What is Community Engaged Learning?
Community engaged learning is a form of experiential education with a community engagement for societal impact underpinning. Students gain academic credit for engaging and reflecting on a learning experience or piece of research in partnership with a community organisation.
This allows students to explore ‘real life’ problem solving, their future role as a professional, and how they can contribute to address Irish, EU and international societal challenges.
Existing examples include law students providing legal advice to the public in their local community law centres; engineering students working with older people to design innovative occupation support tools; or dietetics students giving nutrition workshops with local school students.
Course Outline
Pre-course content
Introduction to the course, the virtual learning environment and your course colleagues.
Week 1
Community Engaged Learning – Introduction and Rationale
Explore the definitions and characteristics of community engaged learning in Ireland, with case study examples.
Week 2
Community Partnerships
How to build and sustain working relationships with community groups with a partnership approach to support Community Engaged Learning.
Week 3
Embedding Community Engaged Learning in the Curriculum
Explore the various curriculum design options as you embed CEL and consider how to write learning outcomes for CEL.
Week 4
Engaging Students
Consider the key information students require about CEL. The focus is on preparing students to engage effectively in CEL activities.
Week 5
Assessment of Community Engaged Learning
How to assess if students have achieved the intended learning outcomes of their CEL experience.
Week 6
Claiming your NFETL Digital Badge in Community Engaged Learning
Why you should take this course?
- Enhance your teaching by providing students with practical experience of applying academic learning in a real-world setting with community-based organisations.
- Contribute to students learning outcomes across citizenship, team work, effective communication, leadership, empathy and enhance their social capital.
- Network with community partners to open up new learning and research projects, interdisciplinary funding opportunities, or publications. No prior experience with community organisations is necessary to take this course.
- Walk away with a plan and tools to develop learning outcomes, assessment techniques, learning agreements, process guides, and case studies of successful projects.
- Become part of a national Campus Engage network of community engaged teaching and research practitioners.
- Get recognition of your CEL activities for institutional promotional criteria
Course Faciliators
| Catherine O’Mahony (UCC) | Claire McDonnell (TU Dublin) | Jennifer Anne Lloyd-Hughes (MU) | Eileen Hoffler (UL) | Conor Anderson (IUA) |
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Course Developers
Colm O’Hehir (IUA)
Josephine Boland (Independent)
Claire McDonnell (TU Dublin)
Lorraine McIlrath (NUIG)
Bernie Quillinan (Independant)
