Understanding the Community Issues​

Definition

Community engagement, either offline or online, allows students to stop and critically think about community problems, what are the root causes and possible solutions. Complex real-world problems are used as the vehicle to promote student learning of concepts and principles. It helps to foster their problem-solving abilities and communication skills, provides opportunities for working in groups, and life-long learning and deepens understanding and empathy.

Explore the Resources of this Driver

The Community Problem-Solving Project @ MIT​

A part of ongoing research, teaching, and outreach work based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A resource for people, communities and educators. Contains a specific strategy on how to tackle problems within communities, either big or small.

Community Chats – YouTube Channel​

Community Chats is a YouTube Channel of the University of Mississippi's Division of Diversity & Community Engagement. It features leaders of the local community discussing problems within their community.

Tool

Future Problem Solving Programme​

Future Problem Solving (FPS) teaches a unique six-step problem-solving process which can be applied in the real world, in local and global communities, as well as in future societies. This six-step model teaches critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. Coaches and Teachers can teach the FPS problem-solving model to their students.​

Methodology

Using Community Challenges for Learning

By creating a Community Problems Bank a teacher teaches her students to come up with solutions to these local problems – e.g. to record memories of Alzheimer's patients in local retirement homes.

Case Study