ERIC Number: EJ1163158
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2375-804X
EISSN: N/A
"Not Only as Students, but as Citizens": Integrative Learning and Civic Research in a First-Year Learning Community Course
Mickelson, Nate; Makris, Molly
Learning Communities: Research & Practice, v5 n2 Article 2 2017
Learning communities (LCs) provide an ideal context for civic learning because they foreground the integrative and interactive nature of learning and skills development. While the academic benefits of LCs have been well documented, their potential to promote civic learning and engagement has received less attention. Indeed, the potential of LCs to serve as a catalyst for civic learning through their emphasis on integrative and interactive learning has gone mostly unremarked. The authors address these gaps in the literature in this article by analyzing the possibilities of integrating civic research in a first-semester LC at an urban community college. Extrapolating from their experiences, they argue that structuring LCs around civic learning can enable students to develop academic skills while at the same time building new understandings of themselves as active citizens and potential change makers in larger communities. The authors also recommend that colleges that plan to integrate civic learning in their LCs invest in recruiting and maintaining consistent teaching teams in order to enable the revision and improvement of curricula over time.
Descriptors: Communities of Practice, Citizenship Education, Community Colleges, Two Year College Students, Urban Schools, Civics, Student Research, Urban Renewal, Social Class, Neighborhoods, Ethnography, Observation, Photography, Change, Community Change, Grantsmanship
Evergreen State College's Washington Center, the National Resource for Learning Communities. 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, SEM II E2115, Olympia, WA 98505. Tel: 360-864-6606; Fax: 360-867-6662; e-mail: washcenter@evergreen.edu; Web site: https://washingtoncenter.evergreen.edu/lcrpjournal/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York (New York)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A