Pre-med students in a Biology course measure urban air quality in collaboration with citizen-scientists from the local community; students in a 300-level Business seminar design improvements to a campus COVID-19 testing center; political science students use Geographic Information Systems for conducting neighborhood analyses of political conflicts; students in an English Literature class curate an exhibit of rare books from the university library; upper-level Engineering students design and build a greenhouse for a local community garden: these are just some examples of exciting learning experiences from project-based learning (PBL) courses.
As we begin redesigning our programs and courses for a semester-based academic schedule, many of us are taking this (rare) opportunity to reflect on our current offerings and to experiment with fresh pedagogical approaches. One idea worth considering is integrating community-based/community-engaged learning (CBL/CEL) into course and program design.
