Transforming Curriculum and Informing
Teaching Practice: A Reciprocal Learning
Arrangement
Margaret M. Ferrara, Ph.D.
Marlene Rebori, Ph.D.
Michael Moltz, M.E.
Greg Nielsen, M.E.
OUR JOURNEY…
DEFINITIONS
 VOLUNTEERISM one-on-one service or assistance
 SERVICE LEARNING linked to the classroom curriculum
 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT working with others over time, get
something done for mutual benefit.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
 WHAT IT IS….
 Can happen in multiple ways
 Creates student enhanced
learning.
 Enriches and broadens overall
student development.
 Means active involvement…an
awareness of an individual’s
activities and how those activities
impact others or the broader
community.
 WHAT IT IS NOT….
 BUSY WORK..FILLING
PAPERS, etc.
 Membership in an
organization/club
 Exclusively self-serving
COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP
Community Link
Continuum of engagement
COURSE TRANSFORMATION
 PROGRAM PLANNING
(UNR COURSE, EDU
202), 2009,
 NEVADA NASA GRANT
2011
 Course transformation
2011
EMERGING TRENDS AND
EDUCATIONAL TRANSFORMATIONS…
WHAT IS A COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE?
 Set up with a “willing” community agency
 Organized with specific tasks and roles
 Contains important features like contact person, location, contact
information, etc.
 Structured to work with students in a volunteer setting
HOW IS THIS DONE?
 Emails sent to agency to determine level of interest
 Follow-up to verify arrangement and gain contact information
 Set up arrangement with students in the class
 Attempt to match needs of each students with community agency
features
A Grounding Experience
Have you ever taken part in a
community experience? Describe
What is a community
experience
DURING THE COURSE
 Course instructor verifies that the arrangement has been made
 Student verifies that arrangement has been made
 Mid-term check on “how it is going”
 Mid-term reflection on the experience
END OF THE COURSE
 World Café Activity
 Cross-verification with community agency
 Hour sheet verification with student/agency
 Reflection writing on the experience
SOME OF THE FINDINGS
MOST OFTEN CITED
•
Learning classroom management skills
•
•
Value of civic engagement
•
•
A Valuable Experience
•
•
Tutoring and Helping with Homework, Reading
•
•
Lesson planning skills
•
•
Importance of connecting with students
•
•
Being a teacher not a friend
•
•
Worked with lower socio-economic students
SOME OF THE FINDINGS
LEAST CITED
 Engaging activity more effective than lecturing

 Set high attainable goals with students

 Learned about self

 Importance of goals, graduation, success

 More preparation makes you more effective

 Parent involvement and communications
A VISUAL SHOWING CONCEPT
CONNECTIONS
COORDINATOR ROLE?
 Supervise service learning
experience of STEM students
 Recruit service learning
partners
 Develop service learning
curriculum
 Professional journal article
review
 STEM book review
 Pre & Post-study of STEM
student awareness
HOW DID WE GO ABOUT GETTING OUR
AGENCIES?
 Contacted Non-Profits, Government, Business, Schools (Site visits/cold
calling)
 Many were unable to take students, such as Ormat and NV Energy (HR
regulations)
 The following accepted our invitation: Envirolution, Sierra Nevada
Journeys, Urban Roots Garden Classroom, and City of Reno Env.
Services
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
THE VOICE OF THE STUDENTS
 urban roots
BROADER IMPLICATIONS
 Course transformation
 Model for other disciplines
 Communicate a success story to broader community
 Community-Engaged Scholarship
 Showcase one aspect of our commitment to Campus Compact
EXPERIENCE THE PROCESS
Welcome to the World Café
DATA ANALYSIS MAXQDA

LEXIMANCER
THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
 Learn best by “doing”.
 Prepares for success beyond
the classroom.
 Re-discover the public
purpose of higher education.
 Integrated in K-12 plus
Higher Ed.
 Results in increased student
learning, retention and
graduation rates.
 Civic Engagement Works!
FOR MORE INFORMATION
 http://www.civic-acts-
4engagement.com