Session 2 Abstracts

Chicago Connect: Undergraduate Courses Engaging the City

Michael Dieter, Assistant Professor of Education - Trinity Christian College
Toni Esker, Assistant Professor of Music - Trinity Christian College
John Sebestyen, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts - Ohio Northern University 
Allison Tan, Associate Professor of Social Work - Trinity Christian College

Trinity Christian College offers a collection of classes designated as "Chicago Connect". These courses take an interdisciplinary approach and engage students in the city through Chicago-based coursework with a significant community component. They participate in collaborative work that involves reflection, deliberation, and practice in an off-campus initiative. This presentation will describe several such courses from disciplines including theater, music, education, psychology, sociology, and more. We will share pedagogical approaches, student feedback and experiences, and lessons learned from the perspective of both individual course instructors and the institution as a whole. We believe that teaching undergraduate courses through a community-based lens enhances student learning, enriches campus community life, widens student worldviews, and roots all additional learning in a "real world" way of thinking and being. We look forward to dialoguing with others - both educators and community stakeholders - about ways to build upon these existing Chicago Connect courses and strengthen the model in future semesters.

 Engaging Undergraduate Learners in Course-Based Research by Using Chicago Zoos and Libraries in an Animal Behavior Course

Elizabeth Davis-Berg, Columbia College Chicago
Michelle Rafacz, Columbia College Chicago

Using hands-on independent research conducted at local Chicago zoos effectively keeps non-major undergraduate students interested and engaged in an animal behavior course. Students develop and use an ethogram and learn about different behavioral sampling methods through library research. In this talk, we will share assignments involved in project planning and how this kind of project may be adapted and incorporated into other types of courses. We encourage attendees to bring questions for discussion and their ideas for using independent research projects in their classes.