, creativity, critical

thinking, communication, ethical integration, diversity in community, and social responsibility.

To begin, in my liberal arts classes not only was I able to network with peers in other

fields of study, but I was also able to network and grow in my connections with other staff and

faculty on Siena’s campus. In my liberal arts classes I was able to fully embody and understand

the meaning of a variety of academic disciplines, different methodologies among various

disciplines, and the ability to discuss larger issues. I was able to demonstrate my understanding

of disciplines in the following courses: SED351 Behavior Management, LAS341 Contemplation

and Action, and LAS441 Justice and Peace. In the course SED351 Behavior Management I was
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able to create a social story and completing a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP). Completing

these assignments allowed me to demonstrate my understanding of the differences in academic

disciplines. In the course LAS341, I was able to learn about and further understand different

methodologies and various disciplines. This was achieved by watching movies specific to

different methodologies and various disciplines as well as reading articles and texts of different

individuals and their religious beliefs. Also, in the course LAS441 we spend a lot of time

discussing global problems. One assignment that I completed in relation to global problems

would be my presentation on vulnerable populations. I was able to research and create a

presentation explaining my perspective on vulnerable populations.

The second learning outcome that I have achieved at Siena, is the learning outcome of

understanding religious traditions. During my coursework at Siena, I have been able to expand

my knowledge, learning, and understanding of religious traditions in a variety of courses. I was

able to identify sacred narratives and texts, beliefs, and practices and moral values associated

with some of the world’s major religious traditions by completing a research paper RST102 Intro

to Christian Theology. In the paper I was able to explain and show my understanding of a

passage from the Bible, the beliefs as well as practices of Christians. Furthermore, I was able to

show understanding of religious doctrines and traditions in historical and cultural texts during the

LAS341 Contemplation and Action course. In this course one of the textbooks, we read was

Miracle of Mindfulness, and in reading this text I was able to learn about the historical traditions

and beliefs of different religious groups. In the course, LAS241 Inquiry and Truth I was

challenged and grew in my learning, understanding, as well as presenting in relation to

understanding methods and norms of theology and religious studies. I was challenged to think

about the ways that we question and understand methods and norms in relation to theology and
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religious studies. Although it was a challenging course, completing the discussions and

presentations on difficult passages allowed me to grow in my understanding of different

religions. In terms of understanding and showing my understanding of scientific revolution and

fundamentalisms, I have been able to learn about the scientific revolution in my religious courses

as well as my science education courses. In the course, NSC373 Science Methods for Elementary

Teachers, I was able to complete a mid-term paper, and prior to writing the paper I was able to

have group discussion with my professor and peers on how to best address the topic of religious

beliefs and science beliefs in the K-12 classroom environment. The topic and discussion of

religion in the education setting is very tricky, and can be a sensitive topic to discuss, especially

in a public-school environment.

The third learning outcome in relation to liberal arts education is creativity, which has

been achieved in almost all my courses that I have completed here at Siena Heights University.

Some examples of how and where I was able to express my creativity would be in my Teaching

Creative Dramatics Course, Art for Elementary School Teachers, and in all of my education

courses, specifically when creating a lesson plan and unit plan. Being creative and having the

opportunity to be creative in the course TSD373 Teaching Creative Dramatics allowed me to

find my inner child creativity. We were provided opportunities to be creative through storytelling

and presenting my overall learning outcomes for the course as a muse for my final assignment.

In the course EDU321 Technology for Educators, I am currently in the process of finishing a

presentation of a poem titled Where I’m From. In this assignment, like many educational

assignments, I have the freedom of expressing my creative skills and presenting a unique video

reading of the poem Where I’m From. I have learned that it is so important to be creative and to

be able to provide and participate in opportunities that allow for creative experiences.
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The fourth outcome in relation to the liberal arts learning outcomes is critical thinking.

There have been many opportunities that relate to critical thinking in many of my courses and

course work. I have been able to think critically about many different theories, readings, and

experiences, especially in the classroom environment. In many of my educational courses, to be

able to think critically is a task asked often and demonstrated through reflection, an example of

this is completed in the timelines and history of education, specifically special education and

how the history is affecting me in the present and will affect me in the future. I was also able to

practice critical thinking when I was able to collaborate with peers in completing a presentation

to better understand the perspective of Native Americans. In collaboration and research we

learned and their educational journey, as well as complete many personal reflections about my

personal experiences in the classroom environment in public schools. Truly understanding what

it means to think critically is a challenging task, but with guidance and practice I have been able

to complete many assignments and assessments like writing a transition plan, unit plans, and give

standardized assessments. In each of these tasks, I grew in my critical thinking skills which

allowed me to learn about other perspectives and points of views in specific situations. To have

grown in asking higher-level questions to have a more in-depth understanding of the course

content and objectives. Having the ability to learn and grow in critical thinking skills, is

something that I will be able to continue to use in my future.

