The Swearer Center staff is available to consult on any aspect of developing new or existing engaged courses. Please contact Julie Plaut, Director of Engaged Scholarship. 

• Community-Based Learning & Research (CBLR) course designation: Make your engaged course more visible to students through this designation. Courses that carry undergraduate credit (numbered up to 1999) can carry multiple designations - CBLR and Race, Power, Privilege (RPP), for example, or Collaborative Research and Scholarly Experiences (COEX).
• CBLR Course Databank: This compilation of courses at Brown includes example syllabi and assignments, shared with the permission of the instructors and accessible with a Brown login.
• CBLR Fellows: Faculty can apply to work with undergraduate students who are funded and trained by the Swearer Center to collaborate with instructors on planning and/or implementing engaged courses. Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRAs) can also fund student assistants.
• CBLR Course Mini-Grants: Instructors may apply through UFunds for up to $500 to be used for expenses related to community-engaged activities in undergraduate or graduate courses; most often these are used for honoraria for community-based collaborators.
• Course development funds from the College may support engaged courses that also relate to other priorities being funded, e.g., addressing Race, Power and Privilege.
• Relevant Policies and Guidance: Students who will be working with minors or other vulnerable populations may be required to complete a background check; the Swearer Center can provide logistical and financial support for background checks for students in CBLR courses during the early weeks of each semester. If students will be producing graded coursework with community organizations for the organization’s use and benefit, Brown has a syllabus statement and a template agreement for instructors to use, in order to confirm students and organizations understand and agree to the intellectual property terms associated with the collaboration. See the Policies and Guidance page for more information on this and other key considerations, including compensation of community collaborators and transportation.
• Professional Development: The Swearer Center organizes events for faculty, staff and/or graduate student instructors to reflect, learn, plan, or strategize together, and we also collaborate with academic units, the Sheridan Center, Division of Research (DOR) or others on events and programs. For upcoming opportunities, subscribe to the engaged faculty newsletter. 

As you consider developing new engaged courses or new projects for an existing course, the principles and recommended practices for community engagement, information about existing local collaborations and relevant policies and practical guidance can be good places to start.

Many instructors at Brown involve community-based experts as guest speakers, have students participate in off-campus visits or events and/or assign readings that represent diverse perspectives on public issues to facilitate students’ learning about critical public issues. Those activities develop students’ skills and insights, preparing them to engage more fully beyond the course. 

Shaped by both the course learning objectives and the community-identified priorities, engagement can include:

• Educational Content Development (Students in GEOL 1960 have developed and delivered earth science modules for elementary schools. In LITR 1152C students created videos and led sessions with children reading and writing poetry.)
• Product Development (In CS 1951I teams of students have developed new technological products that contribute to social change.)
• Program Development (In PHP 1820 students have developed projects addressing health literacy challenges facing incarcerated people. Students in ANTH 1300 have contributed to developing Amos House’s programs for people in recovery.)
• Communications (Students in EDUC 1890 have created a website disseminating resources for low-income families in Rhode Island supporting their children’s education. In HISP 0710E, students work with local community organizations to provide interpreting services with primarily Spanish-speaking clients and to translate written materials.)
• Data Analysis (In POLS 1820X, students produced case studies contributing to a meta-analysis of democratic erosion around the world for USAID’s Democracy, Human Rights and Governance division. Students in AFRI 1075 engaged community-based organizations and individuals to analyze the university's impact on local housing and researched models of universities addressing their impact.)
• Advocacy (Students in ENVS 1574 contributed to Climate & Development Lab research and advocacy projects grounded in partnerships with state, national, and international organizations.)
• Multiple Types of Engagement (In ENVS 1555, groups of students have conducted research, developed website content, gathered and wrote food stories, and filmed interviews via Zoom. In FREN 1410, students have worked with Women’s Refugee Care to produce videos, tutor children and organize a fundraiser.)
• Multidisciplinary Engagement (Students in CS 1951I analyzed data while students in ENGL 1160N wrote stories for the Rhode Island Opioid Data Journalism Project.)

For sample syllabi (shared with permission from the instructors at Brown), see the CBLR Course Databank. 

