Advancing the LEAP Challenge: Infusing Community Engagement

into General EducationNadia Garzon, Meredith Hein, Erik Kenyon, and Dan Myers

Rollins College

Winter Park, FL

Introductions

Nadia Garzon

• Adjunct Professor, Theater and Dance

Meredith Hein

• Director, Center for Leadership and Community Engagement

Erik Kenyon

• Director, Student and Faculty Engagement, Hamilton Holt School

Dan Myers

• Professor, Computer Science

Today’s Workshop & Backwards Course Design*

Course Goals Community Needs

*Wiggins and McTighe (2005) Understanding by Design

Assignments & Assessment

Content

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Institutional Support

Rollins Foundations in the Liberal Arts

Five developmental courses with associated LEAP outcomes

One 100-level• Information Literacy

Three 200-level• Critical Thinking

One 300-level Capstone• Information Literacy, Written

Communication, Critical Thinking

Competencies

Divisional ways of knowing

Writing

Quantitative reasoning

Ethics

Foreign Language

Health and Wellness

Foundations Themes

Five integrative areas

• Environments• Innovation• Identities• Cultural Collisions• Enduring Questions

These themes are consistent with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges

The program allows themes to evolve over time

• Breadth vs. specific global challenges?

Backwards Design & Philosophy for Kids

Course Goals Community Needs

Assignments & Assessment

Content-----------------------------------------

Institutional Support

Scenario

You’re told to teach a CE course.

You specialize in Ancient Philosophy.

???

Question 1: GOAL

Q: What will students retain from my course in 20 years that will

be of use in the real world?

A: Skills of useful dialogue…

• enthusiasm for hard problems

• formulating questions

• articulating positions

• giving reasons for positions

• altering positions based on

arguments

Question 2: NEED

Q: What need in the community provides opportunities for

undergraduates to pursue those goals?

A: K12 Education Reform

• Nationally: Test-taking Culture

• Locally...

• Schools need programming

• Children need interaction

• Teachers need models

Question 3: ASSIGNMENTS & ALIGNMENT

Q: What assignments bring together

learning goals and community need?

A: Philosophy for Kids program

• Undergrads use philosophy to

develop & lead lesson with children.

• Games, Dialogical Reading, Art

• Children practice “Philosophy Rules”

• Listen, Think, Respond

Question 3: ASSIGNMENTS & ALIGNMENT

Q: How do these assignments align with LEAP rubrics?

• Ethical Reasoning

• Critical Thinking

• Information Literacy

• Written Communication

• Civic Engagement

(First-Year Experience)

Question 4: CONTENT

Q: What disciplinary content could be used in assignments?

A: It varies…

• epistemology

• logic

• metaphysics

• ethics

Question 4: CONTENT

Q: What content could frame reflection on CE work?

A: Philosophy of Education

• Plato, Republic

• Aristotle, Ethics & Politics

• Mill, Utilitarianism

• Dewey, “Education as Growth”

• Hamilton Holt & Rollins’ Curricula

• Piaget vs. Vygotsky

• Ethics for the Very Young (2019)

Discussion

Question 1: GOAL

What will students retain from my course in 20 years that will be

of use in the real world?

Question 2: NEED

What need in the community provides an opportunity to pursue

my goals for undergraduates?

Assignments & Assessment: Two Case Studies

Course Goals Community Needs

Assignments & Assessment

Content-----------------------------------------

Institutional Support

Common Challenges

• Faculty connecting with partners• Creating assignments that produce

artifacts to be assessed

Creating the Digital Future

Created a walking tour app for Hannibal Square, Winter Park’s historic African-American neighborhood.

Assignment Design

LEAP Outcomes

• Critical Thinking• Written Communication• Information Literacy

Projects

• History of a site in Hannibal Square• White paper on near-future

technology

Community Arts and Activism

This CE course actively explores the use of performing and visual arts in activism and social change.

Students develop and execute a Community Arts project with a local community organization.

Students do 25/30 hours of on-site work and prepare in class by doing research and activities related to their project.

Community Arts:Recognition of the resources of individuals and communities in order to change social realities through creative acts.

Augusto Boal’s Aesthetics of the Oppressed:The most important thing is the Aesthetic Process not the finished work of art

Engagement of “Non-artists” and “Non-experts” in Artistic Projects

Information LiteracyResearch (Annotated Bibliographies):

Students collect, analyze, and share information about the use of visual and performing arts in social change around the world

Critical Thinking Project Proposal:Students design (in writing) the community arts project that they intend to do with their community partner

LEAP Outcomes and Assignments

Critical Thinking and Expressive Arts Challenges

Pick an issue

Pick a side (asses both sides)

Critique/challenge experts

Explore ambiguities

Consider own biases (discuss assumptions)

Funding, Impact, Techniques• Should we prioritize funding for the arts over other

disciplines? (or other disciplines over the arts)• Are the arts the most impactful method to address

some needs/issues?• Is involvement of the community in the creative

process necessary/relevant?

Foundations Summit

Pediatric cancer patients, children grieving the death of a loved one, gifted children, children with

disabilities, at-risk girls and young women

Projects: Murals, theater, arts and crafts, art shows/exhibits, creative curricula and campus visit

Discussion

Question 3: ASSIGNMENTThink about a potential assignment for your course.

What artifact(s) will be produced that can meet the specific sub-outcomes for your given LEAP rubric?

Framing Reflection

Course Goals Community Needs

Assignments & Assessment

Content-----------------------------------------

Institutional Support

Utilizing Reflection and Assessment Tools

● CE/S-L Best Practice = Reflection (Diverse Tools)● LEAP - Civic Engagement Rubric● 50 Courses ‘17-’18 AY; Assessment - 80%

Completion● Survey Goal - Better Understand the Impact that

Participation in CE Designated Courses Has on Students.

● Artifact - How has your experience in this course affected your understanding of your role in creating positive social change in your community?

Creative Journal and Final Reflection

Experience

Lessons

Changes in perceptions and opinions

How has your experience in this course affected your understanding of your role in creating positive social change in your community?

Institutional Support

Course Goals Community Needs

Assignments & Assessment

Content-----------------------------------------

Institutional Support

Rollins College Commitment to Community Engagement

Infrastructure and policy changes to support CE efforts across the institution.

• Strategic Plan and Mission alignment

• CE Designation

• HR Hiring

• FSAR (Faculty Self-Assessment Report)

• Course Scheduling

• Transcript Denotion

• Integration with Center for Career & Life Planning

• Institutional Partnership

• CE Assessment Data

• Sharing Documents

• Community Impact

Strategic Plan - Commitment to CE

Three C’s of Civic and

Community Engagement

• Co-Location

• Curricular Innovation

• Campus-Community Impact

Discussion

Question 5: INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGY

What strengths and weaknesses do you see in how your institution supports community engagement work?

What opportunities exist for improvement?