Community-Based (Service) Learning Projects Archive

Professor Rowley's U100 class, (section number 50) created a wonderful piece on the struggles that college students face entitled "Playing Tag". Students were asked to write on a white t-shirt with a black marker, and write struggles that they face. These range from struggles within school, such as academic pressure, struggles outside of school, such as finances and mental illness, as well as struggles of looking past school, such as questions about finding a career. This wide range of issues that students are struggling with shines light on the fact that students are not just students, but are adult people with their own individual struggles both within and outside of academia. After the students wrote their struggles on the t-shirts, they went outside, put finger-paint on their hands, and put a hand-print on the shirts which contained struggles that they related to. This activity showed not only that students have struggles as adults, but also that many of these struggles are not individual, but impact a significant group of students.

This project is the epitome of Community Engagement, as it shows how a primary group of our community, students, have struggles and shows what those struggles often entail. This helps individuals seeking to further their personal community engagement, as it shows some of the ways in which people can help the student community struggling with issues in mental health, resources, and keeping up with academics.

Watch “Playing Tag” 

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In Professor Allea Caulian’s University 100 class (section number 03), students created a presentation about composting entitled; “Composting at CSUN”. This presentation shows how composting works, how it’s done properly, and how it can be done in a small space such as an apartment or dorm. The presentation also shows how one can contribute to composting on the CSUN campus, in our CSUN garden.

This project shows how anyone in the CSUN community can engage themselves by participating in composting on campus, or taking the lessons learned about composting on campus and applying it to their home community.

View “Composting at CSUN” 

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In “The Difference that One Class Can Make”, a project done by Professor Conchita Battle's University 100 class (section number 21) showcases how University 100 courses, which teach students about resources, studying tips, time management, and all things that a student needs to succeed. They do this by showing two of the areas in which students often struggle; time management in studying, and fitting in through clubs/sports. First, they show a student cramming for a test, who shows frustration due to the fact that they did not study properly and know that they are unprepared for a test. The student ended up failing the exam. Second, they show a student trying out sports, in this case; football, in order to fit in. However, the student does not do as well as he had hoped, and does not fit in as he had wanted. These students are shown to represent student life without a University 100 class. Then, they show what student life is like with a University 100 class. Rather than cramming for a test, the first student was taught time management/studying skills in University 100 and was able to get an A+ rather than an F. The second student is shown fitting in, not through sports, but through interacting with other students in class, and around campus. This project represents what University 100 was meant to do; show students how to be a student.

This project is a clear example of community engagement as it shows how the student community at CSUN can be impacted by certain lessons taught to them early on in their collegiate academic career.

Watch “The Difference that One Class Can Make” 

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Debbi Mercado's Honors University 100 class (section number 01) made a project entitled; “The Struggle is Real” designed to show how the 8 dimensions of wellness; Social Wellness, Emotional Wellness, Occupational Wellness, Physical Wellness, Financial Wellness, Intellectual Wellness, Environmental Wellness, and Spiritual Wellness can impact anyone. To show this, students in the class wrote excerpts on their experience with these specific dimensions of wellness, and how they're working to better their wellness in specific areas. They then posted these excerpts on a board at the 2023 Freshmen Celebration. Additionally, they put out beakers designated to each dimension of wellness, and asked attendees of the 2023 Freshmen Celebration to put the beads in the beakers designated to dimensions of wellness which they feel that they can improve on in their own lives.

This activity is the epitome of community engagement, as it shows many different ways in which people both inside and outside of the student community are struggling with improving their wellness. This knowledge helps those interested in community engagement understand areas in which they can help the community grow their wellness.

View “The Struggle Is Real” 

In Dr Yeonhak Jung's KIN 335 course during the Spring 2024 semester, students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project and partnered with Anatola & Andasol Elementary Schools to provide a quality physical education program to improve children's motor skills. They provided six sessions of a PE program each targeting 1st graders, 3rd graders, and 4th graders for their motor skills shared the results with teachers. The students' motor skills were tested before and after the program and the motor skill levels were found to have significantly improved after the program. Additional improvements in physical activity levels, motor skills, students' attention levels, and academic readiness were noted by teachers. 

