DEST 591 S01
Development Studies Seminar

Critical Perspectives on Development Practice and Research
Fall 2008
Tuesday 11:00 - 13:50

 

Instructor:	Edna Einsiedel
Office Location:	Social Science 318
Office Phone:	220-3924
E-Mail:	einsiede@ucalgary.ca
Office Hours:	Wed 9:30 - 10:30

 

 Course Description

 This course will be conducted as a seminar-practicum for students in Development Studies. The course is designed around doing development by carrying out a small community development-related project. This involves project conceptualization, planning, implementation, and final report.  Students will work in teams of two or three.

 The seminar portion of the course will focus on contemporary development issues in the context of civil society organizations and community development. The course project will provide opportunities to link theory and the practicalities and challenges of doing development work and will illustrate various stages of development projects. The goal will be to think through some of the policy and practical implications of development issues as they are illustrated within development practice.

 

 Objectives of the Course

 1. Develop project management skills

2. Design and implement a community development project with a client organization

3. Apply development research to policy and practice

 

Textbooks and Readings:

No textbooks; readings will be from journals in the field

Assignments and Evaluation

 1.     Requirement  1

• Select a project for the term. This project involves meeting with a client group or organization, developing a project plan, implementing the project, and writing a final report for the organization. This report will also be orally presented to the class. 55%

This includes the following elements.

• Project plan
• Implementation
• Oral presentations
• Final report and poster exhibit

A percentage of this grade (up to 10%)  will be determined through peer review of the individual student's contribution to the project by the group.

 

2. Requirement  2

• Critical analysis Paper 25 %

You will identify a development issue related to the project of interest to your organization of choice. For example, if you are working with an organization concerned with housing, your paper should focus on this issue to provide additional background for your group project and to allow you to delve in greater depth into the issue from the perspective of development research.  

 

3.     Requirement  3

                                                    i.     Class participation                           20 %

This includes submission of a one page analysis of and commentary on the readings for the week. Please do only those marked with asterisks.

 

4. Requirement 4 -  Although this will not be graded,  you are encouraged to jot down your reflections on your project work, the challenges you are experiencing, and your learning experiences.

 

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.
Note: Please hand in your essays directly to your tutor or instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

 Registrar-scheduled Final Examination:  NO

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you need help with your writing, you may use the Writing Centre.  Visit the website for more details: www.efwr.ucalgary.ca

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

(Revised, effective September 2008)

 

	Grading Scale
A+	96-100
A	90-95.99
A -	85-89.99
B+	80-84.99
B	75-79.99
B-	70-74.99
C+	65-69.99
C	60-64.99
C-	55-59.99
D+	53-54.99
D	50-52.99
F	0-49

 

Where a grade on a particular assignment is expressed as a letter grade, it will normally be converted to a number using the midpoint of the scale.  That is, A- would be converted to 87.5 for calculation purposes.  F will be converted to zero.

 Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS 106, efwr.ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/su

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Ethics

Note on Research Ethics:

This course (or assignment) will  obtain course-based ethics approval from the faculty research ethics committee as soon as project selections have been finalized.  Whenever you perform research with human participants (i.e. surveys, interviews, observation) as part of your university studies, you are responsible for following university research ethics guidelines.  Your instructor must review and approve of your research plans and supervise your research.  For more information about your research ethics responsibilities, see the U of C Research Ethics "Information for Applicants," sections 3.0 to 9.0, inclusive: http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/research/html/ethics/info_undergrad.html

 

Schedule of Lectures and Readings

 
Sept.  09            Introduction to the course

                        Project selection and guidelines

Sample Projects         

Ethics guidelines for research projects

Adopting a complexity framework for development policy and practice

 

·                       Mitlin, D., S. Hickey, A. Bebbington (2006), Reclaiming development? NGOs and the challenge of alternatives. World development, 35:10,1699-1720.

·                       Nelson, P. (2007), Human rights, the Millenium Development Goals, and the

         future of Development Cooperation. World development, 35:12, 2041-2055.

 

Sept. 16            Practicum:      Project management

• A. Einsiedel, Project Planning and Management: A Guide for

     Development Projects  (handout)

• T. Richey, "Wicked problems: structuring social messes with

     morphological analysis"

 

Sept. 23              TIME FOR CLIENT MEETING

                                                                                                           

Sept. 30          Planning a development project: considerations for entry into a community. 

