Fifth Post

Civic Engagement ended up being a pretty cool class. I really liked the organization on the part of the professor and I liked the structure of the class itself. I liked the movies that we watched in class. I find that some professors avoid using movies because they may find it hard to relate it to the class, but I believe the movies were thoughtfully and deliberately chosen, and were definitely an asset to the class. I also thought the quizzes were appropriate. I have a problem remembering small details of what I read, so I liked that the quizzes focused on broad ideas that encompassed the chapter. However, I didn't like the book itself. I didn't feel that it brought a lot of relevant material to the class, and of the relevant material that it did have, I think we could have had presented to us in a better, more creative way. The book presents some basic, common sense ideas, such as: compassion, activism and participating without gratification. Honestly, I believe if those concepts were introduced to the class in a different manner, they would be more effective. It was a little boring to read about those few concepts over and over again.

I like that we had to do a civic engagement project. I found that it was worthwhile, and a good use of my time. The fact that we have to do all the research and create the opportunity for ourselves, was a pleasant contrast from Colloquium, where our service learning hours felt like free labor for the organization we worked with for. In this class, we had to figure out the details of the project on our own, which made it more personal and more educational. I had to learn how to write a press release, how to schedule a location and how to gather the appropriate people and resources.

To improve, I think the class could use a little more class discussion. I enjoyed the classes when we did this, and it was a great opportunity to appreciate the different points of view that are brought from different students into the classroom.
I would also choose to forgo a book and instead use more interactive and creative presentations or discussions on the topics covered in the book. I really felt that a book wasn't really necessary in this particular class.
I would also have enjoyed a small group activity in the beginning of the semester. Something like a field trip or class project for the community. Nothing longer than two class periods. I feel that if we had gone to a soup kitchen for an hour,

or worked together in class to create quilts for a domestic abuse shelter, we could have learned much more about compassion and empathy than we did from reading the book. I think the real learning comes from seeing the look on the faces of the people we help. Some of the civic engagement projects made goods, or raised money, but didn't expose the students to people who received the help. Also, a class project would have helped the class get to know each other a little better, and would have served as an opportunity to learn about creating projects before doing it ourselves.