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Teaching Sociology.
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DESIGNINGYOUR COMMUNITY-BASED LEARNINGPROJECI
FIVE QUESTIONSTO ASK ABOUTYOURPEDAGOGICAL
AND PARTICIPATORYGOALS*
Thispaper presents a set of five questions that are importantto consider in the
preliminaryplanning of a community-based learning (CBL)project. The ques-
tions are relevant to most CBLprojects, ranging from internships to research
projects and field trips. The questions include: Among the goals of the project,
are there primaryand secondary goals or are the goals given equal weight? Is
participationin the project mandatoryor voluntary?Should the CBLcomponent
of a course be concentrated in one site or dispersed across many sites? How
similaror different should each student's individualparticipationin the project
be? How central should direct client/community interaction be to students'
activities? Based on a review of the CBLliteraturein Sociology and feedback
from the students and partner organizationin our own CBLproject, we discuss
each question and outline some of the advantages and disadvantages of
various decisions, focusing on the competing interests of students, instructors,
and partner organizations. The aim is not to advocate one kind of project or
design over another but rather to help other project planners anticipate and
avoid pitfalls noted in the literatureand maximize the benefits of CBL.
MARIONCARTER ESTELARIVERO
Princeton University Princeton University
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166 TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY
of the CBLproject.6As bothmandatory and and to give all of our goals equal weight.
central,the CBL projecttook a lot of time Makingthe case thatourprojectcouldmake
on the part of instructorsand from the a real differencefor our partnerorganiza-
perspectiveof students.In theirevaluations tion(s)was easierby virtueof the fact that
at the end of the course,some studentssaid we had all studentsdirectingtheirenergies
that they wished it had been voluntaryor towardsone organization.
said they were not interestedin doing an- One clear disadvantageto this approach
othercoursewitha CBLcomponent,though was the riskof overloadingMs. Fernandez,
it was evidentthatthisreactionpartlyhadto alreadyover-burdened with her own work.
do with the amountof work that we re- However,this problemmay be minimized
quired,not with its mandatoryquality.That for otherswho work with largerorganiza-
said, anotherstudentappreciatedthe fact tionsor thosewithstrongervolunteerinfras-
that somethingshe liked to do (volunteer) tructures.
was "institutionalized."Froman instructor's Giventhe focuson a particular population,
perspective,it was easier to draw on the anotheroptionwouldhavebeento findmore
experiencein class discussionand lecture than one organizationthat worked with
becauseall studentswereparticipating in the Latinoimmigrantsin the area. If students
CBLproject.For example,we were able to had beendividedbetweentwo organizations
invite Ms. Fernandezand an immigration and clientbases, for example,studentsmay
scholarto class for guest lecturesand show have learnedmore abouthow community
a film aboutimmigrantexperiences,as well organizationsworkandmayhave been able
as drawon the students'perceptionsof LU to bringin a morecomparativeview on the
and its clientsin discussions.These options local Latinocommunitythantheydid in our
wouldhave been possibleregardlessof the case. Anotherpossibilitymight have been
mandatory natureof the project,butwe feel not to concentrateon one single population
the impactof theseadditionsto the classwas but insteadto seek out many organizations
increasedas a resultof all students'partici- that serve different minority women
pation. throughoutthe area(e.g., programsfor teen
mothers,LU, anda sexualabusecenter).In
Q 3. Should the CBL componentof a both alternativeschemes,for example,stu-
course be concentratedin one site or dis- dentscouldhave self-selectedto the organi-
persedacrossmanysites? zationsthatbest fit their interestsand time
Another key question with little explicit availability(e.g., one organizationis closer
discussionin the existingliteraturepertains to campusthan another).Table 2 outlines
to whether students should be dispersed theseandothermeritsof thesechoices.
acrossorganizationsor concentratedin one
site. While the approachto this question Q 4. How similar or different should
revolves aroundlogistics, this decision is each student's individualparticipationin
also guideddirectlyby the decisionsmade the processbe?
aboutprojectgoalprioritization. A fourthandrelatedquestionis whetherand
We chose to workwith one organization, to what degree students'own participation
anticipatingthat doing so would facilitate should differ from that of their peers.
