Community Based Learning - Colorado College

The Partnership for Civic Engagement encourages and supports faculty interested in using Community Based Learning (CBL) pedagogy and connects students to courses of interest.

Community based learning (sometimes called service-learning) is experiential education that simultaneously – and in roughly equal balance – promotes student learning and meets community needs, and is thoroughly integrated into students' course work.  Community based learning includes class projects that draw upon student and faculty intellectual expertise to clarify and begin to seek solutions to problems facing the community. These classes can require student internships in community organizations, course fieldwork within a community context that encourages students to reflect on and refine theoretical ideas and provides feedback to members of the community, and opportunities for students to teach – and learn – about their major discipline in off-campus settings.

Community based learning presents an opportunity for faculty of every discipline to use innovative, effective pedagogy to achieve curricular goals. CBL cultivates the intellectual skills that serve as the backbone of a liberal arts education: critical thinking, problem solving, complexity of understanding, and high level abstract processing. These experiences often provide a “real world” context through which students critically interpret assigned readings and become co-creators of academic knowledge.

Please visit the additional links to learn about the resources and support offered by the Partnership for Civic Engagement and the Center for Service and Learning. Contact Tricia Waters for more information or to find out about upcoming opportunities and workshops.

Community based learning is a form of experiential learning that integreates theory with practice and facilitates personal reflection. This not only acclimates students into the Colorado Springs community, but also makes academics relevant to everyday life. Experiential learning helps to develop skills for responsible citizenship and assists students in discovering more about their personal and civic identity. Outcomes of experiential learning include:

• Concern for fellow human beings
• The ability to get things done and work with others
• Self‑motivation to learn, participate and achieve
• An improved self‑concept, confidence, competence, and awareness
• Responsibility to the organization or class
• Openness to new experiences; and a sense of usefulness to the community

Community based learning can take many forms in various courses, depending on the community needs and course objectives. Please visit the courses link to learn more about CBL opportunities at Colorado College.