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UCB workshop highlights value of service learning FACULTY SHARE TIPS ON COMMUNITY-ENGAGED TEACHING AT EVENT November 6, 2008 Kim Glasscock Silver & Gold Record assistant editor Tips and techniques for community-engaged teaching were part of the discussion for faculty who attended the "Breaking Through Walls: Connecting Service and Learning" workshop, held Oct. 29 at CU-Boulder. The workshop, sponsored by UCB's Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement, featured faculty who incorporate service learning into their courses, and included information about funding available to support connections of service and learning. UCB, which was one of only three universities in the nation awarded the Presidential Award for General Community Service in February, provides several resources to help faculty incorporate service into their courses. The service learning office offers advice to faculty, grant funding for projects and small grants-in-aid and connections to community partners. The Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement, created in 2005 to nurture and encourage ethical and civic education at UCB, offers a variety of workshops and seminars for faculty, staff and students about civic engagement and service learning, and aids the development of new academic courses incorporating ethical inquiry and civic engagement. The campus also houses the Volunteer Resource Center, which connects student volunteers with nonprofit agencies. There are some questions that must be pondered before integrating service and learning into a course, Veronica House of the Program for Writing and Rhetoric told workshop attendees. Faculty should consider their motivation for doing the course, what they want their students to learn, and whether they will target a particular level of students, such as freshmen, House said. "You also need to think about how this experience will relate to their future lives," she said. "Do you want them to become more active citizens? Are you trying to help them build their resumes or demystify a career choice? How will you integrate the learning goals and service goals into the course? It helps immensely to know the goals when you are designing the course." Choosing your community partners wisely and working to maintain good communication and nurture a relationship with them also is crucial, Willem van Vliet of architecture and planning told the group. He related the story of a multinational corporation that donated a fleet of garbage trucks to be used in Lagos, Nigeria, -- only to find that they were too wide for the narrow streets in the city. "Somebody wasn't communicating," he said. Having a champion inside the nonprofit you are partnering with is very important, van Vliet said. "You need buy-in and investment from the partner, and it will help promote the stability and continuity of your project with the community partner," he said. He suggested that drawing up a formal memorandum of understanding that clearly spells out the responsibilities and actions for both the class and the community partner would be "extremely helpful." Faculty who participate in community-engaged teaching need to guard against operating as "the lucky helping the needy," according to Ben Kirshner of education. Instead, projects should have a capacity-building orientation and foster partnering with the community organization, he said. "You need to be a soldier, not a missionary, and work with them in a common struggle," he added. Close coordination with the community partner is vital, and having the partner pitch their needs and expectations prior to starting work also can help keep the project on track, he said. Christine Macdonald of the Program for Writing and Rhetoric said she finds it helpful to make sure the students enrolled in the course understand the demands of the service-learning component of the class before they begin the course. "I always have one or two students who drop the class after they realize the time commitment," she said. Kayann Short of the Farrand Residential Academic Program reminded faculty to have their students evaluate the service-learning program. "The students always say on their evaluations that they have learned that you can accomplish a lot more working with others than by doing something yourself," she said. Taking community-engaged teaching beyond one course and turning it into a continuing program also can be done, and Noah Finkelstein of physics suggested developing a model that can be used with students, administrators, community agencies and funding agencies. "Structure is very important to long-term success," he said. Make sure the model is flexible and create sustainable systems, he added. Bernard Amadei of civil, environmental and architectural engineering and founder of Engineers Without Borders-USA, told the group that he was inspired by the enthusiasm of his students. "I told them about a trip to a village in Belize that I had just returned from," he said. "I told them that the village needed a clean water distribution system. They were so excited! So we designed a system using 200-year-old technology, and I made another trip with some students to the village. For me, this was a complete change of life." Engineering Without Borders-USA has grown from one founding chapter at UCB seven years ago to 235 chapters, with more than 250 sustainable engineering projects in progress in 48 countries. In 2001 Amadei co-founded Engineers Without Borders-International Network, which now operates in 45 countries. He also founded and directs the engineering for developing communities program in the civil, environmental and architectural engineering department. Amadei told the group that it is vital to have the support of the department chair, dean and even the chancellor if a program is expected to be grown and expanded. "I opened a box with a genie in it, and I can't put it back," he joked. "This kind of operation is really the vision of one and the work of many," he said. "I think it succeeded because it filled a need for the students. It is important for faculty to help create educated individuals who then can go and find their place in society. I think service learning is the right thing to do." Contact Kim Glasscock at glassco@cu.edu. In the News » UCB workshop highlights value of service learning
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