by Ash Coutu, CFICE Communications Research Assistant
Does the thought of including community engagement in your courses sound intimidating? Don’t fret. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when there’s already a wealth of resources out there waiting to be used!
Our team at CFICE has combed through the internet and put together a list of excellent web-based resources to help kick off your future community-engaged curriculum. Check it out!
McMaster University’s guideline for Incorporating Community-Engaged Education into Courses is a great place to start building your curriculum. This guide offers definitions of community-campus engagement (CCE) work, details on how to develop learning objectives, and provides examples of in-class projects. It also gives instructions on how to engage students in community-based research.
Michigan State University provides a practical toolkit on how to incorporate CCE into your curriculum. It includes an explanation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), examples of CCE project contracts, and useful appendices and checklists to get your CCE off to a great start.
Campus Engage offers practical resources and examples on how to create a Community-Based Learning Agreement. This is a useful tool for someone looking to create a generic agreement as it includes active links to seven different example agreements.
Cal State University’s detailed guide for developing a CCE curriculum begins with theoretical underpinnings and includes chapters on service learning. It also goes over course goals, assessment methods, community-based research, and provides sample syllabi. This guide is a wonderful foundation for any faculty looking to incorporate CCE into their courses.
Campus Compact’s plain-language guide for preparing a CCE syllabus includes links to sample syllabi. It also provides examples of how the concepts outlined in the guide are integrated into a course. Also of note is this guide’s interesting way of marking students’ work.
The Canadian Alliance for Service Learning offers an extensive list of sample CCE courses with links to additional sample CCE syllabi and course outlines.
McMaster University’s Community Engagement Project Manual provides examples of engaged courses. It also gives instructions on how to deal with insurance, liability, and security checks, as well as additional responsibilities for the instructor to consider.
The Engaged Faculty Institute’s detailed guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to create an engaged curriculum. It is a good training course for faculty to try out!
Case Western University has a neat guide that covers insurance, liability, and security checks for engaging students in CCE work. There is also a Risk Management example found on page 28, and good examples of consent forms.
UNESCO has put together a guide for community engagement that includes a theoretical framework for creating a successful curriculum. The guide includes interesting charts that represent pedagogical purposes, i.e.: activism, participation, liberation, and democratization, and a clear path to integrating CCE into a curriculum.
What have you used for creating your community-engaged courses? Let us know in the comments!