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In Dr Joo Kim’s HSCI 335 course for the Spring 2024 semester, 38 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the Gardens at Northridge Assisted Living Facility entitled; “Community Garden Project at Nursing Home Facilities: Enhancing the Quality of Life for Elderly Residents”. They described this project by saying; “Loneliness and social isolation are common feelings among nursing home residents, which can lead to a decline in physical and mental health. Community gardening has been shown to increase physical activity, foster social interaction, and improve access to fresh produce. We can improve the quality of life for elderly residents by implementing a community garden project in nursing home facilities. The objective of this project is to create a community garden project at nursing home facilities to enhance the quality of life for elderly residents.”

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 In Professor Elizabeth Leister’s Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semester CTVA 463CS courses, 48 students participated in Pedagogical Grant projects at the Museum of Flying, the CSUN Institute for Sustainability, and the CSUN Marilyn Mangaram Center. They described these projects by saying; “During the fall and spring semesters, students worked in teams with our community partners on a variety of initiatives.  This collaboration required that students communicate with the partners to brainstorm, design and develop projects using XR production (virtual and augmented reality).  Students utilized their unique and varied skills and knowledge to create final projects that support and enhance learning about specific initiatives using cutting-edge interactive approaches to the content. “

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In Dr Stephanie Kim’s Spring 2024 LING 520 course, 10 graduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the Pars Equality Center. They described this project by saying; “Students provided service to PARS Equality Center by developing and teaching four 6-week workshops to their English learners. Students conducted needs analysis by creating surveys, observing their ESL classes, and interviewing their teachers. They then created four workshops in teams and taught the workshop sessions. This project helped students relate the course content to the teaching of English language learners, acquire new pedagogical knowledge and skills in a safe environment, and become more socially aware and engaged.”

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In Professor Judy Korin’s CTVA441 course for both the Fall 2023 & Spring 2024 Semesters, approximately 18 students participated in Pedagogical Grant projects at CicLAvia. The project was a 10-20 minute documentary film titled; “Invisible Symphony”. They described this project by saying; “‘Invisible Symphony’ is a short observational documentary film looking behind the scenes at the team of CicLAvia, a non-profit that creates massive free open streets events, activating neighborhoods and creating community for all Los Angelenos.” 

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In Dr Lisa Chaudhari’s SUST 300 course for the Fall 2023 semester, 26 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the CSUN Institute for Sustainability. They described this project by saying; “This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to help students understand concepts of sustainability from multiple perspectives. Students will build skills to apply theories to real-world problems of sustainability, and develop the ability to apply sustainability principles and critical thinking skills to their personal and professional decision-making processes. The service-learning component to the class transforms this theory-based class, into an experiential-learning opportunity that employs high impact practices determined to be influential from both the emic and etic perspectives.”

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In Dr Hessam Ghamari’s FCS 111 course for the Spring 2024 semester, 50 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Valley River Non-Profit Resources, titled; “Interior Design Matters”. They described the project by saying; “In this project students in Interior Design matters visited the Valley Non-Profit Resources (VNR) office and surveyed the physical environment as it relates to the health and wellbeing of the office workers. Students collaboratively conducted research and individually presented their design guidelines and recommendations to re-design the office in a way that it can improve health and wellbeing of the office workers. “

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In Dr Nasrin Golshany’s FCS 318 course for the Fall 2023 semester, 34 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging. They described the project by saying; “Junior interior design students participated in a project aimed at providing lighting design guidelines for assisted living facilities, targeting improved residents’ quality of life and mood. This initiative was integrated into the final project of FCS 318 Environmental Psychology for Interior Design. The course emphasized evidence-based design principles for creating therapeutic environments beneficial to elderly populations. In collaborative groups of three, students worked with the Los Angeles Home for Aging, evaluating lighting elements to enhance care and well-being. Their efforts culminated in the provision of lighting design guidelines and recommendations, positively contributing to the facilities' recovery, rehabilitation, and overall quality of life enhancements.”

