Experiential & Community-Engaged Learning

The Experiential & Community-Engaged Learning (ExCEL) pillar of the Center for Educational Excellence supports faculty in the development and implementation of transformative learning experiences to engage students in active and reflective learning.

Helpful Resources

SLO Best Practices: Core Tenets of Community-Engaged Courses

View Tarleton’s Community-Engaged Learning Guidebook

Resources Related to Faculty PD in Teaching, Scholarship, and Service

Definitions

Community Engagement

Community engagement is a purposeful collaboration between Tarleton State students, faculty, and staff and their larger communities (local, regional, national, and global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in the context of partnership and reciprocity.

These partnerships should foster a “two-way street” approach, creating mutually enriching collaboration between Tarleton State and public/private sectors. This type of partnership can:

  • advance scholarship, research, and creative activity
  • enhance curriculum, teaching, and learning
  • prepared engaged and thoughtful citizens
  • reinforce democratic values and civic responsibility
  • address societal challenges
  • contribute to the public good

Community-Engaged Learning

Community-engaged learning is a form of learning that takes place through engagement with the local community to address real-world problems.

Civic Learning

Civic learning is a process through which students develop the knowledge and skills to interact effectively with fellow community members to address shared problems. Civic learning prepares students for:

  • Civic Engagement: practices seeking to promote the public good through non-governmental organizations and informal community work
  • Political Engagement: activities aiming to influence action through formal avenues such as voting, lobbying, or petitioning

Tarleton State University supports civic learning through partnership with AASCU’s American Democracy Project.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning is a form of active learning through which students develop knowledge, skills, and values from direct experiences. When students engage in hands-on experiences combined with active reflection, they are better able to connect theories and knowledge learned in the classroom to real-world situations.

Tarleton State University supports experiential learning through our Applied Learning Experience (ALE) program.