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Loyola University Chicago Libraries

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL)

Community Engaged Learning: About the Collection

Community-Engaged Learning (also referred to as service-learning or community-based learning) involves an educational experience for students often occurring in the community or with a community partner that meets community-defined priorities; the community experience offers students the opportunity to deepen their learning 1) in the context of a course, topic, or program, 2) develop a broader appreciation in the discipline of study or field, 3) participate in critical reflection, and 4) develop an enhanced sense of civic responsibility. The Scholarship of Engagement encourages inquiry into the practice, study, implementation, and/or institutionalization of community-engaged learning. When individuals explore the impact of community-engaged learning, inquire into its practice, or critically interrogate the implementation of community-engaged learning, they are delving into the scholarship of engagement.

"The scholarship of engagement means connecting the rich resources of the university to our most pressing social, civic and ethical problems, to our children, to our schools, to our teachers and to our cities..."
- Ernest Boyer in The Scholarship of Engagement