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In Dr Dominic Grasso’s EED625B/L course for the Spring 2024 semester, 6 graduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the LA Times Literacy Center. They described the project by saying; “Students enrolled in EED625B/L complete a clinical component of the course by providing individualized literacy assessment, instruction and tutoring at the LA Times Literacy Center on CSUN's campus.”

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In Dr Virginia Oberholzer Vandergon’s BIOL 102 & BIOL 102L courses for the Spring 2024 semester, 22 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Mayall Elementary School. They described this project by saying; “The community engagement project my students did this year was the Tomorrow’s Scientist STEM day at Mayall Elementary on April 8th, 2024. My students presented in 6 classrooms grades 3rd-5th. Their lessons were based off the state science standards NGSS. Lessons included life cycles of butterflies, differences between the different vertebrates, flower reproduction, food webs and food chains, Acid rain affects and properties of water. My students loved having the opportunity to present their lessons in a real classroom as they are pre-service teachers and they liked having the chance to build their own lessons. The elementary students at Mayall loved having engaging science lessons. One student said it was the best day ever because they got to do science ALL day (it was the day of the eclipse). We also got a chance to visit their school gardens. Overall win-win for everyone involved.”

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In Dr Krystal Howard’s LRS 425MC course for the Spring 2024 semester, 27 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at St John Baptist de la Salle School. They described this project by saying; “This project allows students in LRS 425MC to make connections between ethnic and childhood studies theories and the practice of using multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature in the elementary classroom. Drawing on the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement in children’s literature, students examine the ways that authors, activists, and educators are working to answer the call that children’s literature reflect the diverse experiences of young people and apply these theories directly to the elementary classroom. Students perform read alouds of multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature for TK-8th grade students at St John Baptist de la Salle School and design a short book lesson to pair with their read aloud.”

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In Dr Yoshie Hanzawa’s BIOL 316CS/LCS course for the Spring 2024 semester, 25 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Northridge Academy High School. They described this project by saying; “BIOL 316CS/CSL Plant Biology students collaborated with 9th-10th grade High School students in Biology classes at Northridge Academy High School through lectures and discussion sessions, introducing the concepts of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and genome editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas for GM food and medicine. In addition, High School students had hands-on laboratory experiences at CSUN campus and carried out DNA preparation, PCR genotyping and CRISPR-based genome editing instructed by CSUN Plant Biology students.” 

In Dr Krystal Howard's LRS 425MC course for the Spring 2023 Semester, 26 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Guardian Angel Catholic School. They described this project by saying; "Students in LRS 425MC will perform read alouds of multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature for TK-6th grade students at Guardian Angel School and design a short book lesson to pair with their read aloud. Students first practice their performance in our classroom, and then adapt their performance and lesson to both a lower (TK, K, 1st, 2nd grade) and an upper (3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade) elementary audience."

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In Dr Ana Sanchez-Munoz' LING 427 course for the Spring 2023 semester, 15 graduate students and 40 undergraduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Northridge Academy High School. They described this project by saying; "This project brings together CSUN faculty and students with local public high school students and teachers to explore sociocultural aspects of language use. Faculty and CSUN students collaborate with local high school teachers to help design and deliver a series of sociolinguistics lesson plans that explore topics of language variation, race, power, and identity. The primary goal of this project is to encourage all students involved to examine their own language practices and linguistic knowledge, to explore misconceptions about language, and to reflect on dominant beliefs about language and how they interact with systems of power. This project contributes to sociolinguistic justice in the greater Los Angeles community."

