Faculty/Staff Opportunities

February 11, 3 pm

Facilitating Curious Disagreement: How To Support Students’ Engagement in Civil Discourse

In this interactive virtual workshop, we will explore the science behind why curious disagreement is so challenging, build a facilitation toolkit to help support students’ productive engagement across differences, and practice these skills together. This workshop will answer questions like, “Why is it so hard to listen to people I strongly disagree with?” “How can I help students overcome their fears of hard conversations?” “What tools can I use to bring people’s different perspectives to the table?” and more. Open to all, regardless of background of experience.

Facilitator: Shira Hoffer, Executive Director of The Viewpoints Project

RSVP by Feb 4 at https://tinyurl.com/viewpointstcu.

March 6, 2 pm

Integrating Critical Reflection and Assessment

Participants will learn how reflection and assessment intersect in community-engaged courses and consider how these elements will be integrated into their specific courses. Additionally, we will explore specific frameworks and activities for facilitating student reflection. Example assignments and assessment resources will be shared for participants to adapt to their courses.

Facilitator: Dr. Star Plaxton-Moore, Director of Community-Engaged Learning and Research, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University

April 17, 2 pm 

Developing and Aligning Student Outcomes, Preparation, and Engagement

Participants will engage with frameworks for developing student learning outcomes and analyze examples from various community-engaged courses. We will also explore how to integrate curricular content and learning activities that support student achievement of outcomes, including possible ways to structure community engagement activities and projects. Additionally, participants will consider how to prepare students for community-engaged learning, laying the groundwork for meaningful and respectful engagement by setting clear expectations, responsibilities, and dispositions.

Facilitator: Dr. Star Plaxton-Moore, Director of Community-Engaged Learning and Research, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University

RSVP by March 1st at https://forms.gle/L2Rfr1Y7SpXnjVyP7

Before submitting an application, please prepare the following:

Overview: Provide a description for the course, and state how you plan to incorporate service-learning into it. Make sure to explain how the proposed project/activities align with course objectives.

Community Need: Describe the need for the community work as defined by the community agency or partner and how the course/initiative aims to meet that need. Support your statements with information obtained from community partners.

Outcomes: Describe the desired outcomes for the students, staff, and community members involved.

Activities & Timeline: List the activities and timeline for the course, and describe how the service-learning project will be integrated into the schedule. Identify the roles and responsibilities of the primary people involved.

Evaluation: Outline a plan for assessing the educational outcomes for students and the process of gathering information from the community partners.

Budget: Please prepare an itemized budget, indicating the amount requested for different categories (such as supplies, training, travel, printing, etc.) and any in-kind contributions. Make sure to include justification for each line item, tying each proposed expenditure to specific project activities.

*To submit your proposal, please e-mail Dr. Rosangela Boyd at  r.boyd@tcu.edu.

Please e-mail Dr. Rosangela Boyd at  r.boyd@tcu.edu, she will work with you to tailor a presentation specific to your class or organization’s needs.

Academic Service-Learning is a pedagogy based on the principles of experiential education, which integrates community service with academic study. Faculty, in collaboration with representatives from community organizations, design service projects that enhance student learning and help meet community needs. Through structured reflection, students consider relationships between the service experience, the academic content of the class, and its impact on their personal values and professional goals.

A growing number of departments and programs currently utilize service-learning, some having sought the assistance of Community Engagement in building community partnerships, while others developed projects independently.  Our office works continuously to develop a comprehensive list of service-learning courses based on information by faculty members.

Service-Learning Designation for Course

The effectiveness of Service-Learning as a teaching approach depends largely on the preparation phase. When designing the course, faculty need to consider several factors from preparation to implementation to evaluation. The following steps are recommended to ensure a successful experience to all constituents:

1. Explore how service-learning fits into your teaching philosophy
2. Determine how service-learning experiences may facilitate learning by drawing connections to course objectives and desired outcomes
3. Gather resources on community needs and ideas for potential projects
4. Identify community partners and build a collaborative relationship
5. Integrate information on service-learning into the course syllabus, review logistical details and make necessary arrangements
6. Plan how students will be oriented to service-learning
7. Decide on strategies to connect service to learning through reflection
8. Set-up evaluation procedures

Already teaching a service-learning course? Receive a service-learning designation! This designation will allow students to search for classes with a service-learning focus and also ensure that we can accurately reflect the amount of community engagement at TCU.

Organizations:
Campus Compact: TCU is a member of Campus Compact which is a national coalition of more than a thousand college and university presidents – representing some six million students – dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement, and service-learning in higher education.

The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC), a program of Learn and Serve America, operates America’s premier website supporting the service-learning efforts of schools, higher education institutions, communities, and tribal nations. Under resources it is possible to find information on effective practices, hot topics, funding sources, toolkits on responding to national disasters, lesson plans and syllabi, and much more.

More on Engagement and Volunteering Information:
www.americorps.gov
www.communityengagedscholarship.info
www.idealist.org
www.peacecorps.gov
www.serviceleader.org
www.volnow.org
www.volunteermatch.org
www.unitedwaytarrant.org