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Civic Learning

Civic learning and democratic engagement

When we think of civic engagement as a part of college, many of us may think of  service learning, voter registration drives, or fundraising. However, civic engagement strategies to make social change can take many forms in the academic, personal, and professional lives of students, faculty and staff. What makes civic engagement experiences educationally meaningful?

Defining civic learning and democratic civic engagement

Figure 1 The Social Change Wheel. Source: Campus Compact

Civic learning is not the same as service-learning. While service-learning refers to a way of teaching and learning, civic learning refers to a meta-category of learning that includes: "knowledge (e.g., historical, political, and civic knowledge that arises from both academic and community sources); skills (e.g., critical thinking communication, quantitative reasoning, public problem solving, civic judgement, civic imagination and creativity, collective action, coalition building, organizational analysis; and values (e.g., justice, inclusion, and full participation) (Saltmarsh 2005). Through developing our civic faculties, we cultivate our individual capacities to be active members of society; in addition, we develop an expanded notion of "we, the people" and the social commitments that binds us together to work toward human thriving locally and globally. 

The following are some introductory resources to integrate civic learning into your courses and programs. Questions? Contact csl@iupui.edu.

In the preface of Civic Responsibility and Higher Education (2002), former IU President Thomas Ehrlich defined civic engagement "as working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes."

The resources below offer pathways to support students in learning the skills for democratic civic engagement. 

  • Political Engagement Activities at IUPUI, learn more through the Office of Community Engagement 
  • Teaching Civic Engagement across the Disciplines—American Political Science Association 
  • Students Learn, Students Vote Handbook for Faculty and Staff 
  • Election Imperatives Guide for Faculty, Administrators, and Staff, Institute for Democracy & Higher Education
  • Deliberative Pedagogy Lab

  • Frameworks
    • AAC&U Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Framework 
    • Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile (includes civic and global learning)
    • Engaged Departments Rubric and Readings 
  • Assessment Tools 
    • Civic-Minded Graduate Scale and Rubric
    • AAC&U Civic Engagement Metarubric 
    • Global Perspectives Inventory 

  • HIPS to What End: Integrating Civic Learning—IUPUI webinar recording 
  • STEM
    • Resource Guide for Integrating Civic Learning into STEM Courses 
    • Teaching Resources from SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) 
  • Sample Syllabi 
    • Civic Engagement, Leadership & Advocacy 
    • Contributed Syllabi from the Projects Pericles Consortium
    • Campus Compact Syllabi Archive
    • Syllabus Repository: Issues of Civic and Democratic Concern

  • Selected Readings on Critical Reflection in Service Learning and Civic Engagement 
  • Developing a Critical Reflection Strategy
  • Ideas for Reflection Activities 

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  • About
    • Staff
    • History and Recognition
      • 25th Anniversary Oral Histories
    • Mission & Goals
    • Stay Informed
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    • Contact Us
  • Teaching & Research
    • Teaching and Curriculum Development
      • Civic Learning
      • Course Design
        • Building Relationships with Communities
        • Forms of Service Engagement and Integration
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      • Community Project Planning
        • Collaborative Relationship Mapping (ColRM)
      • Critical Reflection
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