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In Dr Yoshie Hanzawa's BIOL 316/L course for the Spring 2023 semester, 2 graduate students and 26 undergraduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Northridge Academy High School. They described this project by saying; "BIOL 316CS/CSL Plant Biology encompasses a wide range of subjects from basic genetics and cell biology to issues that are widely discussed at the local and national levels, such as agriculture and genetically modified food and medicine. We collaborate with Northridge Academy High School where the Plant Biology students interact with 9th-10th grade High School students in Biology classes. The first half of the project involves lectures and discussion sessions at Northridge Academy High School by CSUN Plant Biology students, introducing the concepts of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and GM technologies, including traditional GM approaches and latest Genome Editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas, and discuss the use of these technologies for GM food and medicine. In the second half of the project, CSUN Plant Biology students host High School students at CSUN campus to provide them with hands-on laboratory experiences, including DNA preparation, PCR genotyping for GM food testing, fluorescent GM plant observation and CRISPR-based genome editing. "

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In Dr Virginia Oberholzer Vandergon's BIOL102/L course for the Spring 2023 semester, 3 graduate students and 35 undergraduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Plummer Elementary School. They described this project by saying; "The community engagement project my students did this year was the Tomorrow’s Scientist STEM day at Plummer Elementary. My students presented in 10 classrooms grades 3rd-5th. Their lessons were based off the state science standards NGSS. Lessons included life cycles of butterflies, animal senses and adaptions, living vs non-living, plant stems, renewable energy, genetics etc. My students loved having the opportunity to present their lessons in a real classroom as they are pre-service teachers and have not had the chance to be in live classrooms. The elementary students at Plummer loved having engaging science lessons. Overall win-win for everyone involved."

In Dr Krystal Howard's LRS 425MC course for the Spring 2022 semester, 20 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Guardian Angel Catholic School. They described the project by saying; "This service learning project allows students in LRS 425MC: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature to make connections between ethnic and childhood studies theories and the practice of using multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature in the elementary classroom. Drawing on the #WeNeedDiverseBook movements in children’s literature, students examine the ways that authors, activists, and educators are working to answer the call that children’s literature reflect the diverse experiences of young people and apply these theories directly to the elementary classroom. Students perform read alouds of multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature for TK-6th grade students at Guardian Angel School and design a short book lesson to pair with their read aloud."

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In Dr Lisa Chaudhari's SUST300 course for the Spring 2022 semester, 15 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the CSUN Institute of Sustainability. They described this project by saying; "Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Sustainability (SUST 300) is well-positioned to support a service-learning component. The project consists of implementing high impact practices through the service-learning project that incorporates concepts from multiple disciplines through community gardens. Community engagement is instrumental in improving general course outcomes, benefiting students in multiple ways, enhancing the course overall, and achieving community partners goals."

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In Professor Rosalia Garcia-Torres' FCS 301 course for the Spring 2022 semester, 26 students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the CSUN Food Garden. They described this project by saying; "

This project is in coordination with other three courses in other disciplines (ENG 507, FCS 494/I and HSCI 445). Students in these classes will attend to the basic needs crisis on our campus by integrating student voices and principles of trauma informed care into the
creation of strategies, trainings, and program development that support a campus climate that is proactive and responsive to student basic needs insecurity and promote educational equity. Students in my course had the option of interviewing a CSUN student or working with the FCS 494/I students taking notes during round tables, in both cases the research question was: What are the qualities/personality/attitudes of someone that was helpful to students when accessing basic needs services? The final project consisted of a video describing the findings from the interview."

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In Dr Svetlana V. Tyutina's SPAN 609 course for the Spring 2022 semester, 12 graduate students and 1 undergraduate student participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the CSUN Institute of Sustainability, the HERE center, and the VITA clinic. They described this project by saying; "This project is focused on creating a pilot Health Translation Practicum for a fully online graduate course in the Spanish program. This community-based course was the first project in the field of interpreting for health sciences and medical research at CSUN and provided our students with critical experience that will allow them to expand their experience and understanding of their career opportunities beyond graduation."

