Indianapolis, Indiana
June 15, 2014
June 15, 2014
June 18, 2014
2153-5965
Community Engagement Division
11
24.1037.1 - 24.1037.11
10.18260/1-2--22970
https://peer.asee.org/22970
637
Linda Vanasupa has been a professor of materials engineering at the California Polytechnic State University since 1991. She also serves as co-director of the Center for Sustainability in Engineering at Cal Poly. Her recent work is focused on creating ways of learning, living and being that are alternatives to the industrial era solutions--alternatives that nourish ourselves, one another and the places in which we live. Her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees are in materials science and engineering from Stanford University (1991 and 1987) and her B.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from the Michigan Technological University (1985).
Learning through community engagement (CE) is widely considered a high-‐impact practice with the potential benefit of accelerated cognitive development, deeper learning and moral reasoning compared to traditional classroom approaches. However, not all efforts of community engagement are alike and there is insufficient distinction in articles on community-‐engaged learning to enable faculty to design an experience of CE learning that meets their learning aims. This paper makes clear the differences in forms of CE using two primary axes, the compatibility with learning objectives (low to high) and the attention of the collaborators (transactions to relationships). Within this framework, there are four types of CE forms, each with different consequences for the students, the faculty, and the community partners. Through narratives of project partners, faculty and students, we contrast the experiences of two types of CE projects and their impact on participants. From this two-‐year case study involving 88 freshmen, 16 faculty members and 15 community partners, we conclude that successful CE learning requires that all participants have an awareness of the type of CE project that is intended. This paper implies that conscious choices around CE learning type are critical to success in the initial phases of creating the community engaged collaboration.
Vanasupa, L., & Schlemer, L. T. (2014, June), Relational versus Transactional Community Engagement: An Experience of the Benefits and Costs Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--22970
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