Civic Learning

Civic Learning

We are committed to achieving community goals while preparing the next generation of engaged citizens and leaders, and advancing the teaching and research mission of the university.

Our Civic Learning Approach

We partner with local organizations to deepen students’ understanding of course content through active engagement with communities beyond our campus. Through hands-on service, advocacy and other forms of participation, students contribute to the real efforts of real people to make positive change.

Amanda Ketterer

Urban Gardening with Amanda Ketterer

Examples of Civic Learning in Practice

Our work supports community development in areas such as early childhood and K–12 education, health, nutrition, economic vitality, financial independence, and environmental improvement.

Social Stratification: Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice

This course examines the distribution of societal resources and rewards in the United States, focusing on poverty, inequality, and the widening gap between the rich and poor, and discussing factors that affect access, opportunities, and life chances in contemporary U.S. society: education, income, wealth, race, ethnicity and gender. Course requirements include discussion questions and quizzes on readings, active participation in class discussion, an engaged civic learning component, and exams.

Urban Education: Department of Childhood Studies

In this course, students learn firsthand about urban schooling and the varied perspectives of youth by participating in the Rutgers North Camden Schools’ Partnership at Pyne Poynt Middle School. We examine the relationship between schools and the urban environments in which they are situated, looking at how schools perpetuate or contest inequalities along race, class, ethnic and gender lines. The course explores key topics and debates on equity and access in urban schools.

Exploring Careers in Biology: Department of Biology, Arts and Sciences

The purpose of this course is for students to identify or confirm their career goals in the biological sciences through service learning at diverse workplaces. Students will identify the needs of society and their vocational calling in the biological sciences discipline; have experiential learning opportunities by participating in community service for the city of Camden; and evaluate the service-learning experiences through critical reflections.

Organizational Behavior: School of Business

Organizational behavior provides frameworks for understanding and changing human behavior in all types and sizes of organizations. In this course, we will examine some of the bases of individual behavior within organizations; move on to the level of the small group (generally a work group or team within a larger organization); and then examine the structure of larger organizations. These areas of study are based on the fields of psychology and sociology.

Basic Clinical Nursing Competencies: School of Nursing

This course is designed to introduce the baccalaureate nursing student to clinical skills required to provide safe, high-quality, evidence-based patient care. Opportunities for skills practice and mastery will be provided in the Clinical Skills Laboratory, followed by selected patient care experiences in structured clinical settings. This course focuses on developing clinical reasoning/judgment to promote, restore and maintain health across the lifespan.

Community Health Nursing: School of Nursing

This course is intended to introduce baccalaureate nursing students to the concept of the community as a client system, and to the roles and responsibilities of nurses in the promotion and maintenance of population health in both the local and global community. The course incorporates nursing, public health, and epidemiological theory and science in the study of community and global health.