*Introducing Telehealth technologies to First Nations Communities:

• Muttitt, S., R. Vigneault, L. Loewen, "Integrating telehealth into aboriginal healthcare: the Canadian experience
• Geissbuhller, et.al. (2007), The RAFT network: five years of continuing medical education and teleconsultations over the Internet in French-speaking Africa. Int'l Journ Medical Informatics, 76:5-6, 351-56.

 

Oct.   07            PROJECT PLANS DUE (12-minute presentations)

Complexity and organizational processes: Project management as

     Organizational Learning.

• Roper, L. and J. Pettit (2002), "Development and the learning

organization". Development in Practice, 12:3 & 4, August, 258-271.

• Padaki, V., "The human organization: challenges in NGOs and development programmes"

 

Oct. 14            Doing Project Evaluation     

• Earle, S. and F. Carden, "Learning from Complexity: The IDRC's Experience with Outcome Mapping"
• J. Willetts & P. Crawford, (2007) The most sigificant lessons about the most significant change technique. Development in practice, 17:3, 367-79.

Oct. 21               RESEARCH PAPERS DUE (No later than 11 a.m.)

                        Case study:  Ten Thousand Villages, micro-enterprise, and  fair trade

 

Oct. 28            Social complexity as context for projects: understanding gender challenges

• M. Molyneux, Gender and the silences of social capital: lessons from Latin America
• A. Cornwall, "Whose voices? Whose choices? Reflections on gender and participatory development

 

 

Nov.     4               MID-TERM PRESENTATIONS  (Implementation reports)

·       Eyben, R., T. Kidder, J. Rowlands, A. Bronstein (2008), Thinking about change for development practice: a case study from Oxfam GB. Development in practice. 18:2,201-212.

 

11           READING DAYS

 

             18            Instructor-team consultations

 

 25           FINAL PRESENTATIONS -- Groups 1, 2 and 3

NOTE:  PROJECT POSTERS WILL BE PUT ON DISPLAY IN THE 3^RD FLOOR LOUNGE

 

Dec.    2            FINAL PRESENTATIONS (Groups 4, 5,  and 6)

                        PROJECT POSTERS WILL REMAIN ON DISPLAY

 

Reflections on Group Project

 

Submission of Course Journals

 

(10)         FINAL PROJECT REPORT SUBMISSION (may be submitted

                  earlier)

REFERENCES:

 

Cornwall, A. (2003),  "Whose voices? Whose choices? Reflections on gender and participatory development. World development, 31:8, 1325-42.

 

Earle, S.  and F. Carden (2003), "Learning from Complexity: The IDRC's Experience with Outcome Mapping". Laura Roper, Jethro Pettit, and Deborah Eade (eds.) Development and the Learning Organization: A Development in Practice Reader. Oxfam GB.

 

Eyben, R., T. Kidder, J. Rowlands, A. Bronstein (2008), Thinking about change for development practice: a case study from Oxfam GB. Development in practice, 18:2, 201-212.

 

Geissbuhller, et.al. (2007), The RAFT network: five years of continuing medical education and teleconsultations over the Internet in French-speaking Africa. Int'l Journ Medical Informatics, 76:5-6, 351-56.

 

Molyneux, M. (2002), Gender and the silences of social capital: lessons from Latin America. Development and change, 33:2, 167-188.

 

Muttitt, S., R. Vigneault, L. Loewen, "Integrating telehealth into aboriginal healthcare: the Canadian experience.". Int'l Journ of Circumpolar health, 63:4,  401-414, 2004

 

Padaki, V., "The human organization: challenges in NGOs and development programmes". Development in practice, 17:1, February, 2007.

 

J. Putzel (2004), "The politics of action on AIDS: a case study of Uganda". Public administration and development. 24:19-30

 

Richey, T. (2005), "Structuring social messes with morphological analysis". www.swemorph.com

 

Roper, L. and J. Pettit (2002), "Development and the learning organization". Development in Practice, 12:3 & 4, August, 258-271

 

Willetts, J. and P. Crawford 2007), The most significant lessons about the Most Significant Change technique, Development in practice, 17:3, 367-79.

 

Core journals in the field of development and project management issues:

• Development
• Development in Practice
• Development and Change
• Development Policy Review
• IDS Bulletin
• Journal of International Development
• Public Administration and Development
• World Development

SPECS FOR RESEARCH PAPER

 

 

Due:            October 21, 2008

Length:            Up to 10 pp.

Format:             Research paper with accompanying bibliography

 

 

Identify an issue related to the interests of your community organization client and/or your group project  focus. Develop a review and critical analysis of the research literature which will contribute towards informing your development project.