The organic paradigm marks a shift away from the traditional industrial paradigm in education, which has informed formal education since the late nineteenth century. It emphasizes four tenets: vitality, creativity, diversity, and customization. Furthermore, it recognizes individuality and allows students to draw upon their strengths as well as improve upon curricular areas where they are not uniformly strong. Customization of course content allows students to develop content areas specific to their professional or educational goals while working toward common objectives outlined by the instructor. This presentation describes the operationalization of an organic educational paradigm in an undergraduate journalism capstone course.

2. Toward an Organic Paradigm
in Higher Education
R. James Wertz
Department of Communication
& Media Studies
Edinboro University
Pennsylvania

3. INTRODUCTION
• Creativity is essential and beneficial…
Higher Ed is not doing enough to
encourage creative development.
(Cropley & Cropley, 2009)

4. INTRODUCTION
• FLOW: The merging of
action and awareness
(Csikzentmihalyi, 2008)

5. INTRODUCTION
• How do we, as educators…
• Engage students in professional practice?
• Foster creativity?
• Allow students to develop skills that meet
their diverse and individual needs?

6. ORGANIC PARADIGM
• VITALITY
• CREATIVITY
• DIVERSITY
• CUSTOMIZATION

7. ORGANIC PARADIGM
• VITALITY
STUDENTS
• CREATIVITY
• DIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS
• CUSTOMIZATION

8. JOURNALISM CAPSTONE
NEWS21 JOUR504
• Two-Semester • One Semester
Topic-Based Advanced Reporting
Sequence Seminar
• Fellows partner • Broadcast, Print, and
with Media Public Relations
Partners Students
• Paid Stipend and • No Compensation/
Travel = $10,000 No Media Partner

9. JOUR504: Adv Electronic Journalism

10. JOUR504: Adv Electronic Journalism
• THREE REPORTING ASSIGNMENTS:
• DEFINING THE PROBLEM
• ORGANIZATIONS & INSTITUTIONS
• PEOPLE & PLACES

11. JOUR504: Adv Electronic Journalism
• THREE REPORTING ASSIGNMENTS:
• DEFINING THE PROBLEM
• ORGANIZATIONS & INSTITUTIONS
• PEOPLE & PLACES
• RULES:
• Pieces could be print based or visual
• OFF-CAMPUS ONLY
• Finish pieces posted to course blog
• WorkingPoorAmerica.wordpress.com

12. EXTERNAL RESULTS

13. EXTERNAL RESULTS
“I love seeing you people taking an interest in
what is going on in the world today. After all,
they are our future. Keep up the good
work.” - Lisa Scott, Blogger
“My husband and I have also been working on
a website covering health insurance policies.
Your site’s info has been a great guide for our
new site. Please keep on uploading the great
content! Looking forward to reading more
pages on your helpful website!”
– Anon. Blogger

14. EXTERNAL RESULTS
“This seems like a really interesting project.
We think about this all the time at the
National Diaper Bank Network. We look
forward to getting to know you better in
the blogosphere.”
- Diaper Bank Network

15. INTERNAL RESORTS
• Student Response:
• “enjoyed the class discussions”…
• “I even kept the notebook!”
• The Projects “were very helpful in learning
what works in the real world”…”good ways to
approach people.”

16. INTERNAL RESORTS
“Even though the reporting projects were time
consuming I learned a lot about the working
poor and myself throughout this process.”

17. For More Information
ProfWertz.com
WorkingPoorAmerica.wordpress.com
WorkingPoorAmerica.com

18. References
Arum, R. & Roksa, J. (2010). Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College
Campuses. Chicago, IL.: University of Chicago Press.
Cropley, A. & Cropley, D. (2009). Fostering creativity: A diagnostic approach for
higher education and organisations. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008, 1991). Flow: The Psychology of the Optimal
Experience. New York: Harper Collins.
News21 (2012). Available online: http://news21.com/
Robinson, K. (2008, June 16). RSA/Edge Lecture: Changing Paradigms - How we
implement sustainable change in education. Available online:
http://filmenglish.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/transcript-sir-ken-
robinson.pdf
Salen, K. & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals.
Cambridge, MA.: The MIT Press.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.