Getting Started with Community Based Learning

DEADLINE EXTENDED to May 2, 2005 for Curriculum Development Grants for Community-Based Learning
TO: Teaching Members of the General Faculty
FROM: Office of Sponsored Programs
SUBJECT: Grants for the Development of Courses Incorporating Community-based Learning
DATE: April 22, 2005

Applications are invited for summer stipends for the development of new courses, or the amendment of existing courses, which will add offerings in the regular curriculum that incorporate community-based learning pedagogies. The two most common types of community-based learning courses are academically based community service (also known as service learning) or community-based research. Examples of current academically based community service courses here at Oberlin include HIST 268: Oberlin History as American History (community partner: Oberlin High School) and PSYC 503: Practicum in Educational Psychology (community partner: Eastwood Elementary School). One example of a community-based research course is GEOL 190: Modern Geologic/Geographic Mapping and Analysis (community partner: Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve and State Nature Preserve). Additional information about both ABCS and CBR pedagogies is available by clicking the "Faculty" link on the Center for Service & Learning website, www.oberlin.edu/csl. New or revised courses can be at all levels of the curriculum and can include seminars for first-year students. Funding for the curriculum development program is provided by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Recipients of the award will receive a $1,500 stipend for summer curriculum development work. (Please note that all FICA and TIAA-CREF contributions will be taken from the curriculum development stipend.) Courses developed through the sponsorship of a Community-based Learning Development Grant are expected to become permanent curricular offerings (offered at least three times in the following five years). Recipients of the award will also be
expected to attend a two-day workshop on community-based learning pedagogy, tentatively scheduled for May 31 and June 1, 2005, to submit a report about the course after it is taught the first time, and to serve as a Faculty
Fellow of the Center for Service & Learning for the 2005-06 academic year. (Serving as a Faculty Fellow will entail leading one reflection session for Community Service Work Study Program students per semester, attending one reflection session of faculty peers per semester, and willingness to mentor other faculty members new to the pedagogy.) CSL Faculty Fellows will also have access to restricted limited funds to help them attend and/or present at conferences about community-based learning pedagogies. Applications should take the form of a letter, addressed to the Community-based Learning Grant Committee, of no more than three single-spaced pages. The application should be as specific as possible and describe:

• the content and methods of the new or amended course proposed;
• the reading, writing and reflection assignments for the course;the community organization or type of group with which the faculty member would like to partner; and
• the educational value of the community-based learning experience for
  students and the partner organization.
  

The letter should also describe the plan of study or research in support of the course development planned for the summer, and briefly outline the contributions that the faculty member could offer, working in collaboration with the Bonner Center for Service & Learning, to foster the growth of community-based learning at Oberlin. A brief report on the summer course development activities must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs by September 15, 2005. One original application and 3 copies should be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs, Cox 100, by:

5:00 p.m., MONDAY, MAY 2, 2005

The Community-based Learning Grant Committee will evaluate the applications. For information about the program, community-based learning, and potential partners, contact Beth Blissman, Director of the Bonner Center for Service & Learning, at x58055.