incorporation of students'experiencesinto Shouldeachstudentbe askedto do the same
course discussionsand lectures. We also kind of projector interactwith the partner
thought that managementof the project organization(s)in the same way? What kinds
would be easier from our perspective than if of advantages and disadvantages are posed
we were handling relationships with many by offering studentsdifferent ways to partic-
organizations. Both of these advantages ap- ipate in the project? Again, the resources
peared to mesh well with our other decisions available to instructorspartly determine this
to make the project mandatory and central decision, as does the way that the project
DESIGNINGCBL PROJECTS 167
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168 TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY
goalsareprioritized. volunteerfor two hours a week at a local
We allowedfor substantial variationin the soup kitchen.If all studentssharethe same
way that studentsparticipatedin the CBL experience,thentheymaymoreeasilyrelate
project.Studentsself-selectedinto the dif- and bring the CBL experienceinto course
ferent components(the survey component discussions,in turn making integrationof
was an exception),each of which involved the experienceintothe coursemorestraight-
both differenttypes of activities(e.g., de- forward for the instructor. All students
signing fliers, doing a literaturereview, could also be evaluatedin the same way,
caring for children) and different issues therebyreducingconfusionaboutdiffering
(publicity,labor force participation,child expectationsamongstudentsand easing the
care). One clearadvantageof this approach managementburdenof the instructorsand
was thatit allowedus to assistLU in various possiblythe partnerorganization.An alter-
ways and, arguably,more effectively.This native design could include one common
decisionalso made sense in light of LU's goal but manydifferentjobs, therebycom-
small size and our decisionto focus all of bining the class cohesion and clarity of
the class' energiesthere;for example,LU purposefosteredin the soupkitchenexample
could not absorb all students as weekly withthebenefitsof havingvariousactivities,
volunteers. as notedin our own case. Designing,carry-
Froman instructor'spointof view, it was ing out, and analyzinga communitysurvey
clear that studentsgaineddifferentinsights mightbe an exampleof this approach.(See
dependingon theirproject.Studentsin the Table3.)
researchcomponentlearned about immi-
grantcommunitiesand gender in general; Q 5. How centralshoulddirectcommu-
studentsworkingwithpublicityanddistribu- nity/clientinteractionbe to students'pro-
tion learnedabout the immigrantcommu- jects?
nity; andthe studentsin the volunteercom- Many CBL projects in sociology aim to
ponentgained"handson" experienceabout expose studentsto communitiesdifferent
non-profitorganizations.These conclusions from theirown andto ensuresome amount
arereflectedin students'finalevaluations.A of direct client interaction.Beyond that,
memberof the distributiongroup wrote, however,thereis relativelylittle discussion
"[my project]had very little to do with abouthow muchstudents'projectsor learn-
gender and was only about immigration," ing experiencesshouldrevolve aroundthis
and a volunteerwrote, "I had a very diffi- interaction.This sectionspeaksto some of
cult time tryingto find gender-relevant ob- the advantagesand disadvantages of having
servationsthru [sic] my volunteerwork." students'experiencerely primarilyon inter-
That said, some students expressed new actionwiththe clients,comparedto students
appreciation for what it takes to managea whose activitiesor projectsdo not. The
communityorganization andfor the flexibil- issue about variationsin client interaction
ity required to work in one. Overall,the amongstudentsparticipating in a CBLcom-
of
implications allowing substantialvariation ponent is distinct and closely tied to the
in studentparticipationare that instructors previousquestion.(See Table4.)
must anticipatedifferentialimpacts (upon In our case, the studentswhose projects
the
students, organization, and course con- primarilyrelied on directclient interaction
tent), give more individual guidance to stu- faced particularproblemsand opportunities
dents, and during class time draw across thatotherstudentsdidnot. Forexample,one
students' experiences to the benefit of all student who volunteered weekly in LU's
students. childcare center noted in her final presenta-
As a counter-example to this project de- tion and evaluationthat her experience made
sign, consider a case in which everyone in a her appreciate how difficult and time-
course about social stratificationis asked to consuming participant-observationresearch
DESIGNINGCBL PROJECTS 169
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DESIGNINGCBL PROJECTS 171
canbe. She felt she neededmuchmoretime merits initial and primaryconsideration.The
at the organization in orderto beginto make otherdecisionsflow fromthe choicesmade
conclusions,notingin her final paper, "We at thatpoint. The set of questionsdiscussed
oftenreadof the thorough,time-consuming, here is intended to complement existing
variable-accounting methods employed by resources that relate to other aspects of
real sociologists for conductingtheir re- course and project design and to help in-
search. But to samplethis experiencefirst structors design CBL projects more effi-
hand,if only slightly,gave me a new respect ciently, given the particularconstraintsand
for the difficultyand obstacle-oriented real- opportunities
theyeachencounter.
