I wish we could just upload the .docx file so the formatting stays the same...
Community
Based Learning
Amanda
Cruser, John Murray, Katrina Owens, Scott Rafalski, Jillian Scholten
Ball
State University
Abstract
No indent—abstract starts flush to margin.
Also on its own page; if we decide we need one
Main Ideas and Concepts of Community and
Service Based Learning
Community
based activities, according to Reed and Marienau (2008), follow similar paths
of development and include the following four dimensions:
1.
Duration
2.
Scope
3.
Intensity
4.
Reflection
Duration is used
in reference to the length of time the program course is expected to last; the
longer the time spent in the service or community learning task, the more
improved the students’ skillset (Reed & Marienau, 2008). The scope of
community based learning programs is the specific task or activity of which the
students will be engaged; such as working with the homeless, reintroducing
felons to community, or working in more general terms of organizational
planning (Reed & Marienau, 2008).
The third dimension of community based learning programs applies to the
intensity of the program, not to be confused with intensity as a measure of
duration, but of the degree to which the students are affected by the program
and course content (Reed & Marienau, 2008).
This is to say the intensity signifies the emotional and reflective
degree of students’ interest in the population they are serving and the task
being attended to (Reed & Marienau, 2008).
Finally
the reflection period of the community based learning program concerns itself
as the “essential dimension of service [community based] learning” (Reed &
Marienau, 2008). The reflection
component of a community based program can be satisfied through the use of
daily logs, open discussion, or a more in-depth method of journaling to allow
the student to “identify, frame, and resolve ill-structured social problems”
(Reed & Marienau, 2008). These
dimensions work together in such a manner as to stimulate and develop cognitive
and moral growth of the student as well as to improve the learners overall
well-being as community based learning also offers practice in social and
professional situations.
This specific type and purpose of the learning
occurring in community or service learning can be encapsulated as learning that
“emphasizes the social or communal as opposed to the individual” (Stein &
Imel, 2002). Therefore, in connection to
the previously discussed dimensions of community based learning, the program
must also contain the scope of working directly with or in some manner as to
better the lives of the population being served through the learning. Stein and Imel (2002) further expanded on the
dimensions by identifying some common themes of community learning.
The
authors suggest four basic themes of “learning communities” related to the
place, the content, civic engagement, and power and politics (Stein & Imel,
2002). In this regard the place of the
learning can be just as important as the duration of the program and afford
more variance in the scope as, according to Stein and Imel (2002), the place of
the learning can be neutral and offers more flexibility in that the place is
regarded as a realm that allows members of different communities to “engage
with each other on specific concerns” for their communities. Through this process of learning within a
place in a community, the societal structure and individuals within that
community can produce “community wisdom” as the “knowledge is applied to
improve the daily life activities” of the community as a whole (Stein &
Imel, 2002).
The
third theme Stein and Imel (2002) point out is that learning in community
“encourages citizens to produce local knowledge.” This benefits the overall community as
members actively engaged in the learning are better equipped with the knowledge
needed to enable all other members to improve the community dynamic. Finally, the “power structure” of the
community can be strengthened by active members and put the community in
capable position to reflect upon and suggest political and social changes
(Stein & Imel, 2002). Overall the
importance of both the dimensions and themes of community learning cannot be
overlooked, nor can they be separated as the two work in tandem to benefit the
local community.
Here we would need a short intro for the programs and why we
chose them as our case studies.
Case Studies
(#1
Insert Name of Program)
(#2
Insert Name of Program)
Program
Data
charts, handouts, links, syllabi, etc…
Discussion
Summary of paper and program information
References
Reed, S.C. & Marienau, C.
(Eds.). (2008). Linking adults with community: Promoting civic engagement
through community based learning. New
Directions for Adult and Community Education, 118.
Stein, D.S. & Imel, S. (2002).
Adult learning in community: Themes and threads. New Directions for Adults and Community Education, 95.
Table 1. Summary
of the Community Based Learning Activities
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Providers
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Learners,
purposes, learning objectives
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How
the activities were designed
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Main
ideas/features you have learned (Check Discussions)
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Suggestions
for practitioners (check Discussions)
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Learning
activity 1
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Learning
activity 2
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Learning
activity 3
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