The Impact of Community-Engaged Learning

H. Abbie Erler, associate professor of political science
Fourteen Kenyon students in WGS 331 Gender, Power and Knowledge spent a semester evaluating "Crunch Out Obesity," a health and fitness program used in elementary classrooms throughout Knox County. Kenyon students interviewed 267 program participants, led an orientation session for new physical education teachers and offered recommendations to make the program more inclusive and increase the focus on healthy living. Community partners for the project included teachers at Mount Vernon City Schools, the Knox County Health Department, the YMCA of Mount Vernon and the United Way of Knox County. The program makes a significant contribution to understanding issues of health and education in Knox County.

Julie Brodie and Balinda Craig-Quijada, professors of dance
Beginning four years ago, Julie Brodie and Balinda Craig-Quijada and Kenyon dance students have developed a weekly class for children ages 3 to 9. After the program's first semester, students from the dance department's course 240: Directed Teaching took over the class's instruction, volunteering to share their love of dance with children from the community.

James Skon, visiting professor of mathematics and computer science
Students in SCMP 391 "Software and System Design," taught by Visiting Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science James Skon, have partnered with local organizations to gain a realistic understanding and grasp of the processes of software and system design in a team environment. The students experience the various processes and techniques by engaging with four community partners, Knox County Health Department, SPI: Where Science and Play Intersect, the Winter Sanctuary and the Office of the Major in Village of Gambier, to produce a final working system that meets a real need for the organizations. Student currently involved in the project will give public presentations of their work on May 11, 2018.

Joan Slonczewski, Robert A. Oden, Jr. Professor of Biology
In 2015-16, students established the Knox County Hospital Volunteers, a Kenyon student organization that provides volunteer assistance at the Emergency Department of the Knox Community Hospital. Through reflective observation and active participation in the healthcare system, this partnership creates supportive and productive relationships among Knox County residents, Knox Community Hospital employees and Kenyon students pursuing a career in the medical field.

Howard Sacks, professor emeritus of sociology
The Learning Trails projects aims to display interpretive materials at locations throughout the Ariel-Foundation Park in Mount Vernon exploring themes of nature, industry and culture.

The Kenyon Open Doors College Prep Program empowers students of all backgrounds to achieve at the highest level in preparation for college entry through ACT/SAT preparation. From September to April, this course engages middle school and high school students in classes that emphasize goal setting, small-group learning, and an individualized approach. Read more about the program (PDF).

Dana Krieg, associate professor of psychology
In PSYC 348, students developed Adolescence in Context: Adventure in East Knox. The project’s focus on mentoring junior and senior high school students at East Knox Local Schools, while observing the process of adolescence in context, makes a meaningful contribution to understanding issues of adolescence and public education in our surrounding community.

Originally a CEL project emerging from coursework, the Bilingual College Preparation Program for Latino/a Youth (2016), is no longer part of a course. Re-named the Open Doors College Preparation Program, it is run under the leadership of two students in partnership with the Knox County and Mount Vernon Public Library. The program empowers students of all backgrounds to achieve at their highest level in preparation for college entry through ACT/SAT lessons. It engages middle and high school students in classes that emphasize goal setting, small group learning, and an individualized approach. View the curriculum.

Mary Sturgis ’16 and Alexa McElroy ’16 took instruction skills learned at Kenyon into the community to start a college prep class for young Latinos. The course, which started in October 2015 at the Salvation Army and has nine regular attendees so far, is the result of a project by Professor of Spanish Clara Román-Odio to document the experience of Latinos in Knox County. Read more about the prep class.

H. Abbie Erler, associate professor of political science
Fourteen Kenyon students in WGS 331 Gender, Power and Knowledge spent a semester evaluating "Crunch Out Obesity," a health and fitness program used in elementary classrooms throughout Knox County. Kenyon students interviewed 267 program participants, led an orientation session for new physical education teachers and offered recommendations to make the program more inclusive and increase the focus on healthy living. Community partners for the project included teachers at Mount Vernon City Schools, the Knox County Health Department, the YMCA of Mount Vernon and the United Way of Knox County. The program makes a significant contribution to understanding issues of health and education in Knox County.

Professor of Spanish Clara Román-Odio and two fluent Spanish majors in the Latino/a Studies concentration, Patricia Mota ’16 and Amelia Dunnell ’17, opened an exhibit to share the experiences of Latinos living in rural communities titled "Latinos in Rural America." Read more about the exhibit. Read an article by Professor Clara Román-Odio about the impact of the project.

Students tackled industry problems with corporate partners as part of a mathematical modeling course taught by Assistant Professor of Mathematics Elin Farnell in the spring semester of 2015. Read more about the course.

Through the Rural Life Center's "VISITS" program, students, faculty and staff benefited from visits from local community leaders and experts. These exchanges helped build sustainable relationships between Kenyon and the surrounding community and promoted community-engaged learning-related partnerships. Events included: a conversation with members of the local Latino/a community; a biology class visit from Knox Community Hospital and College Township Fire Department staff members and the mayor of Gambier; a class visit from United Way of Knox County, YMCA of Mount Vernon and Knox County Health Department staff; participation in the Life Along the Kokosing seminar by Mount Vernon residents, engineers, art historians, the director of the Mount Vernon library and staff from the Salvation Army of Mount Vernon.

Associate Professor of Political Science Abbie Erler, Professor of Spanish Clara Román-Odio, Daniel García-Archundia, '17, Lucy Bhuyan '18 and several additional Kenyon and community representatives presented at a GLCA Global Liberal Arts Alliance event at Kalamazoo College, Oct. 23-25, 2016. The presentation focused on enhancing understanding of community-engaged learning (CEL) pedagogy in a rural setting and its relevance to teaching and creative work; sharing a model to introduce CEL opportunities in courses; and engaging with GLCA faculty colleagues to explore interconnections. Download the presentation (PDF).

In collaboration with Professor of Sociology Howard Sacks and with the support of the Office for Community Partnerships, this summer seminar focused on three objectives: immersing faculty in Knox County life, developing a community-engaged learning pedagogy and enabling faculty to design and implement CEL courses of value to the community. This topic has also been explored through a first-year seminar with Professor Sacks. Professor Sacks' project.

This workshop offered an array of community-engaged learning reflection practices to help faculty consider options to evaluate the outcomes and benefits of the incorporation of CEL into their courses.

This workshop offered faculty a framework for building community-engaged learning into a course. The workshop introduced foundational principles and logistics including how to: connect to community partners; delimit the project; create a memorandum of understanding; meet institutional requirements; enter and exit a community; assess; reflect; and celebrate.

Amelia Dunnell '17, Patricia Mota '16 and Clara Román-Odio, professor of Spanish and faculty associate director of community-engaged learning presented Latinos in Rural America (LiRA) at the 6th Crossing Over Symposium at Cleveland State University October 9-10.

In connection with the new faculty orientation program, this workshop helped expose incoming faculty to community-engaged learning (CEL) as a source of institutional engagement with the community and a means for the implementation of innovative pedagogical approaches.

This workshop updated faculty on new community-engaged learning developments including: College CEL evaluations, guidelines and recommendations, best practices, and potential areas of collaboration.