Learning Communities
Iowa State University has over 50 learning communities and several of them incorporate service-learning into their programs.
Learning communities and service-learning are a natural connection for several reasons:
Restructures teaching & learning
- Both methods allow students to make connections in order to deepen their learning
Reconsiders who learns from whom
- Both methods allow for multiple perspectives on the same topic by viewing through different lenses
Thinks about community intentionally
- Both methods inspire collaboration between students and the larger community
Prepares students for a diverse democracy
- Both methods help student extend their comfort zones and see their connection to the larger community.
[Modified from National Learning Communities Project Monograph Series. (date unknown). “Integrating Learning Communities with Service-Learning.” American Association of Higher Education.]
Some of the learning community service-learning projects include
- Project Glean (Horticulture and Food Science and Human Nutrition)
Participants harvest, grade and distribute apples to local food pantries. - Skunk River Navy (Biology Education Success Teams)
Participants take water samples of the river and test the quality, plant native species and clean debris out of part of the Skunk River near Ames - Women In Science & Engineering (WiSE)
Students plan and implement their own projects in small groups.
For more information about Learning Communities at Iowa State University, please visit the Learning Communities website.