ity of field research." While for
frustrating Certaingaps remainamongthe resources
her, thismethodological lesson is important; on CBL designandmanagement. For exam-
yet it was not centralto the experiencesof ple, the pedagogical question about how
studentsworkingon the publicitycampaign, much control studentsshould have in design-
for instance.For them, theirclient interac- ing a course and their projects-a question
tion at the ESLcourses,albeitsuperficialin important to all courses with or without a
one sense, complemented theirotheractivi- CBL-assumes a new twist in the face of a
ties in sensitizingthem to the barrierthat CBL project, given the fact that student
languageposes for the social and economic activities involve and impact a third party,
integrationof immigrants.Accordingto this the partner organization(s). Another impor-
group of students,this lesson made them tant topic regards how to create an effective
more engagedin their own contributionto and fair structure for evaluating student
LU. performancewhen some or all studentswork
The experienceof anotherstudentwhose on a CBL project and/or engage in quite
projectaimedto collect and analyzethe life different CBL activities, as was our case. As
storiesof a few LU clientsrevealedfurther instructorscontinueto carryout CBL pro-
advantagesand disadvantagesof projects jects, issueslike theseandthosediscussedin
thatdependclosely on directclient interac- this paper need to be discussed and shared
tion. We felt ambivalentaboutallowingthis among faculty working on CBL projects.
project,given the student'slack of training While there is no empirical evidence that
in qualitativeresearch.In fact she did not more systematic project planning will pro-
gain substantialinsightsfromthe interviews duce more positive results for CBL, we
she did and turnedto work on the survey believe it could have improved the experi-
project. Additionally,this project caused ences of all who were involved in our own
hardshipon the organizationbecauseit had CBL experience.
to matchclientswiththe student,help nego-
tiatelanguagebarriers,andhelp mediatethe
organization of the interviews. APPENDIX
SUMMARY OF THE CBL PROJECT
FINAL THOUGHTS
Universitycontextandfunding
While by no means comprehensive, the five "*Coursewas one of two Sociologycourses,
out of a total of 10 coursesinvolvedwith
issues presentedhere are central to any CBL
CBLIthatsemester
projectdesignandare importantto consider "*CBLIprogramprovided$1,000foronegrad-
during initial planning, after the decision to uatestudentassistant'stime
incorporate CBL into a course has been * From a grant awardedto the professor,
made. The answers given to these questions Princeton'sProgramin LatinAmericaStud-
help guide decisions about more specific, ies providedan additional$1,000foranother
logistical, or management concerns about graduatestudentassistantand funds,which
CBL. In our estimation, the first question wereusedto helpcoverotheraspectsof the
about the priority assigned to goals of CBL courseandproject
172 TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY
Courseoverview lessonslearned(10 pages). Thoseworking
* Introductorygendercourse,witha focuson on the clientsurveyturnedin a reportof key
U.S. immigration results from the perspectiveof gender as
* 20 students(twomenand18women) discussedthroughoutthe course. All stu-
* Asidefromreadings,lectures,andprecepts, dentsworkingin teamsalso wereinstructed
therewerethreemainassignments to includein theirgrouppaperan additional
"oResearchaboutgenderon campus(20% section(1-2 pages)thatwas writtenindepen-
of finalgrade) dently and summarized theirindividualre-
"oCBLproject(40%) flectionson theirexperience.
"oTake-homefinal(25%). * Finalgradeforproject:completionof weekly
The remainderof the coursegrade(15%) diary (40%)and the proposal,final paper,
was based on participationin discussion andpresentation (60%). Gradingwas based
sections("precepts"). upontimelycompletionof eachrequirement
and clear evidenceof effortsto link their
CBLproject experienceto coursematerial,in additionto
"*Mandatory thequalityof writtenandoralpresentations.
"*Twograduatestudentassistantsworkedex-
clusivelyon CBLcomponent REFERENCES
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