Program Name: The Fifth Dimension

Location:  Mission Elementary School, 2100 Mission Avenue, Oceanside, CA 92054-2327

Principal Investigator(s):

• Professor/Vice-Provost Sally Foster, Department of Psychology, Mira Costa Community College
• Professor/Director Michael Cole, Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (LCHC), UC San Diego

Contact:  Professor Sally Foster, sfoster@miracosta.edu

Site Description:

The Mission Elementary School program is an adaptation of the Fifth Dimension program and serves children who are primarily English language learners from a working class, largely immigrant Latino community in Oceanside. For three days per week, children and undergraduates meet in the school’s computer room to collaborate in informal learning activities using educational software or in project-based literacy building activities that involve email.  The children also have access to homework help and a variety of technology-based and hands-on resources and activities. Mira Costa students participate in the program by enrolling either in a special topics course in Interdisciplinary Studies or theory and practicum courses in Psychology. This program is an ongoing collaboration between faculty and students at Mira Costa College and UC San Diego.

Courses: Mira Costa Community College:

• Interdisciplinary Studies 109: Practicum in Learning and Development
• Psychology 101: General Psychology and Psychology 101HSP
• Psychology 211: Learning and Behavior Modification

Participants (based on 2005-06 data):

• Approximately 32 4th grade students and 38 9th–12th grade students per academic year
• 100% Latino
• 56% male, 44% female
• 57% ELLs
• Approximately 70 undergraduates per academic year

Collaborators:

• Mission Elementary School in the Oceanside Unified School District
• Oceanside High School in the Oceanside Unified School District
• Mira Costa Community College
• The Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (LCHC), UC San Diego

Goals:

• Increase English language literacy and critical thinking;
• Increase technology literacy through computer-based multi-media storytelling;
• Increase participants’ knowledge and improve attitudes and aspirations toward higher learning for participating youth;
• Improve the quality of graduate and undergraduate education by connecting academic coursework to practicum field experience;
• Encourage undergraduates to explore the possibility of a teaching career in urban, low-income communities.

Activities:

• Collaborative learning activities using a wide array of educational software, hands-on materials, and board games which promote the development of literacy knowledge and skills;
• Daily online (email) communication and letter-writing activities;
• Homework assistance and mentoring from undergraduate participants.

Evaluation:

• University of California Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships (SAPEP) Annual Performance Report
• UC Links Reading Assessment
• Survey of undergraduate interest in pursuing graduate or professional school studies
• Pre-test/post-test computer literacy survey
• Analysis of participants' activity records, and staff and undergraduate field notes to examine educational progress over time
• Analysis of changes in children's writing skills as part of letter-writing activities

Research focus:

• Sociocultural approach to language issues and English language learning.
• Mediation of learning by material culture
• Impact of the social framing of program activities on literacy (specifically vocabulary) development