How to get started doing CBL in Chemistry
Why CBL? Community-based learning (CBL) is an active learning pedagogy that provides students with an authentic context and motivation for understanding and applying chemistry concepts. CBL projects can help students build real-world skills such as project management, teamwork, communication, public speaking, and chemistry-specific skills such as analytical processes, data analysis, quality assurance-quality control, and more dependent on the nature of the project. Perhaps most significantly, CBL also yields benefits to the community partner and is an opportunity for discourse and multidirectional learning between students, faculty, and the wider community. Over the course of their careers, and in the larger context of the relationship between science and society, there are long-lasting benefits from training our students to be community-engaged scientists.
So, how does one get started? CBL does entail an initial and ongoing input in terms of initiating and sustaining a relationship with a community partner, development of the curriculum, and often more logistics and planning than a typical in class or laboratory exercise. But you’ve come to the right place! Chemistry for the Community is a hub for connecting new and experienced CBL practitioners, a guide for getting started, and a clearinghouse for vetted, high-quality CBL materials. As you start to design your own CBL activity or adapt an activity you find here, please reflect on the resources here, particularly the Best Practices for Sustainable Community Partnerships.