Center for Instructional Innovation - Western Washington University's Teaching and Learning Center
2002-03 Featured Instructors
Tara Perry encourages her students to use their communication skills in the real world through community service projects which they present to the class at the end of the quarter. She describes her focus on the community as a more exciting way to extend learning beyond the classroom.
Angie Harwood connects her secondary education social studies students with local middle school teachers, their students, and community partners, to acquire practical experience using service-learning in their future classrooms. Some graduates of this program have gone on to use service-learning projects in their own classrooms.
Carol Janson wanted her art history senior seminar to serve as a bridge to her students' futures by leading them from their traditional course readings and writings into a community-based senior project. This opportunity created an authentic experience for them to draw upon in the class, and it prepared them to develop critical thinking and problem-solving strategies useful beyond their education.
Deborah Greer wished to have her Drama in Education students interact and collaborate to create performances for local elementary school students, working together to have a positive impact on the community. The more her students became involved in the project, the more excited they became about everything they were learning.
Community-based Learning
To find out more about this year's showcase theme, Community-based Learning, please read the following except from Academic Service-Learning, written by Lisa Moulds from the Center for Service-Learning at WWU:
"Service-learning is an academically rigorous pedagogy that links academic study and community-based work so that each strengthens the other. It focuses on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsibility...
Academic Service-Learning can enhance student learning by providing students with relevant community-based experiences that relate to course content. For example, a group of sociology students examining domestic violence from various sociological perspectives may gain a deeper understanding of these perspectives while working at a local shelter for victims of domestic violence. In Deborah Greer’s Children’s Theater course, WWU students learn about children’s theater by not only examining various children’s theater works, but also by creating children’s theater and performing it to children through the local schools and community art festivals. "
Read more...
To navigate this year's Showcase, select the links to the 2002-03 Showcase on the left navigation bar or in the text above, or choose the text-based version. Please note that those who choose the text-based version will not b e able to view the graphics and video clips.