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In Dr Virginia Oberholzer Vandergon's BIOL 102CS course for the Spring 2022 semester, 2 graduate students and 37 undergraduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at Plummer Elementary School. They described this project by saying; "The project we did this year was entitled Tomorrow’s Scientist STEM day at Plummer Elementary. My students presented in 13 classrooms grades 3rd-5th. Their lessons were based off the state science standards NGSS. Lessons included life cycles of butterflies and plants, animal senses, erosion, renewable energy, genetics, endangered species etc. My students loved having the opportunity to present their lessons in a real classroom as they are pre-service teachers and have not had the chance to be in live classrooms. The elementary students at Plummer loved having engaging science lessons. Overall win-win for everyone involved."

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In Dr Danielle Spratt's ENG 525SFE course for the Spring 2022 semester, 21 graduate students participated in a Pedagogical Grant project at the CSUN Food Pantry. They described this project by saying; "The project we did this year was entitled Tomorrow’s Scientist STEM day at Plummer Elementary. My students presented in 13 classrooms grades 3rd-5th. Their lessons were based off the state science standards NGSS. Lessons included life cycles of butterflies and plants, animal senses, erosion, renewable energy, genetics, endangered species etc. My students loved having the opportunity to present their lessons in a real classroom as they are pre-service teachers and have not had the chance to be in live classrooms. The elementary students at Plummer loved having engaging science lessons. Overall win-win for everyone involved."

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In Professor Moshoula Capous-Desyllas' SOC 585T course for the Spring 2022 semester, 14 graduate students participated in a Pedagogical
Grant project at Meztli Projects. They described this project by saying; "This pedagogical grant supported the collaboration between graduate students enrolled in the course and the non-profit organization, Meztli Projects. Indigenous artists from this organization facilitated various arts-based workshops with graduate students, who had the opportunity to create art and learn about indigenous, decolonizing and arts-based approaches to research. Students collected created an interview guide for the facilitators of Meztli Projects and had the opportunity to interview community members. Students also participated in curating a virtual art exhibit featured on the Sociology Department website. The 14 graduate students will be co-authoring a book chapter with the Instructor of the course this summer."

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Professor Kristin King, alongside 1 undergraduate student, participated in a Research Creative Activity Grant project at the CSUN Food Pantry. They described this project by saying; "This project continues the vision for a community kitchen on CSUN's campus through analysis of user behavior and actions around food prep and warming stations currently existing on CSUN's campus.  In the 2020-2021 academic year, students and faculty from interior design, nutrition and dietetics, and public health collaborated on a community kitchen project proposed to the University Student Union, USU, for the new Heart of Campus expansion.  The project was very well received by all stakeholders and the faculty that worked on the project are currently members of the design committee for a Basic Needs Suite where the new Community Kitchen will be located."

In Dr Krystal Howard’s LRS 491 course for the Spring 2021, 22 students participated in a project at Guardian Angel School. They described this project by saying; “The service learning project for LRS 491: Multicultural/Multiethnic Children’s Literature allows CSUN students to make connections between ethnic and childhood studies theory and the practice of using multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature in the elementary classroom and community. Students in LRS 491 will perform video read alouds of multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature for TK-6th grade students at Guardian Angel School and design a short book lesson and video to pair with their read aloud. Students first practice their performance in our classroom, and then adapt their performance and lesson to both a lower (TK, K, 1st, 2nd grade) and an upper (3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade) elementary audience. The project goals for CSUN students include fostering their ability to: 1) demonstrate the ability to read closely, analyze, and interpret culturally diverse texts, 2) reflect on and apply knowledge and skills to teaching in the TK-6 classroom, and 3) design grade appropriate book lessons for multicultural/multiethnic children’s literature. These goals are all in service of promoting CSUN future teacher candidates’ ability to be effective educators. The project goals for our community partner include: 1) equipping current classroom teachers with diverse literature for their elementary classrooms; 2) inspiring current classroom teachers to use diverse literature in their elementary classrooms; 3) providing elementary students from marginalized backgrounds (students of color, low-income students, children of recent immigrants) access to diverse literature at school and at home; and 4) providing elementary students and their parents/guardians diverse literature and resources (such as lesson plans and video read alouds created by CSUN students) to engage with in their home.”

