TI 0768 - The Diversity of Community Engaged Learning (CEL) at UCalgary

Course Description

Community Engaged Learning, or CEL, refers to curricular or co-curricular activities designed in partnership with community organizations to address a community-identified need. They seek to cultivate a sense of civic consciousness, to address social issues, and to contribute to the public good (adapted from Brown University, 2019). At the University of Calgary there is a diverse offering of CEL opportunities across multiple disciplines and programs, like peer mentors mentoring in a UCalgary academic course, students working with community partners as diverse as Indigenous groups to the Calgary Public Library, and engaged with Calgary industries to solve specific information and technology issues. The common theme is that students, instructors and community partners are all part of a reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationship that enriches student learning. This roundtable will bring together panelists from various CEL programs to share experiences and talk about challenges and benefits of engaging students and community partners in this form of Experiential Learning. 

Participants in this session will: 

• Define what CEL is and how it fits into the Experiential Learning framework 
• See the various forms and structures CEL can take across UCalgary 
• Hear about the challenges and benefits of organizing a curricular course as a CEL opportunity for students