Innovative Civic Engagement Pedagogy at CLDE 2018 (Introductory Essay: Ejournal of Public Affairs, Special Issue)
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ISSN (Online) 2162-9161 Innovative Civic Engagement Pedagogy at CLDE 2018 (Introductory Essay: eJournal of Public Affairs, Special Issue) Bethany Fleck, Guest Editor Metropolitan State University of Denver Author Note Bethany Fleck, Department of Psychology, Metropolitan State University of Denver. Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Bethany Fleck, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Plaza Building, 220AC, Denver, CO 80217-3362. Phone: (303) 615-0415. E-mail: [email protected] INTRO ESSAY: EJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SPECIAL ISSUE Those who attended the 2018 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Meeting (CLDE18) held in Anaheim, California, from June 6 to 9, are aware of the expertise shared and the synergy created among the participants working toward the advancement of civic learning and democratic engagement on campuses and in communities. This special issue of the eJournal of Public Affairs highlights exemplary work that was presented at the meeting and that has since been further developed into peer-reviewed scholarship ready for broader dissemination. Readers who attended CLDE18 will be reinvigorated by this collection of articles, while those who could not participate can now join the conversation. Though the journal editors considered manuscripts describing a number of exemplary programs, this special issue focuses on projects related to innovative civic engagement teaching pedagogy. Innovative civic engagement pedagogy combines two fields: the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and the advancement of civic learning and democratic engagement by colleges and universities. Having worked in both areas, I am particularly excited to present this special edition, which links the two. Specific pedagogies that promote civic engagement include (but are not limited to) service-learning courses, community-based research, American Democracy Project (ADP) programs integrated into course work, internships, program and university- wide initiatives, and other experiential learning opportunities. This special edition highlights the ways campuses foster civic engagement, examines considerations related to innovative civic engagement teaching pedagogy, and discusses the assessment of civic outcomes—work that was at the heart of CLDE18. The annual CLDE Meeting is co-organized by ADP, The Democracy Commitment, and NASPA Student Affairs Administrates in Higher Education, and is “intended to facilitate exchanges of knowledge and develop a sense of community around our shared civic learning and democratic engagement work” (American Association of State Colleges and Universities [AASCU], 2018, p. 4). During the meeting, participants focused on the emergent theory of change, which poses four important questions: (1) the purpose question: “What are the key features of the thriving democracy we aspire to enact and support through our work?”; (2) the learning outcomes question: “What knowledge, skills, and dispositions do people need in order to help create and contribute to a thriving democracy?”; (3) the pedagogy question: “How can we best foster the acquisition and development of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for a thriving democracy?”; and (4) the strategy question: “How can we build the institutional culture, infrastructure, and relationships needed to support learning that enables a thriving democracy?” The articles in this special edition reflect the discussions that took place around these questions at CLDE18 but center most significantly on pedagogy. In addition, meeting conversations focused on the various contexts and campus eJournal of Public Affairs, 8(1) 2 INTRO ESSAY: EJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SPECIAL ISSUE cultures that foster the “civic ethos of campus,” “civic literacy and skill building as a goal for every student,” “civic inquiry integrated within the majors and general education,” “civic action as lifelong practice,” and “civic agency” (AASCU, 2018, pp. 4-5). As attendees explored these ideas at CLDE18 so too do the articles comprising this special issue. The scientific study of pedagogy through SoTL has seen great advances in the past 20 years as its own field of research. Teachers have long reflected on pedagogy, thinking in depth about what works (and does not) in promoting the success and achieving the academic goals of their students. Such reflection, study, and sharing of expertise are essential for undergraduate student success. Teachers, administrators, and student support staff improve their practice through SoTL, which provides a platform for communicating ideas, sharing best practices and new innovations, and assessing techniques for intended impact. Because of specific advances in its methodology, SoTL has become more established as a valuable product of scholarship, worthy of faculty time and effort, as well as faculty retention and promotion. My psychology colleagues Gurung and Landrum (2014) described SoTL as “the focus on theoretical underpinnings of how we learn, the intentional, systematic, modifications of pedagogy, and assessments of resulting changes in learning” (p. 1). The articles in this special issue represent important contributions to SoTL in that they share techniques and innovations for promoting civic learning and democratic engagement. While more rigorous research methods and assessment are needed to advance such scholarship, I argue that scholars and practitioners need a place to share ideas about classroom activities and projects, and to communicate program goals and institutional initiatives around promoting civic learning and democratic engagement on U.S. campuses. This special issue meets this need. Published collections of SoTL materials have the capacity to bring educators from different areas of study, different institutional roles, and different research interests together in conversation. When reminded of their shared focus on undergraduate education, educators can learn lessons from each other. For example, innovations in a biology course could be applied to a psychology course, and lessons about community-based research as a pedagogy can be applied across an entire campus. I hope this special issue contributes to readers’ motivation and understanding around such methods, encouraging the application of the authors’ various ideas to ongoing work with students. eJournal of Public Affairs, 8(1) 3 INTRO ESSAY: EJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SPECIAL ISSUE Contents of the Special Issue This issue of the eJournal includes eight peer-reviewed articles, two book reviews, and three videos featuring the “CivEd Talks” that were delivered during the CLDE18 plenary session. The lead author of the first article, Nicholas D. Hartlep, is the 2018 recipient of ADP’s John Saltmarsh Award for Emerging Leaders in Civic Engagement. Each winner of the annual award winner is invited to submit an essay for publication in the eJournal. For his essay, Dr. Hartlep organized the nine most recent Saltmarsh Award winners to collaboratively write the article that appears as the first in this special issue, entitled “Toward an Innovative Civic Engagement Pedagogy.” In addition, John Saltmarsh himself contributed by providing concluding remarks about pedagogical practice. With its multiple perspectives on ways to promote civic engagement in various contexts, this essay sets the stage for the other pieces in the issue. The remaining articles move from discussions of specific classroom techniques or projects to broader considerations of campus-wide initiatives or programing. In “Civic Engagement in the Online Classroom: Increasing Youth Political Engagement in an Online American Government Course,” Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan provides a detailed description of how she integrates civic engagement into her online teaching. She discusses challenges and opportunities of online civic engagement pedagogy and also presents assessment data from her study that will help readers understand related student outcomes. Colleagues Adrieen Hooker, David Wang, and Carol-lynn Swol, in their article “Infusing Creative Energy to Encourage Civic Values and Action in Project- Based Learning and Community-Based Research,” offer two case studies exploring how creative energy is used to apply civic skills and enable collective action in art and design courses. The authors discuss how two specific pedagogies, community- based research and project-based learning, were utilized to solve “wicked problems.” Their discussion provides readers with a fitting preview of the topics addressed in the videos of the CivEd Talks from CLDE18 (links to which are included in this issue). Danielle Lake, Marc Lehman, and Linda Chamberlain also address wicked problems in their “Engaging Through Design Thinking: Catalyzing Integration, Iteration, Innovation, and Implementation.” The authors reflect skillfully upon a project-based undergraduate course that engaged students in collaborative participatory action, offering specific “pedagogical strategies for transdisciplinary, collaborative, community-based learning that responds to a ‘real-world need’ in ‘real time.’” eJournal of Public Affairs, 8(1) 4 INTRO ESSAY: EJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SPECIAL ISSUE In “Fake it ‘Till You Make It’: Debunking Fake News in a Post-Truth America,” Joseph Zompetti and Molly Kerby present a timely and relevant discussion about the development of fake news and its powerful influence on political discourse. In connection with the theme of this special issue, the