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B. Developing Courses for Credit
Departures from standard academic offerings that are likely to endure
require careful curricular planning. In addition to creating singular
discipline-specific courses that rely on service-learning, increasing
numbers of faculty members are addressing curriculum-wide issues about
the amount of credit that ought to be awarded for this purpose. They are
appropriately asking about the advantages and limitations for integrating
internships and other experiential learning offerings into interdisciplinary
courses, core distribution requirements, and the curriculum as a whole.
- Assumption College - Community Service
Learning Program
Students in the sociology course, "Gender Issues in Society,"
are placed in after-school settings to observe gendered interactions
among children being tutored. In a course in "Literature of Social
Responsibility," student volunteers develop an awareness of social
inequalities and efforts made to address social problems.
- Augsburg College - Engaging Minneapolis
The EM project is included as a component in the College's general education
requirements.
- Calvin College - Nursing Department
Partnership
The nursing department revised its entire curriculum and selected a
community-based model of education. It employs a three-year cycle to
determine needs assessements and implementation tasks for each neighborhood
partnership.
- College Misericordia - The Service
Leadership Center
Criteria are established for designating a course as "Service-Learning."
- College of Notre Dame,
Baltimore - International Cooperation in Service
A fieldwork component is included in the academic International Cooperation
Program.
- College of St. Catherine - Using
Technology
Curricular attention is given to technological strategies that can be
implemented in most classroom settings. Invitations to TechnoSat sessions
are open to the entire community.
- Gannon University - Lake Erie Arboretum
at Frontier
A "Concepts and Methods of Science" course is used for university
student research purposes and for teaching fifth-grade students.
- Gettysburg College - Nicaragua as
Template
Interdisciplinary study programs are used along with out-of-state sites.
- Ithaca College - Cinema on the
Edge
A special media production course is open to a wide variety of students,
including those who enrolled in non-fiction theory and history courses.
- Ithaca College - EcoVillage
of Ithaca
As a result of partnering activities, curricular development was made
possible in environmental sciences and six other academic disciplines:
economics, physics, writing, politics, anthropology, and therapeutic
recreation. Focus is on course development, independent study, and sustainability
of outreach.
- Madonna University - Certificate in
Community Leadership
The Certificate of Achievement in Community Leadership is designed to
enhance student capabilities in leading community development projects.
It is a fifteen-credit-hour certificate. The University also offers
a concentration in Community Studies within the sociology major.
- Mars Hill College - Thematic Courses
in Liberal Arts in Action
Experiential learning components are woven into two interdisciplinary
courses rooted in themes: "Character" and "Civic Life."
- Maryville College - Just Connections
Courses were developed to include community-based research projects
and to build the capacities of local organizations to collaborate with
colleges. Course-based projects and individual service-learning projects
were offered over summers.
- Marywood University - The Latino Collaboration
Components of the School of Social Work curriculum include internships;
policy analysis (e.g. of a housing project); grant writing; and research
(including "Asset or Strength mapping" with different groups).
A Spanish conversation emersion course is being planned.
- Messiah College - The Harrisburg Institute
Academic departments were encouraged to integrate the Institute's initiative
into changes being made in the curriculum.
- New England College - Project
Pericles
Faculty were encouraged to incorporate service-learning into course
curricula as a way of promoting socially responsible citizenship. Mini-grants
were provided to encourage the development of civic engagement in courses.
- North Central College - The Dispute
Resolution Center
This program is interdisciplinary. It focuses on intractable local,
domestic, and international problems while harmonizing theory and practice.
- Presbyterian College - Communities
Helping, Assisting, and Motivating Promising Students
The curriculum includes: a focus on the humanities, fine arts, sciences,
character education and computer training for sixth-grade students;
after-school tutoring; and an off-campus internship curriculum.
- St. Ambrose University - Marketing
for the Mississippi Valley Growers Association
Academic credit was awarded for an internship and service-learning project.
- St. Joseph's College of Maine - The
Rural Service-Learning Initiative
Service-learning components were integrated into courses.
- Tougaloo College - Partnership in
Excellence
Tougaloo faculty designate specific courses to address community issues.
- University of Indianapolis - Parish
Nursing
The University created a Primary Nurse Ministry course as a way of fostering
partnerships, building community capacity, and offering healthcare assessment
in Indiana communities. Also, by working through their parish nurse
program, interdisciplinary collaboration was developed with the University's
Ecumenical and Interfaith Program and Center for Aging and Community.
- University of the Incarnate
Word - Ministerio de Salud
Community partnerships have led to changes in course content and faculty
practices in the community. More courses are including service-learning
components.
- Utica College - The History Project
Two successive thematic courses are developed annually and serve as
an introduction to the concepts behind the discipline of history and
this project. A one-credit course for students' first year at the College
has also been developed.
- Wagner College - Learning by Doing
A first-year learning program is called "Living on Spaceship Earth:
Environmental Issues and their Literary Portrayals." It is designed
for non-science majors. An English course ("Literature and the
Environment"), a biology course ("Environmental Biology"),
and a "Reflective Tutorial" comprise important parts of the
experiential learning community approach taken by the College.
- Wartburg College - Community Builders:
Fostering Intergenerational Civic Engagement
Curriculum development around the concept of leadership is augmented
by incorporating applied civic engagement activities. A course in "Leadership
Theories and Practices" is designed to be a springboard for service
in community building.
- William Woods University - Rosa
Parks Center
Students learn through curriculum-based intitiatives and by working
directly with youth. In addition to the University's Social Work Program,
faculty from other disciplines are considering integrating RPC opportunities
into their coursework.
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