Civic and community engagement impact relates to the benefit higher education makes to society.
Campus Engage offer the following supportive framework for all Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to set about planning, measuring, or collecting information on impact. The purpose is to assist HEIs to set baseline figures, or key performance indicators and is non-prescriptive, just a supportive Guideline.
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Community Engaged Teaching and Learning
Community-engaged learning and teaching are academic approaches that seeks to engage and accredit students, within the curriculum, for working in partnership with civic and civil society organisations (CSOs) to act on local societal challenges.This web page provides information on measuring and evaluating accredited community based learning and teaching. The dimensions reflect the Campus Engage Charter, mirror the Campus Engage activities, and acknowledge the broader institutional initiatives which build and support a culture of engagement.There are a number of indicators of qualitative and quantitative evidence of impact, some of which are provided below.
Evidence and Impact
Quantitative Data:
- Numeric data, figures, percentages, proportions
- Monetary amounts, funds, budgets
- Targets, projections, estimations
- Comparisons, benchmarks
- Data analytics
- Grants, awards
- Participant, audience, visitor involvement
- Test/exam results
- Workload/time allocation
- Attitudinal surveys
Qualitative Data:
- Case studies, including impact
- Contextual information: what, where, why, who and how of engagement
- Demographic details: communities and audiences
- Institutional documentation: strategies, plans, policies, reports
- Partnership agreements/guidelines/compacts
- Resources/materials/toolkits/websites/templates
- Stories of impact from students, staff and communities
- Measures of Esteem/Feedback: Evaluations from students, staff, communities
- Attitudinal surveys
- Interviews/focus groups
- Blogs, video, audio, podcasts
- Awards
- Reports
- Participant stories and narratives
- Process details and charts
- Reflective writings
Possible Metrics
Provide data and examples (e.g. statistics/numbers/case studies/stories) on/of:
- Accredited community-based engaged teaching, learning and/or research modules offered
- Accredited community-based engaged teaching, learning and/or research projects completed
- Percentage of students taking accredited community-engaged teaching, learning and/or research modules
- Percentage of programmes offering community-engaged teaching, learning and/or research modules
- Percentage of staff supervising community-engaged teaching, learning and/or research modules
- Number of organisations, charities, civil and civic society organisations, etc., collaborating to offer accredited community-engaged teaching, learning and research modules
- Number of staff who have completed capacity building programmes in accredited community-engaged teaching, learning and/or engaged research
- Initiatives to empower and support communities and staff to develop/implement community-engaged learning
- Number of hours community partners contribute in co-ordinating/engaging with students in community-engaged learning (monetary and economic value of these hours)
- Community partner testimonials
- Percentage of students who report improved/enhanced graduate attributes through accredited community-based learning (e.g. communication, team work, IT, higher order thinking skills, analysis, understanding complex problems, career awareness skills, technical skills, etc.)
- Percentage of students satisfied with accredited community-engaged teaching, learning and research opportunities
- Student ratings of personal and social outcomes (e.g. self-esteem, confidence empowerment, respect for others, civic responsibility, local/global citizenship, communication skills, teamwork due to accredited community-engaged teaching and learning)
- Student rating of professional and/or subject/discipline outcomes (e.g. graduate attributes, higher order thinking skills, analysis, understanding complex problems, career awareness skills, technical skills, teamwork due to accredited community-engaged teaching and research)
- Student rating of engaged learning experiences (e.g. course evaluations) and percentage of students satisfied with community-engaged learning opportunities
- Percentage of students reporting enhanced social networks due to accredited community-engaged teaching, learning and research
- Number and reach of publications on innovating and developing practice.
