Adventures in Service-Based Learning Ties the University to the Community in New Ways

Faculty and students are developing and strengthening university-community relationships this semester in service-learning courses. Some new partnerships include:

* In Ai-Chu Wu’s Math 367 (Statistical Consulting), students are partnering
with the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women to collect and interpret data on issues including education, healthcare, employment, crime, homelessness, demographics, and home ownership.

*In Steve Estes’ History 500 (The Art and Craft of History), several students are partnering with the Cloverdale Historical Society to develop a “Walking Tour” of historic downtown Cloverdale buildings.

*In Paula Frieder’s Gerontology 399 (Aging), students are partnering with the Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging to address exercise issues of senior citizens.

*In Elisa Velasquez’s Psychology 328 (Cross-Cultural Psychology), students
are partnering with Sonoma Valley High School in a mentoring project for high school juniors, assisting them with the college application process and offering career guidance.

*In Paula Lane (EDMS) and Karina Nielsen’s BIOL/EDMS 400 (Ocean Science Literacy for School and Society), students are partnering with local
elementary classrooms as they explore teaching as a career by presenting
ocean science lessons to children in local schools.

For information about and support for teaching a service-learning course,
call Sarah Dove at the Office of Community-Based Learning, 4-2347.