Improving Hispanic Education Through Experiential Learning

In Fall 2013, UTPA received funding for a Title V grant, “Improving Hispanic Education Through Experiential Learning.” The grant helped us establish and expand infrastructure to support faculty development, student opportunities, and resources to support the integration of high quality experiential learning across the curriculum. The central aspect of the grant has been implementing the development of a cohort of faculty in a specific experiential learning practice and the implementation of that strategy through revision to at least one course (and support for doing so). 

Last year, we worked with a group of about twenty faculty members on integrating service learning
activities into their courses. Faculty chose approaches and scale appropriate to their goals and were supported with workshop activities, collaborative discussions, and the resources necessary to implement the curricula in the spring semester.

This year, we have been working with another cohort of around twenty UTPA faculty to integrate research into the undergraduate curricula. Throughout the fall, those faculty have developed innovative approaches to courses and labs, and we have compiled resources to support the curricular revision and implementation this spring. The grant activities will continue for the next 3 years, focusing on other experiential learning strategies in the future along with building a continually expanding faculty mentor network from the original cohorts. 
 
The activity directors, Dr. Danika Brown (Director, Undergraduate Research & Service Learning) and Dr. Debbie Cole (Director, Center for Teaching Excellence) thought it would be an ideal time to expand these resources and opportunities with faculty colleagues at UTB. We would like to offer focused development support and resources to a group of faculty, 10 in the area of service learning and 10 in the area of integrating research into the undergraduate curriculum.

We would meet once per month (Feb – May) in focused, productive meetings and provide feedback and resources for curricula to be developed over the course of the spring semester, to be implemented in summer or fall. Participating faculty will receive a stipend ($500).

We hope you will consider joining is in this opportunity to share best practices and strategies for integrating experiential learning in ways that enhance your teaching goals and contribute to UT student success. 

Location:  Meetings will be held at the Brownsville Campus
Dates and times:  TBA
Stipend:  $500
Registration limited:  10 faculty for service learning and 10 faculty for integrating research in a class Fall 2015.

To Register:  If you are interested, please email danika@utpa.edu, indicating your discipline, the course you plan to focus on, whether you are interested in service learning or undergraduate research, and a brief (100 word maximum) statement of what you hope to get out of participating in this program.


Please respond to this request no later than February 6th. 

A brief overview of UTPA’s Title V activities can be accessed at http://www.upta.edu/ursl. If you have questions or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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