I started teaching in 1994. One of my regular courses was an introductory environmental studies course, which involved a âpersonal action projectâ. This assignment required some involvement in an environmental issue (e.g. action, research, advocacy, demonstration, etc.) that students knew or cared about. It was difficult to manage a large class of 90 students, each with their own project. When the Learning-Advising-Beyond office started at Augustana, the staff were able to help me manage these placements and effectively support the students.
I now offer CSL in 4 of the courses I regularly teach. I use CSL because it engages the students in new ways, it connects to course material in ways not possible with traditional teaching, and it provides students with valuable benefits such as new skills, connections, relationships, and confidence. This has led me to collaborate with other professors on CSL placements, become a CSL placement supervisor myself, seek out CSL placements in the community, provide guest lectures in other CSL courses, and conduct research on CSL-related issues. My CSL involvement has changed my way of thinking about student learning and the need for varied learning approaches. I have appreciated the way that CSL can enrich university-community relations.
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I was surprised by just having that trust placed in me for a number of tasks and the value that is given to my opinion. I worked on a project with the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) and with the Dean of Augustana. When we had our first meeting, I sat down and thought,  âOoh, I do not belong here. I really do not belong here, but youâre giving me this document to come up with something huge and you think I can do it?âÂ
It was hugely intimidating, but I realized that they really value your opinion, theyâre excited for you to be there and theyâre going to be with you every step of the way. Theyâre going to give you criticism, advice, lots of praise and everything in between, but I realized that I actually do belong in those settings.
In certain aspects it would be easier just to write a research paper rather than put in the 20 or 50 hours that youâve been told you have to do. Itâs a lot of time in the community and the organization, but you learn so much more about the greater Camrose community and a lot about yourself. I know that with CSL, Iâm gaining a broad-spectrum education where itâs not just focused on banking knowledge in a classroom.
My first inclination toward CSL in my Womenâs Studies course at Augustana was that I knew we were talking about really important things in the classroom, but it wasnât clear to me whether these influenced the students after they walked out the classroom door.
In Womenâs Studies, which is so attached to activism, taking the theory and an understanding about privilege and oppression into what happens in the world; and an awareness of how these continue to function in so many different ways, is why I think CSL has been so important for me as an instructor. The moment at the end of my first time engaging my class in CSL and reading the studentsâ reflections, I was struck by the way we could create such a powerful engagement with the community.
When I first heard Karsten talking about CSL and thought about putting it in my course outline, questions arose - what would I have to do, how would I have to organize this and why I would want to make some pretty significant changes in course requirements - I donât have any of those questions any more. The only questions I have now are how strategic and how daring I can be in terms of making it a requirement.
Karsten M., Founding Director of Learning, Advising + Beyond (Augustana Campus)
When I came to Augustana, there was no formal CSL on the campus and we have now grown to a place where 75% of our graduates have at least one CSL experience.
CSL has changed the way I teach. I think itâs made it possible for me to do a certain form of experiential learning with students that Iâd only previously done in an international context. Instead of taking people out of Camrose and to some âexoticâ location, we can actually do a lot here â engage with community members, make the classroom come alive, see the connections to people living their lives. CSL has really increased the interaction between Augustana and the non-profit sector or social economy in Camrose. Itâs really exciting to see that happening in a Canadian context.
I think that students will rise to the occasion. Â Sometimes we sell our students short and so giving them a challenge in something we know is going to be hard for them, they will rise to the occasion more times than not. In some cases, weâve had students who start a project and never leave. And you know, 3 years later we find out that theyâve been going every week forever. Â
I think more than anything Iâve learned how to present different types of information to different audiences, which is a really valuable skill to have. For example, taking something from one of my management courses and finding a way to implement it for children. Iâve had to take the different skills and knowledge that I have and learn how to package them in different ways for different groups of people.
With CSL you open your mind a little bit more to the things that youâre learning and youâre engaged in a way that makes you reflect that information back onto a more real world, practical context. For example, you write a business plan, and actually go into an organization, present it and apply it, which is way different than writing a business plan and just handing it in to a professor. In CSL, thereâs a little bit more at stake because youâre accountable to people who are relying on you to add something of value to their organization. It has driven me to work harder on each aspect because I really do want to present good work, as well as bring it back and make it worthwhile for my course work.
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