Abstract
In this chapter, I will discuss how community based projects in the classroom can be used to strengthen student engagement in campus communities. The theoretical framework within Student Affairs shows that increased student engagement in campus activities tends to lead to an increase in student persistence and graduation. This chapter illustrates the way that my learning community partner and I used two projects in our freshman learning community to encourage our students to connect with campus communities. The first project, a collage project, asked students to work in small groups to define community. The second project required the students to investigate communities on campus, in an attempt to encourage the students to find a campus community to connect with. I discuss the students’ reactions to this project, including the ways that they did and did not engage with on campus communities, and their publicly optimistic and privately pessimistic views on community.
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Notes
- 1.
Typically, in a learning community, students are registered for two or more classes as a cohort, and there is some attempt by the faculty in those classes to integrate the material. For example, in a learning community comprised of a freshman English and an Anatomy & Physiology course, students might learn about the biological reasons for differences in skin pigmentation at the same time as they would read a piece in English centering on the theme of racial inequality. In Kingsborough’s Opening Doors Learning Communities, all learning communities contain an SD-10 class.
- 2.
The students named in this chapter have been given pseudonyms to protect their privacy, though each student named gave me permission to speak about their experiences in detail.
- 3.
Initially, the Urban Farm sold produce at local farmers markets. Now, during the summer, the farm holds distribution days where they give produce to any faculty, staff, and students who come on a first-come-first-served basis. The distribution also serves as a fundraiser for the campus food pantry, as there is a suggested donation of at least $1.
- 4.
The Accelerated Study in Associates Programs (ASAP) is a CUNY initiative which provides students with an advisor for their entire degree, specialized career counseling, and financial benefits such as textbooks and Metrocards.
- 5.
In turn, we hoped that they would extend their view, and see that just as the campus community was made up of small communities weaving together, there are still larger communities that Kingsborough is a part of, such as Brooklyn, the City University of New York, and New York City, and these larger communities are also formed through the interweaving of smaller communities. Our discussion of food distribution played into this concept.
- 6.
Jason VanOra’s revised assignments can be found in his chapter in this volume.
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Hill, G.J. (2016). Learning About Community in a First Semester Learning Community: How Community Based Projects Strengthen Student Engagement. In: Schnee, E., Better, A., Clark Cummings, M. (eds) Civic Engagement Pedagogy in the Community College: Theory and Practice. Education, Equity, Economy, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22945-4_12
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