- Integration of Knowledge and Practice
- Apply theory and research (i.e., what they learn within the context of a course) to practice (i.e., what they learn of the “real world” through their direct service, field study, community-based learning, or other modes of engaged scholarship, internship, and/or project work)
- Bring real-world experience to academics (example: embedded in a course paper or thesis)
- Connect and extend knowledge (facts, theories, etc.) from one’s own academic study, field, or discipline to community engagement and to one’s own participation in civic and social life. (adapted from AAC&U).
- Demonstrate the ability to articulate how integrated knowledge and practice can contribute to the common good.
- Civic and Social Responsibility
- Participate in community engagement activities that reinforce challenge or clarify their sense of civic identity. That is, the experience(s) help(s) them answer the question: Who am I in relation to others in society/this community?
- Understand and critically examine personal perspectives in relation to others.
- Demonstrate evidence of adjustment in own attitudes and beliefs because of working within and learning from the diversity of communities and cultures.
- Systems Thinking
- Learn to ‘map the system’ – i.e., be able to accurately identify different elements within a system (system structure) and articulate connections and linkages between them.
- Understand how elements within systems change over time, generating patterns and behaviors
- Ability to consider ideas, challenges, and solutions from multiple perspectives (landscape scan, historical context)
- Identify possible levers of social change within reach.
- Ethical Engagement
- Interact with off-campus communities in ways that demonstrate best practices in campus-community partnership (list things like reciprocity, mutual benefit, power sharing).
- Develop an understanding and an approach to responsible community engagement that is consistent with values, ethics, skills, and time commitment.
- Employ an asset-based approach to community engagement
- Approach all social change with humility and with a desire to collaborate and learn.
- Critical Reflection
- Critically reflect upon paths/levers of social change (social service providers, social advocates, social explorers, social entrepreneurs)
- Recognize the impact of their actions and decisions (i.e., path “towards shaping a more just and compassionate world") on self, on others, on systems.
- Consider short-term, long-term, and unintended consequences of actions.
- Perspective-Taking
- Increase capacity for empathy
- Understand and analyze multiple perspectives critically
- Reality-test their own perceptions to allow for an accurate understanding of diverse viewpoints.
Learning Goals
The Lang Center’s approach to engaged scholarship is built around key learning goals related to Integration of Knowledge and Practice, Civic and Social Responsibility, Systems Thinking, Ethical Engagement, Critical Reflection, and Perspective-Taking. These goals align with our Center’s priorities and reflect broader trends in higher education.
