asbmbnews

featurestory continued
Biochemistry students, from left, Caroline O’Rourke, Tran Doan and Miles Johnson participated in the community-based learning
module established by University of Richmond associate professor Jonathan Dattelbaum.
By THe NUMBeRS
Fall 2008 24 students
Spring 2009 21 students
Fall 2009 15 students
Spring 2010 26 students
TOTAl STUDeNTS 86 students
x 15 hours =
TOTAL HOURS 1,290 hours
chemistry subject material related to society rose from 67
percent in the first year to 92 percent in the second year.
As a result of bringing the student presentations into the
lecture, the learning was no longer isolated to individual
students who went out into the Richmond community
alone and wrote term papers that only I read. This became
a powerful mechanism to share learning experiences in
the classroom, where connections could be illustrated by
students and not just by me.
Considerations
There are a few barriers to making the most of communitybased
learning experiences.
One important factor to consider is that, as the course
instructor, you must give up a certain level of control over
the amount of learning that occurs at the sites. Some will
be better than others, and that must be accepted and com-
municated to students in advance. Developing relationships
with volunteer coordinators is invaluable for finding
projects that align well with course objectives. However,
such organizations have high turnover and require constant
re-evaluation. This extra time is an important factor
to consider at the onset.
There is also a risk that not all students will be interested
in participating for any number of reasons, and
issues are likely to arise, including problems with transportation,
with nonresponsive organizations and with extra
time for the assignment. Student frustration comes out in
course evaluations. If one has unsupportive departmental
or administrative colleagues, this may be a particular concern
for untenured faculty.
A teacher’s reflections
Over the four semesters that I taught this community-based
learning course, my students contributed more than 1,290
hours of service to the Richmond community. As research
scientists, we can have a very positive impact on the training
of a small number of laboratory students, but, as teachers
providing opportunities like this one, there can be a multiplier
effect in that our students take ownership of their learning to
enhance the community in a meaningful way.
Jonathan Dattelbaum (jdattelb@richmond.edu)
is an associate professor of chemistry and
co-director of the Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology Interdisciplinary Program at the
University of Richmond.
26 ASBMB Today September 2011