GEA2_GAP(a) is just a way of indicating that this is a General Education Assignment (GEA) that allows this course to apply to your USF General Education requirements.
Okay, so what’s GAP stand for?

GAP stands for “Grassroots Activism Project” — and the key is doing something yourself to make a change in the world. (It’s like a service-learning project, if you’ve done those in other courses.) Our “GAP” assignment will help you fill the “gap” between our course materials and the world beyond our class. It’s your chance to take something you personally care about or that relates to your career or family and then make a change. Grassroots means right here, right now. We’re not talking laws and judges and books and celebrities and big money and industries. We’re just talking about that feeling we sometimes get when we say, “Hey, that’s not fair! Let’s make it fair!” Or “Hey that doesn’t really work! Let’s fix it!” An attractive part of grassroots activism is that anyone can do it almost anywhere and almost any time.

The important part of this assignment is the action that you yourself will take. This means that you need to make a specific plan (who, what, when, where, how) for something that you personally will do this semester to make a small change related to the issue you choose. You should plan on 2-5 hours to complete your action, including planning and debriefing.
GAP(A): Does that mean there’s a GAP(B)?

Yes, there is a GAP(B) assignment near the end of the semester when you will report back on the action you took and discuss whether it worked or not and how you might do things differently in the future.
What are the instructions for this assignment?

You’ll need to do something to address your issue — whether it’s attending a webinar or training, creating a professional infographic, doing a clothing or food drive, or something else. Be sure to see the two samples from previous students that I’ve posted below! They will really help.

For this assignment, compose an essay/proposal of four paragraphs using the following prompts. Each paragraph should address one of the following prompts and you should include the prompt in your essay/proposal. You will need to do some some research using legitimate sources.

Identify an injustice or inequity in (y)our community (broadly defined — your own life, your neighborhood, your city, etc);
Provide a brief synopsis of the issue and include background/statistics from at least one legitimate source;
Using terminology from our course (and defining those terms!), discuss how you the issue is related to our course materials in some way; and
Provide details (who, what, when, where, etc) of the “grassroots action” plan you will take to address the injustice. Please note that once your GAP(a) action has been graded and approved, you will need to do it and then report about it in the GAP(b) assignment later this semester. The ACTION is the important part of this assignment. Vague actions like “I’ll educate others about this issue” are fails. WHO will you educate? HOW will you educate them? Your action needs to be something that YOU DO this semester, not something you think about or suggest or brainstorm. You actually need to do it.

What are some tips for success in this assignment?