Education Commons^™

Pilot Inventory Of Community Partnerships, Valerie Holton

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Partnerships with community organizations create increased opportunities for universities to promote community-engaged research, teaching, and service. Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) mission states that the university is committed to "sustainable, university-community partnerships that enhance the educational, economic, and cultural vitality of the communities VCU serves." In recognition of its efforts, VCU is among a small number of institutions to be designated as very high research activity and community-engaged by the Carnegie Foundation. It is also a recipient of a NIH-funded Center for Translational and Sciences Award, which promotes community-engaged research.

In pursuit of the university’s goal to become a national model …

2013 Service-Learning Faculty Survey Results Report, Office Of Service-Learning, Division Of Community Engagement, Virginia Commonwealth University

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Service-learning is an important teaching pedagogy that has been proven effective in enhancing student learning and promoting both academic and civic engagement. As civic engagement continues to gain prominence as an integral aspect of higher education, it is increasingly important that engagement metrics are consistently measured to demonstrate outcomes. This is especially true of service-learning as it strongly correlates with student learning, academic performance, and retention rates. Feedback and suggestions from service-learning faculty members are useful for gaining insights into how service-learning quality can be enhanced at the classroom level and understanding the resource needs of faculty members.

The purpose …

Community Engagement Living-Learning Programs: Build It Well And They Will Come, Lynn Pelco, Mary Slade

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Objectives for this presentation were: (1) overview the literature on benefits and models of living-learning programs; (2) describe the components of VCU's new community-engagement living-learning program, VCU ASPiRE; (3) introduce a theoretical model for building high-quality community-engagement living-learning programs; (4) facilitate discussion amongst participants to exchange ideas and to begin strategic problem-solving that will create high-quality community engagement, living-learning programs; and (5) provide living-learning program online resources.

Impact Of Community Engagement Grants (2007-2012): A Preliminary Report, Valerie Holton, Catherine Howard, Jennifer Jettner

Division of Community Engagement Resources

As Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) takes its place among the nation‟s top 50 public research universities, our guiding principles have been an abiding focus on student success at all levels, unparalleled innovation through research, and a university-wide commitment to human health, and engagement and empowerment in our communities. To that end, VCU has named community engagement as a key focus area in its strategic plan with the aim of developing collaborative university-community partnerships that yield creative and relevant solutions for community-identified needs. These mutually-beneficial partnerships not only support the public good, but they also support our mission to advance knowledge …

The Growth Of Single-Sex Schools: Federal Policy Meets Local Needs And Interests, Katherine Cumings Mansfield

Educational Leadership Publications

Changes to Title IX allowing the growth of single-sex schools have garnered media attention promoting the benefits of separating boys and girls. Alternately, civil rights groups such as the ACLU continue to oppose any type of school segregation. Within this context, a private philanthropy, the Foundation for the Education of Young Women (FEYW) has established public-private partnerships with six Texas school districts to open all-girls’ public college prep magnet schools with plans to expand. This multi-year ethno-historical case study explores the meaning making of one community in the FEYW network as it attempts to make sense of federal policy at …

Irb-Approved Community-Engaged Research At Vcu: Analysis Of Baseline Data And Overview Of New Data System, Valerie Holton

Community-Engaged Research Resources

Within the academy and across VCU there is growing recognition that community-engaged research (CEnR) is a valuable framework that enables researchers to conduct research and produce results that can be directly translated into improvements in human health, education, sustainability, and economic development. One example of VCU’s institutional commitment to community engagement is that a description of CEnR has been added to the revised university promotion and tenure guidelines. Additionally, it is included as a key strategy in advancing the discovery of new knowledge, creative expression, and innovation by increasing and diversifying sponsored research and promoting translational research and scholarship that …

Community-Engagement Grants: Fostering Partnerships And Advancing Scholarship And Human Well-Being, Valerie Holton, Catherine Howard, Jennifer Jettner

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This preliminary report presents how Virginia Commonwealth University creates a culture of community engagement, facilitates university-community partnerships and how seed grant money can be a catalyst for long-term partnerships.

The Impact Of Service-Learning On Degree Completion, Kelly Lockeman, Lynn Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

No abstract provided.

Pilot Inventory Of Community Partnerships: Iarslce Conference 2013, Valerie Holton, Kate Agnelli

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Partnerships with community organizations create increased opportunities for universities to promote community-engaged research, teaching, and service. Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) mission states that the university is committed to "sustainable, university-community partnerships that enhance the educational, economic, and cultural vitality of the communities VCU serves." In recognition of its efforts, VCU is among a small number of institutions to be designated as very high research activity and community-engaged by the Carnegie Foundation. It is also a recipient of a NIH-funded Center for Translational and Sciences Award, which promotes community-engaged research.

In pursuit of the university’s goal to become a national model …

A Review Of Literature On Teaching Evaluation, Martin Reardon

MERC Publications

The members of MERC’s Policy and Planning Council are well aware of the challenges that school divisions are facing as they conscientiously endeavor to honor the stipulations of the Guidelines (2011) in a loosely coupled system. In keeping with the context out of which the request for this literature review arose, a sense of the literature invoked in the Research Base (2011) has been taken for granted. The focus of this document, then, is on literature—predominantly recent literature—that addresses issues associated with the implementation of teacher evaluation. This emphasis on implementation is in keeping with MERC’s mission to engage in …

Vcu's Faculty Status Report - December 2013, Vcu Office Of Faculty Recruitment And Retention

VCU's Faculty Status Report was presented to Faculty Senate on December 3, 2013.

Vcu's Faculty Status Report - January 2013, Vcu Office Of Faculty Recruitment And Retention

VCU's Faculty Status Report was presented to Faculty Senate on January 22, 2013.

Academic Rigor For All: A Review Of Literature, Gabriel Reich, Volkan Sevim, Amanda Turner

MERC Publications

In this literature review, we will attempt to address the issue of academic rigor in several ways. First, we will review federal and Virginia policy documents that discuss academic rigor, and the research reports that influenced these documents. We will then attempt to articulate a clear definition of academic rigor that applies across academic contexts. This definition draws on the work of educational psychologists, sociologists, and scholars of teaching and learning. Finally we will review the research literature on rigorous classroom practice in two disciplines, history and mathematics.

Mix It Up With Blended Learning In K-12 Schools: A Review Of Literature, Laura Kassner

MERC Publications

The term “blended learning” represents a wide spectrum of delivery options, tools, and pedagogies, but conceptually refers to instruction that is a mix or blending of traditional face‐to‐face (f2f) and online components. Horn & Staker (2011) define blended learning as “any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick‐and‐mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/ or pace” (p.3). Allen, Seaman, & Garret (2007) further attempt to quantify the divide, defining it as “between 30‐79% of content delivered online with …

An Examination Of Project Based Learning At The Secondary Level: A Review Of Literature, Candace Mirabile

MERC Publications

Project based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach designed to capture student interest by integrating a contemporary and relevant problem or issue with content standards. The expectation is that students who have not been successful under traditional teacher‐ centered/ lecture‐oriented instruction will be taken in by the opportunity to investigate a topic of personal interest using PBL. Moreover, some say that when constructivist learning (upon which PBL is based) is designed to reflect contemporary research methods and design protocols, students will be better prepared for the 21st century workplace (Apedoe, Reynolds, Ellefson & Schunn, 2008; Bell, 2010; Technology Assistance Program, …