Principles of Community-Based Learning
PCC instructors create a variety of approaches to community-based learning, based on the following general principles:
- The instructor and student establish learning objectives for the community engagement experience, related to course learning objectives.
- The instructor, student, and community partner work to match course learning objectives with community partner’s needs.
- The instructor facilitates ongoing student reflection to link community engagement experiences with the learning objectives.
Examples of learning objectives
- Utilize and expand German language reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. (German)
- Increase awareness of the bond between child and family and of resources available to the family. (Early Childhood Education)
- Discover and research the relevance of organic chemistry in everyday life. (Chemistry)
- Learn how to interact with different cultures in a classroom setting. (Early Childhood Education)
- Form bonds across generations, learning to know seniors as people who have lived stories. (Writing)
- Develop diverse perspectives, question and revise assumptions, and realize civic power and obligations. (Writing)
- Practice new study skills by teaching these skills to others and discovering the benefits of these skills to others. (College Success)
- Appreciate the benefits of excellent reading strategies. (Reading)
- Discern what social problem the agency addresses and how the agency defines and addresses this problem. (Sociology)
- Understand the causes and consequence of specific social problems and identify potential solutions. (Sociology)