The UBC Learning Exchange offers an exciting opportunity for UBC instructors to expand learning for their students outside the classroom.
Enriched educational experiences that students have benefitted from through the Learning Exchange include:
- Occupational Therapy students interviewing community members to identify their interests, and then setting up a Downtown Eastside digital photography course that developed into a digital stories exhibition in the Heart of the City Festival
- Economics students working with Downtown Eastside residents to create a ‘walking tour’ guide to the neighbourhood that highlights places and resources significant to the community from the perspective of locals
- Creative writing students facilitating a unique group of writers – newcomers to Canada in the Learning Exchange’s ESL program – who are exploring the special voice that arises from writing in a second language
- UBC students facilitating small group English language learning, outside of a course, helping learners to practice and feel more confident
- Engineering students consulting potential users, then designing and building, in partnership with community members, collapsible computer tables for the Learning Exchange’s flexible drop-in/computer-workshop space
If you already have ideas about how to integrate community-based learning into your course, contact Mark Smith to find out more.
If you are looking for more ideas on how to develop a community-based experiential learning aspect into your course, contact the UBC-Community Learning Initiative.