The fifth outcome for fully embracing the liberal arts learning is communication.

Personally, I believe that communication is such an important aspect in being successful in life.

Without strong, positive, and clear communication it is very challenging to be successful. In

completing all of my courses, I have learned how some individuals either at the faculty level or

student level are strong communicators, mediocre communicators, or poor communicators. I

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strive to be a strong and positive communicator as it is very important for my future career. In

my courses, I have learned how to express research, facts, and ideas as well as different levels of

communication, and the ability to listen and understand information. In all of my courses, I have

been able to improve in my skills with expressing ideas, facts and research in comprehensible

and grammatically correct written and oral formats by continuously completing papers,

discussion posts, and oral presentations or online presentations. I have also grown in

communicating in different forms of media of the world today by learning and teaching others

how to use email, messaging, as well as video chatting on Microsoft TEAMS and Zoom. All of

which I have been able to assist with in the classroom setting. The final form of communication

that I continue to grow in and work on is the ability to listen and to understand. I was able to

learn, grow, and practice this skill in the course LAN221 Speech for Teachers. There is such

importance as an individual but as a future teacher to be able to listen to others, not only to

respond but to understand. Without doing this task and working towards mastering the skill of

listening to understand, my future as an educator will be difficult.

The sixth outcome is about ethical integration, and during my time and completion of

courses at Siena Heights University, I have been able to grow in my understanding that every

single person is different, every single person has their own story, and that it is so important to

respect, learn, and grow to be well-rounded with understanding ethnicity. Some of my courses

have allowed me to evaluate and understand how to best approach situations- specifically in the

special education environment specific to dealing and identifying ethical issues and differences. I

have been able to complete a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) in which I had to evaluate,

understand, and identify a student’s behavior problems. In this process I was considering and

evaluating if there were any ethical issues involved, making the most appropriate plan for that
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student. I was also able to complete a graphic organizer in the course SED361 Introduction to

Learning Disabilities. The researching, purpose, and completion of the graphic organizer was to

better understand and evaluate the growth and change that continues to happen in relation to

ethical systems and the law. As a future educator, I have learned that it is of high important to be

morally and ethically appropriate at all times. Constantly, being aware of my surrounding

environment and community while learning and understanding other perspectives is one of many

ways that I can continue to be ethically appropriate.

The seventh outcome is diversity in community. During my time at Siena, I have had a

lot of personal growth in the area of diversity in community. My growth truly started in the

LAS241 Diversity and Community course. I have also been able to grow in my knowledge and

understanding of diversity and community in my educational psychology course, as well as

Culture and Diversity in the special education classroom. I have been able to understand the

importance of inclusion during my Early Childhood and Special Education course, as well as any

other special education course that I have completed. Some assignments that have allowed me to

grow and further my understanding of diversity in community by including differences in

various cultures, several unit plans, and learning outcomes reflections of the course. In creating

the unit plan for my Social Studies methods course, I was able to practice my understanding of

globalization within the understanding of diversity in community. In creating the unit plan we

were challenged with choosing a topic in relation to a global issue, my unit plan was about the

water supply issues, specifically the differences all around the globe. There were also many

different texts that I was able to read and reflect upon during my time in the different courses,

specifically educational courses that focus on texts in relation to diversity in community.

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The eighth outcome for understanding the liberal arts learning is social responsibility. In

fully understanding and practicing becoming better informed about social responsibility. Three

ways that I was able to obtain and achieve social responsibility include: social implications of a

belief in inalienable human rights, promoting peace by working for justice and common good,

and applying responsible stewardship for the environment. There were many ways that I was

able to learn and understand the importance of being able to socially imply a belief in inalienable

human rights. One of those ways was in the completion of a law chart in relation to the laws of

special education. Also, I was able to promote peace by working for justice and common good

was achieved by reflecting in a journal format in the course LAS441 Justice and Peace. We did a

self-evaluation and reflection on our personal experiences and beliefs in relation to social

responsibilities. This was helpful to bring personal self-awareness in relation to where I need to

improve and grow in my social responsibilities. Also, during LAS141 Diversity in Community I

was able to learn about, as well as have an experience serving in the community. While writing

an identify paper we were able to grow in our awareness in becoming better stewards towards the

environments.

Overall, the eight liberal arts learning outcomes have been achieved and successfully in

the classroom learning environment in my educational career and time at Siena Heights

University. Through the educational courses, LAS courses, and other extracurricular activities I

can truly say that I have become a more competent, purposeful, and ethical individual and will

continue to take these learning outcomes into my future career as a special education teacher.