In addition to the standard course feedback questions asked of students enrolled in all undergraduate courses, students in courses with the Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) designation at Brown are asked to reflect on the effectiveness of the community-engaged components of the course and on the impact of these elements on their overall learning and the development of their academic pathway moving forward. 

Engaged course instructors and their community collaborators can benefit from using backward design, considering not only student learning objectives but also community-focused deliverables or outcomes, collaborative processes and relationships. Once your goals are clear, you can identify appropriate assessment strategies – including how and when community partners will be involved in assessment. 

Resources for assessing student learning: 

• Guidelines for Assessing Student Learning, Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning
• Predictors of Scientific Civic Engagement (PSCE) Survey: A Multidimensional Instrument to Measure Undergraduates’ Attitudes, Knowledge, and Intention to Engage with the Community Using Their Science Skills, Alam et al. in CBE—Life Sciences Education (2023, 22:1)
• The Measure of Service Learning: Research Scales to Assess Student Experiences, Bringle et al. (American Psychological Association, 2004)
• VALUE Rubrics, American Association of Colleges and Universities - these include “Civic Learning - Local and Global” and other relevant learning outcomes, e.g., “Teamwork,” “Intercultural Knowledge and Competence,” “Ethical Reasoning” and “Problem Solving”

Resources for assessing the course and its community collaborations beyond student learning: 

• Democratically Engaged Assessment: Reimagining the Purposes and Practices of Assessment in Community Engagement, Imagining America
• Critical Service-Learning Conversations Tool, Stith, M., Emmerling D., & Malone, D. (2018).
• The Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale II (TRES II) Reflection Framework: Version 2, Clayton et al. (2022) 

The Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning provides excellent guidance on creating a Brown University syllabus. The following suggestions relate specifically to community-engaged courses:

• General Orientation to the Course & Course Goals - Integrate clear learning and engagement goals that are developed in partnership with community collaborators.
• Learning Activities, Assessments, and Time Allocation - Describe community-engaged activities, expectations of students regarding hours and/or deliverables, and how their participation and performance will be assessed. In the syllabus or supplemental materials, share additional details such as contact information for community partners, guidance on background checks if required, transportation, risk management and safety, collaboration agreements and timelines.
• Prerequisites, if applicable - Instructors of some engaged courses identify course prerequisites and/or require short applications to receive an override to enroll, in order to fill the course with students who possess the skills or knowledge needed for planned projects with community collaborators.

Brown has developed a statement for faculty to include in syllabi for courses in which students’ assignments include work (e.g., data, analysis, reports, presentations, materials) that will be graded and will also be provided to a third-party for its use and benefit. Click here for that statement, as well as a template agreement for students and community organization representatives to sign, in order to confirm students and organizations understand and agree to the intellectual property terms associated with the collaboration.

Students at Brown bring diverse identities, perspectives and experiences to community engagement. Many participants in the 2023 review of the CBLR curricular program at Brown highlighted the importance of adequate preparation. Integrating critical reflection and analysis – of one’s power and positionality, of the issues being addressed by the course and community partners and, in courses engaging locally, of Brown’s current and historical relationship to Providence – is essential to an inclusive and effective course. Consider the following strategies:

• Most students will not be familiar with Providence or Rhode Island communities, so if your course includes local engagement, assign some of the recommended readings and other resources on our history and context. Asynchronous modules from the Swearer Center are also accessible to anyone at Brown through Top Hat:
  • Orientation to Brown and Providence History
  • Mandated Reporter Training
• Integrate reflection activities before projects start and throughout the course, in order to create space for students to make meaning of their engagement experiences. Active Learning Resources from the Sheridan Center, Liberating Structures and this Active Learning Library include specific ways of facilitating reflection.
• Use or adapt reflection questions from resources such as:
  • Critical Service-Learning Reflection Tool (Stith et al., 2018)
  • Preparing Students to Engage in Equitable Community Partnerships: A Handbook  (Tryon et al., 2023)
  • The Student Companion to Community-Engaged Learning (Donahue and Plaxton-Moore, 2018)
  • Swearer’s Reflection Guide for Students Working with Community Partners