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In Dr Lisa Chaudhari’s SUST300 course for the Spring 2021 semester, 1 graduate student and 39 undergraduate students participated in a project at the CDI, the CSUN Institute for Sustainability, and Breathe SoCal. They described this project by saying; “The service-learning project was pivoted to a completely online format. As none of the previous partners were open this academic year, I continued to cultivate and collaborate with newer partners or projects established last academic year. The project focused on how gardens, community gardens, green spaces, and specifically urban green spaces contribute to sustainability knowledge. Students worked with collaborators to develop brochures, infographs, information sheets, articles, populated a growing garden app to address the overall project objectives. Students worked generally on one area of sustainability, connected it to green spaces through a specific need identified by/with the community partner.”

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In professor Doug Kaback’s TH 290 course for the Spring 2021, 11 students participated in a project at the CSUN Food Pantry. They described this project by saying; “The overall goal of this pedagogical grant was to work collaboratively with the CSUN Food Pantry and Faculty in the Nutrition & Dietetics and Interior Design (ID) (Family and Consumer Sciences Department) and Public Health (Health Sciences department) programs to design a Community Kitchen for consideration by the University Student Union (USU). The designated Fall 2020 course,  taught by Professor King, enrolled 16 ID students.  The students began their research on college students’ access to education and the challenges to low and-middle income students, food insecurities, food pantries, community kitchen precedent studies, student wellness, basic needs, and food program assistance.  The project designs were presented at the end of the fall 2020 term.”

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In Dr Virginia Oberholzer Vandergon’s BIOL 102CS course for the Spring 2021 semester, 37 students participated in a project with LAUSD teachers. They described this project by saying; “Originally I planned to have my scholar help me with the planning of my annual Earth Day event where my Biol102 students design and implement science lessons . That had to obviously be changed and it was put on hold. I still wanted to have my students participate in a service-learning project so my scholar helped me transition to an online lesson plan repository. My 102 students prepared and recorded interactive elementary science lessons for use by teachers, students and parents.”

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In Dr Yoshie Hanzawa’s BIOL 316CS/CSL course for the Spring 2021 semester, 1 graduate student and 23 undergraduate students participated in a project at Canoga Park Senior High School. They described the project by saying “BIOL 316/L Plant Biology has carried out collaborative learning activities with Canoga Park Senior High School since Spring 2018 and the course is now officially approved as a Community Service course starting Spring 2021. 

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BIOL 316CS/CSL Plant Biology integrates community engagement with classroom instruction to enrich student learning experiences and increase their abilities to apply textbook knowledge to the real-world teaching scene and problem solving. Students educate the local youths on course subjects highly relevant to the real world in an interactive manner. This semester’s focus subjects were coronaviruses and epidemics and genetically modified organisms via zoom meetings.”

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In Dr Marie Carter’s QS 302 course for the Spring 2021 semester, 2 graduate students and 33 undergraduate students participated in a project at June Mazer Lesbian Archives. They described this project by saying; “Students conducted ethnographic interviews with gay elders. These interviews are a community service for the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives and ONE Archives at USC. We worked closely with the Mazer, to ensure the student's success with this project. Students learned how to conduct and record an oral history, fill out a permission form with an interviewee / informant, a deed of gift, archive materials such as photos and ephemera, and they constructed a permanent archive google drive folder of a gay elder interview that is to now housed in one or both of the aforementioned archives.”

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In professor Mirna Sawyer’s HSCI 533 course for the Spring 2021 semester, 26 graduate students participated in a project at the CSUN Food Pantry. They described this project by stating; “This project is the next phase of the Basic Needs Campus Climate study, an AB 74-funded project to enhance access to basic needs resources on CSUN’s campus by equipping faculty and staff with the knowledge, confidence and skills to support students’ basic needs, which has allowed the PIs on this initiative to bring their year of research to the classroom and expand this work to include student research contributions. Duran, Garcia-Torres, Sawyer, and Spratt. For this course students collected data about food pantry usage and provided insights to help reduce barriers to utilization.”