Learning Communities in General Education: Innovation, Interdisciplinarity, Collaboration, and Real-world Applications
From its听inception听in Fall 2015, Learning Communities (LCs) at 成人黑料 has aimed to create structured opportunities for Dawson faculty from different departments to work together to co-design and co-teach interdisciplinary courses.
These new curricular structures are designed to facilitate the forging of interdisciplinary insights and connections; permit a closer integration of classroom and experiential learning; investigate complex 鈥渨icked problems鈥� and applied solutions;听and听enhance students鈥櫶齭ense of personal belonging, both within the classroom setting and across the college.
The project so far has supported several different course models that touch on General Education, including:
- paired courses developed by teachers across all four core Gen Ed departments
- stand-alone Complementary Contemporary Issues courses that allow for team-teaching opportunities from diverse disciplines, and feature integrated co-curricular activities
Why develop LCs in General Education?
General Education courses are ideally situated to become an important place for LC courses at Dawson. College. Examples already exist of LC paired courses involving collaborations between all four core departments, as well as stand-alone LC Complementary courses.听 The diversity of courses and opportunities for new course development within Gen Ed departments opens the door to a myriad of interesting pairings and ideas for courses that build links with campus and community co-curriculars. General Education courses already play an important role in Dawson Certificates and can contribute further through interesting foundational or paired courses that allow students from different programs to collaborate on a shared area of interest.听 The LC model is also an evidence-based 鈥渉igh impact practice,鈥� and as such, can positively impact student engagement and learning in General Education courses.
Examples of existing LC paired courses and Complemetary Contemporary Issues 365 courses in General Education
- Imaging Violence and Nonviolence:听Humanities + 365 Complementary, Women鈥檚/Gender Studies and Peace Studies
- Into the Wild:听English + Phys Ed, Environment and Sustainability Certificate (under development)
- Living on the Land: Regards sur la vie traditionnelle autochtone:听French + Phys Ed intensives, Decolonization and Indigenous Studies
- Gender Matters:听Team-designed and team-taught 365 Complementary, W/GS
- Peace 365:听365 Complementary featuring multi-disciplinary teacher panels, Peace
- Make Things That Matter:听365 Complementary with integrated co-curricular activities, SPACE
What do I do if I am interested in developing an LC Course?
- Take a look at the
- Consider dropping in the LC zoom meet-up session with Pat Romano (LC Lead, Certificates and General Education) on Thursday, October 8 from 4:00-5:00 (You will be able join via the Faculty Hub website)
- Submit a proposal to Karina听D鈥橢rmo听at OAD鈥痓y听Thursday,听October听15
