ABSTRACT Ample research has identified several features of a learning experience likely to enhance student learning, including collaboration, open-ended exploration, and problem-based learning in real-life scenarios. Missing is a model of how instructors might combine these elements into a single project that works flexibly across disciplines and institutions. This article fills this gap by offering such a model and reporting on its effectiveness in fostering student engagement. It describes a project that instructors at four colleges and universities in Flint, Michigan (USA) piloted during the height of the Flint water crisis. The project asked students to apply class content to the real-world problem unfolding around them, and offered students an opportunity to collaborate with peers. We collected qualitative and quantitative data on students’ reactions to the project, and found that the project succeeded in engaging students. We offer recommendations for how instructors can create similar projects in their own classrooms.
Fostering student engagement through a real-world, collaborative project across disciplines and institutions
Laura Mebert,R. Barnes,Jacqueline Dalley,L. Gawarecki,Farnaz Ghazi-Nezami,Gregory Shafer,Jill A. Slater,Erin Yezbick
Published 2020 in Higher Education Pedagogies
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- Publication year
2020
- Venue
Higher Education Pedagogies
- Publication date
2020-01-01
- Fields of study
Education, Psychology
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