Global and Experiential Learning

Community Based Learning (CBL) is a pedagogical approach where students learn through active experiences in their community.  Employing CBL strategies in college courses can play a vital role in achieving learning outcomes.  CBL gives students a sense of purpose and makes the subject matter relevant to their everyday lives.  Adopting a CBL approach keeps students engaged and motivated, while developing their communication and leadership skills.  This approach may help facilitate interdisciplinary and collaborative projects for faculty, enhancing their research and publication opportunities while providing professional recognition. This seminar will help faculty develop assignments based on this pedagogical approach.  Starting with the theory and philosophy behind experiential learning, participants will be exposed to the benefits of CBL and will be provided with examples and avenues for integration in their courses, and ultimately, they will develop interactive assignment projects that will be used in their courses. The workshop series will conclude with a showcase where participants can share their finished projects/assignments.

Co-facilitators: Daniel Boudon and Neetu Kaushik, Social Science 

Eligibility: Full-time and part-time faculty in Academic Affairs.

Support: Contingent upon attendance and active participation in all seminar activities, each Academic Affairs full- time faculty participant will receive a stipend of $600.  Adjunct faculty may receive the equivalent as non-teaching pay if eligible, or professional development funds to support conference attendance or other allowable PD activities/items.

Dates:  Four sessions and a showcase on Fridays from 11:00 – 1:00 pm on 9/27, 10/18, 11/1, 11/15, 12/6 Showcase 

*Note: All sessions including showcase will be remote.

 Inquiries: Daniel Boudon and Neetu Kaushik.

The seminar aims to introduce faculty to experiential learning (EL) and offer support with designing course activities and assignments using the LaGuardia Humanitarian Initiative (LHI) as an applied example. As an interdisciplinary, hands-on seminar, we will explore how to integrate experiential learning opportunities into our personal pedagogy. Participants will be introduced to the theory and praxis of LHI, which aligns with the Association of Experiential Education and CUNY’s vision of EL, discuss its strategic goals, and review aligned examples that demonstrate successful implementation of classroom learning in real-life settings. The seminar will foster existing and new strains of experiential learning, including curricular, co-curricular, and community outreach projects that benefit students with transfer and career readiness. In addition, through backward design workshops, participants will create discipline-specific low-stakes and high-stakes EL modules.  Finally, participants will be introduced to assessment tools at various stages of assignment implementation to gauge the effectiveness of the experiential learning assignment or activity.

Co-facilitators: Claudette Davis, Natural Sciences, and Dana Trusso, Humanities

Eligibility: Full-time and part-time faculty in Academic Affairs.

Support: Contingent upon attendance and active participation in all seminar activities, each Academic Affairs full- time faculty participant will receive a stipend of $600.  Adjunct faculty may receive the equivalent as non-teaching pay if eligible, or professional development funds to support conference attendance or other allowable PD activities/items.

Dates:  Fridays from 11:00 -1:00 pm on Zoom on 3/14, 4/11, 5/16, and 6/6.

Inquiries: Claudette Davis and Dana Trusso.

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is a teaching practice whereby faculty in geographically and culturally remote spaces, usually different countries, work closely on designing a unit of scaffolded assignments that engage their students virtually in collaborative tasks via digital tools, such as Zoom, Slack, and Padlet.

The seminar will introduce participants to COIL pedagogy and support them in developing a COIL project with an international partner around an issue of global significance as outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The seminar will be supported by the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language program (UISFL) grant. This will be a third iteration of a COIL seminar funded by the UISFL grant. At LaGuardia, COIL is supported by the Office of Global and Experiential Learning (GEL) and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL).

This COIL seminar will benefit participants because it underscores LaGuardia’s commitment to global learning and introduces a pedagogy that can foster career readiness skills among students. The seminar will provide a space for faculty to continue enhancing their pedagogy and advancing the educational experiences of their diverse student population. By emphasizing intercultural empathy, respect for diversity and perspective taking, COIL cultivates the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, and it serves as a strong platform to implement culturally relevant pedagogy. COIL is also a form of experiential learning, as it facilitates an authentic interaction and collaborative problem-solving with the international community and emphasizes critical reflection.

Participants will:

1. Design a specific COIL project that aligns with their existing course learning outcomes, program learning outcomes in an impactful way and emphasizes United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
2. Expand their ability to create course projects that challenge monolithic and essentialist views of culture; foreground student agency; and bridge students’ academic and non-academic identities;
3. Enhance their assignment design skills in relation to the College’s Core Competencies and Abilities, especially Global Learning and Digital Learning;
4. Diversify their own online teaching skills and develop critical digital literacy of their students;
5. Develop a mindset of aligning course projects with specific career readiness skills, such as critical thinking, teamwork, and global and intercultural fluency as defined in the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) competencies;

International partner participation in the seminar is encouraged but NOT required. Also, international partners do not receive compensation after participation. Instead, they receive a certificate of completion.

Upon completion of the seminar, participants will be expected to implement COIL projects in their chosen courses in Spring I 2025 and attend two check-in sessions. During implementation, they will continue receiving support from the seminar leaders and COIL team. At the end of Spring I 2025, COIL faculty and students will participate in LaGuardia’s signature COIL Faculty & Student Showcase.

Expectations:

• Participate in five 2-hour synchronous seminar sessions via Zoom during January and February 2025. These sessions will include team-time with international faculty partners and time in small groups with other LaGuardia faculty for peer feedback. Faculty will also receive on-going feedback and support from seminar leaders throughout seminar activities;
• Complete 5 hours of asynchronous tasks (including designing lessons and scaffolded assignments in collaboration with their international partners) in preparation for the 5 synchronous sessions;
• Meet regularly with a faculty partner to plan activities during the seminar in Fall II and during implementation in Spring I;
• Attend two 1-hour synchronous check-in sessions during implementation in March & April 2025;
• Participate in the COIL Faculty & Student Showcase in June 2025.

Synchronous seminar session: 9:00 – 11:00 am on 1/10, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, and 2/14.

Synchronous check-ins: March and April 2024, specific dates to be announced

Compensation for LaGuardia Faculty: $600

Eligibility: Full-time and adjunct faculty are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to faculty who have not implemented COIL previously.