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17 Food for Thought: A Multidisciplinary Faculty Grassroots Initiative for Sustainability and Service-Learning
- Indiana University Press
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17 Food for Thought A Multidisciplinary Faculty Grassroots Initiative for Sustainability and Service-Learning Whitney Schlegel, Human Biology Heather L. Reynolds, Biology Victoria M. Getty, Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Diane Henshel, Public and Environmental Affairs James W. Reidhaar, Fine Arts Thinking collectively at the crossroads of disciplines is di≈cult intellectual work that is essential if higher education is going to be able to turn out students who can address the interrelated environmental, social, and economic challenges of twenty-first-century society. Our ability to bring to the forefront new knowledge exceeds the capability of the human mind to retain this factual information. This mandates that meaningful connections be made visible and that education be not merely about the transmission of factual knowledge, but rather about fostering ways of knowing and habits of mind that will continually renew our intellectual resources and provide innovative ways for approaching the complex problems facing humanity. A challenge for faculty thus lies in developing new models of teaching and learning that prepare students to work within uncertain intellectual boundaries 184 ⭈ schlegel, reynolds, getty, henshel, and reidhaar figure 17.1. Our inquiry commons: multidisciplinary service-learning with a common theme. and to connect existing knowledge to complex problems; to recognize the multitude of disciplines necessary to work toward solutions to these problems; and to understand diversity and advocate for social justice and change. Learning communities have been shown to support student and faculty work at disciplinary crossroads. Service-learning has been demonstrated to engage students and faculty in ways that allow them to think more critically and deeply within their disciplines and foster understanding of the connections between disciplines that can then facilitate the application of knowledge to solve real world problems. The Food for Thought (FFT) Project developed and tested a novel model of multicourse and multi-partner service-learning as a means of increasing student interdisciplinary understanding and civic engagement. Our model operates very much within the framework of the Teaching Commons, where faculty, students, and community come together to engage in experiential learning, dialogue, and reflection (Huber and Hutchings 2005). Organized around a central theme and a common set of community partners, with built-in support mechanisms for cross-disciplinary sharing and collaboration, we define this special type of learning community as an ‘‘inquiry commons’’ (figure 17.1). Opportunity for Change Change occurs through opportunity, and in early 2006 two interdisciplinary initiatives on the Indiana University Bloomington campus, Human Biology (HUBI) and the Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative (ELSI), [54.227.136.157] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 07:56 GMT) Food for Thought ⭈ 185 merged their collective expertise to put forth a successful project proposal for the Dean of the Faculties Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Leadership Award. The project sought to provide a transformative and transdisciplinary learning experience for students, one that would foster their cognitive, social, ethical, cultural, and global identities. The experience of the ELSI team with environmental literacy and service-learning, coupled with the experience of the HUBI team with the development of learning communities, interdisciplinary curricula, and tools for documenting and supporting integrative teaching and student learning, provided for a strong collaboration. The three broad goals for the FFT project included: (1) to develop and test a novel model of cross-disciplinary service learning as one approach to fostering student interdisciplinary understanding, intellectual and personal development, and civic engagement, (2) to develop and implement new and integrative models for assessing student learning and for finding ways to make visible the connections between teaching and learning, and (3) to provide a model for learning communities consistent with that of a teaching commons as described by Huber and Hutchings (2005). Both HUBI and ELSI had experience pioneering distinctive learning experiences that were grounded in the theoretical frameworks and assessment of student learning set forth by Perry (1970), Kegan (1994), Belenky et al. (1986), King and Kitchener (1994), Chickering and Reisser (1993), Piaget (1970), Magolda (1999), and Magolda and King (2004). Both HUBI and ELSI embraced and employed holistic and integrative approaches to teaching and learning. These approaches aim to foster cognitive maturity, integrated and ethical identity, and mature relationships that enable e√ective citizenship and are consistent with those championed in Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College and most recently in the LEAP Report (National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise report; Association of American Colleges and Universities 2002 and 2007, respectively). Learning Communities The...